Page 42 of Love in Focus

We set my move-in date for January 15, which will be perfect timing since that’ll be after the holidaysandafter Celeste and I—hopefully—finish all the work we need to do for the project.

Looking forward to the New Year already, I walk into our office, in time to hear one of my coworkers exclaim, “Apparently there’s going to be a chocolate fountain this year! I’msoexcited.”

“They could lock us up in a bare concrete room for all I care,” replies another. “As long as the bartender is as good as the one from last year.”

The company party. With how busy things have been,I didn’t even get a chance to ask Celeste if she wants to go with me. Since it’s now the thirtieth, it’s probably too short notice. Besides, the last thing I want to do is ring in the New Year while watching James and Daphne work the room together. Maybe it’s best if we don’t go.

Luckily, as far as company events go, our New Year’s party is the most optional, since a lot of people are usually out of town during this time of year. Kiara and Val aren’t going, either, since they’re on a spontaneous trip to Seattle this week and won’t be back until after New Year’s Eve.

Evelyn will be disappointed if I choose not to go, especially since Celeste and I will miss out on the networking opportunity. But there’s also a good chance that I’m overthinking, and she won’t even say anything about it afterward. Or at least I hope she won’t.

I’m pretty set on not going when, later that day, James stops by my desk.

“Hey,” he says.

It takes me a few seconds to even process he’s actually there, talking to me face-to-face after over a month of pretending I don’t exist.

Maybe he just needs to talk to me about a work-related thing.

“Yes?” I ask.

“Just making sure, you’re not coming to the party tomorrow, right?”

I immediately bristle. “Why?”

“I’m bringing Daphne. And it’d be awkward if you were there, too, since we used to go to the party together.”

I can hardly believe my ears. Granted, I’d wanted to avoid the awkwardness, too. But the way James has the nerve to tell me what to do, after everything he’s done to me… When we were still dating, whenever James asked me to do something, I either told him yes or said “I’ll think about it” when I actually meant “no.” Today, though, I snap.

“Let me get this straight. You want me to not go to the office party, the one that’s open toallemployees, so things won’t be awkward for you and your new girlfriend?”

James blinks and shrugs like a malfunctioning robot, obviously taken aback. “Yeah? I don’t get why that’s a big deal. You hate parties, anyway.”

I hate parties?Anger washes over me like a giant wave, crashing and raging inside my chest. My first instinct is to tell James off and yell at him to go away.

But then, I get a better idea.

“For your information,” I say. “I love parties. I stopped going to them because ofyou. And I’m already planning on attending tomorrow. With a date.”

James’s eyes narrow with skepticism. “A date?”

I lift up my chin. “Yup.”

It’s so last minute, I doubt Celeste will agree to go. I’m not even completely sure if she’s back from LA yet, since we haven’t said a word to each other after the day we interviewed the Amatos. But James doesn’t need to know that.

“Well, okay,” he says, taking a step back with a huff. “Guess it can’t be helped, then.”

For the first time since we broke up, he lookspissed. Which both surprises and amuses me to no end. Celeste will probably say no, but at this point, I don’t care. Because the deep satisfaction I get at James’s expression is plenty enough revenge.

The last thing Celeste expects on the second-to-last day of the year is a phone call from Gemma. Lately, she and her ex have only ever communicated through email or KakaoTalk. Although they converse in person just fine—or as well as they can, given the circumstances—the sheer concept of talking with her ex on the phone is so daunting she lets it ring all the way to voicemail before calling her back.

She doesn’t know what to expect when Gemma picks up, but her ex’s retelling of all the drama surrounding acompany partyholds her captivated. Celeste enjoys being her own boss, but the one thing she misses about working at an office is all the drama and politics. She loves being able to hear about everything without being directly involved.

Celeste can’t remember the last time she and Gemma talked on the phone like this, but it surprisingly feels…

normal. It of course isn’t as natural as talking to her actual friends, but it’s not as bad as she thought it would be.

“Let me get this straight,” Celeste says when Gemma finishes her story. “Your ex-fiancé told you to not come to the party so he can go to it with his new girlfriend? What an asshole. Men really are the worst.”

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