Page 189 of One Bad Idea
"Well, like for Tessa's baby shower, the one they held in the break room – onlyoneperson on the whole floor wasn't invited." At the memory, my voice grew very quiet. "Me."
Jaden was silent for a long moment. And then, more gently now, he said, "Come on. You couldn’t've been the only one."
"I was too," I replied. "Name one other person who wasn't invited."
He gave a low scoff. "Me."
I felt like screaming. "Was that a joke? Youdoknow they only invited women, right?"
In a way, it was a real shame they'd done it that way. If they'd invited guys, too, Idefinitelywould've been invited, if only because I'd be at Jaden's side.
They'd never snubhim.
As the silence stretched out between us, a horrible thought occurred to me. Maybethatwas the reason they'd had an all-girls shower in the first place, so they wouldn't need to include me at all.
Oh, crap.
It probably was.
On the phone, Jaden said something that I didn't quite catch, probably because somewhere along the line, I'd stopped listening. Absently, I murmured, "What?"
His voice softened. "Allie, just get on the flight, okay?"
It was the closest he'd come to actually asking me. Unfortunately, I was too far gone to care. "No."
"What?"
"No," I repeated. "And you know what else?" Before he could respond, I'd already said it. "I quit." And with that, I hung up.
Chapter 71
I didn't know what I was expecting, but utter silencewasn'tit.
Yes, I realized that I'd been the one to hang up, but stupidly, I'd been thinking that he'd at least call later on, if only to ask if I was serious about quitting.
And the answer to that question?
Yes. I was.
I had to.
Unfortunately, this meant that now, I'd need to find another job.
But that wasn't the thing that had me crying into my pillow. It was the idea that Jaden and I might be finished. In spite of everything that I'd believed and felt for last few months, maybe itwasjust a work fling.
I mean, it wasn't a fling forme. But everything about this past week had served as a grim reminder that Jaden held all the cards. He was my boss. And my lover. And, aside from Cassidy, my very best friend.
Now, I didn't know if he remainedanyof these things.
At least a hundred times that night, I debated calling him to ask. But each time, I stopped myself at the recollection that I'd already tried repeatedly to tell him how I felt. And he simply hadn't cared.
It was beyond heartbreaking.
Now, I wasn't sure what to do, even about work. Sure, I'd already quit, but it was standard practice to give at least a two-week notice.Should I keep working until the two weeks were up? Or stop showing up immediately?
In the end, I decided that I'd keeping working at least until Jaden returned, at which point, we could discuss some sort of transition – assuming that we'd be talking at all.
The next morning, I slouched into the office bleary eyed and somber. Maybe it was something in the air, because a definite gloom had settled over Cassidy and Jax, too.
