Page 28 of If You Could Only Imagine
No goddamn way.
I had shut the door behind me when I marched into Aiden’s office yesterday evening. I mean, I stormed out of there in a huff, but I hadn’t seen anyone in the hallways or anywhere on my floor. I had gone back to my office to retrieve my purse and coat and lock up, and I hadn’t seen anyoneanywhere.
There’s no way someone could have overheard our argument.
“Sarah…”
She knew what I was about to say because she grimaced a bit and said, “The office walls are pretty thick, but not thick enough to drown out an argument, Denise.”
I didn’t bother denying the argument. “But no one was around, Sarah,” I protested. “The floor was empty.”
She cleared her throat. “The gossip I got was that there was an after-hours meeting in the conference room down the hall from Mr. Buchanan’s office. When a couple of people excused themselves for a restroom break, one saw you march into Mr. Buchanan’s office without knocking and then someone else heard raised voices, even if they couldn’t hear exactly what was being said.”
Okay. So, okay. That still didn’t mean anything. If they couldn’t hear what we were saying, the argument could have been work related, which, technically, it sort of had been.
“So, what exactly is being said?” I asked. “That, barely two weeks in, I’m fighting with my boss’ boss?”
Her blue eyes shifted, and I knew it was bad. “Not exactly, Denise.”
I no longer wanted to have this conversation out in the open as we were. “Sarah, can you please follow me to my office?” I knew I sounded short, but all my nightmares were becoming real life.
I didn’t bother to look behind me to see if she was following me. Sarah was loyal and good people. I knew she’d follow.
Once we reached my office, Sarah shut the door behind her as I hung up my coat and dropped my purse on my desk. I turned to her, and she looked so sullen. “Okay, just give it to me straight, please.”
Sarah let out a deep sigh and spilled. “Okay, no one knows what you guys were arguing about. That’s fact,” she began. “What everyone is speculating on is the fact that you barged into Aiden Buchanan’s officewithoutknocking, Denise. You’ve always been nothing but professional at work. You have been hit on by lots of men and you’ve encountered some real assholes throughout your career here at BI, but you’ve never faltered in your professional behavior,not once.”
She’s right.
“So, what’s the most popular speculation this morning?” I asked, not wanting to know, but needing to know.
“The consensus is that only someone with personal ties would dare storm into Aiden Buchanan’s office like that, so…you guys must have gotten personal,” she finished, regretfully.
I could feel the pressure behind my eyes and the tingling inside my nose at the hint of tears. “And what do you think?” I asked her.
She gave me a small lift of her lips. “I think it’s nobody’s business, including mine, what kind of relationship, if any, you have with Aiden Buchanan.”
She couldn’t know how grateful I was for those words. I’ve always valued Sarah’s respect, and it meant a great deal to know I still had it. “Thank you, Sarah,” I replied, genuinely smiling. “I really appreciate that.”
“No need to thank me, Denise,” she replied. “It’s true.”
I didn’t want to tell her what was going on, but with Raymond Sampson free to speak on what happened in my office and, now, witnesses to the argument, I didn’t see a reason to hide it from her. Besides, if she knew the truth, maybe she could help with damage control.
Ugh. Damage control.
I was going to have to go to HR or Mason Buchanan with this new development.
“What I’m about to tell you, I hope you will keep between the two of us, Sarah. Or at the very least, use it to help squash the rumors and speculation,” I winced.
Her eyes widened. “Denise, you don’t have to tell-”
I help my hand up to stop her. “It’s okay,” I assured her. “Really, Sarah.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Aiden Buchanan and I…were involved,” I said, hating how that sounded coming out of my mouth. “But we had a falling out, and it’s over.”
Sarah looked crestfallen. “It is?” she whispered.
