Page 56 of Best Kept Secret
Silence falls around the table as we all turn to where Millie is storming back from the far end of the room with a murderous scowl, cheeks flushed, phone held in her white-knuckled grip.
“What’s up, Mils?” Emily asks, worry etched between her eyebrows.
“I have to go,” Millie says, shaking her head and collecting her bag.
“Go?” Dallas guffaws. “Where?”
Millie huffs, smoothing her hair back from her face. “That was my quote-unquoteboss,” she continues. “She needs me to complete an entire strategy for her to present to board tomorrow. And if I don’t have it to her by nine a.m.—” She pauses for effect, looking around the table. “Then she said I can look for a new job.”
Emily gasps.
“What?” Fran balks, slapping her hand on the table.
“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal,” Hannah says.
Millie rakes her fingers through hair again, shaking her head,and her eyes turn glassy with tears I’m sure are due to frustration more than anything else. “She’shorrible.”
“Tell her to go fuck herself,” Dallas snaps.
Millie rolls her eyes, flashing her brother aget seriouslook as she shrugs on her jacket.
“Well, how are you getting home?” Dallas stands, looking around for something, patting the pockets of his jeans. “Just wait and I’ll drive you.”
“It’s okay,” I say, standing. “I can just take her back.”
“Are you sure?” Dallas asks me.
I nod, my gaze flitting to Millie’s to see she’s on the verge of a meltdown. “Yeah. I’m fucking wiped anyway.”
“Okay, thanks, man.” Dallas slaps a hand on my shoulder, glancing at his sister. “And you and me need to talk about this whole work situation because ain’t no one meant to be working at this time of night. I don’t care if you’re an intern or a fuckin’ CEO; that’s some straight-up bullshit.”
“Whatever.” Millie rolls her eyes.
“No. Notwhatever,Millie. You didn’t move to New York just to burn yourself out.”
“Dallas,” Emily warns, flashing her fiancé ashut-the-hell-uplook before wrapping Millie in a hug and saying goodbye.
Dallas snaps his mouth shut, muttering something under his breath before giving his sister a quick, one-armed hug.
With a hurried goodbye to everyone, Millie rushes for the door, looking back at me with an impatient, “Are you coming or what?”
I jump, snapping to action and following her out. And when it’s just the two of us waiting for the elevator, I look at her from the corner of my eye as she studies her cell phone intently, tapping furiously into it.
“Do you need me to take you to your office to get anything?” I ask, just as the elevator arrives.
“Huh?”
I finish securing the cage, pressing the button for ground, andas I look back at Millie, she’s watching me like I’ve sprouted another head out of my shoulder.
“To do your strategy thing,” I say. “Do you need to stop by your work to pick anything up?”
She’s laughing. Head thrown back, eyes closed, belly laugh laughing. Confused, I wait for her to finish, and when she finally manages to stop, she looks at me for a long moment, clearly confused, and suddenly, it all makes sense.
“Your boss didn’t call you, did she?”
“No,” Millie says, a soft look in her eyes as her gaze meets mine. “You saidNutella.”
Before I can say anything, the elevator stops on ground, but as we walk out of the building and through the cool night air to my car, I don’t miss the way my heart tugs in my chest, and not in a bad way for once.
