Page 84 of Isolated
“And Flora?”
Iris shrugged. “She’s been mostly fine. She still takes my calls. But I’m so frustrated with Eleni that I’ve taken it out on Flora. I’ve called her to apologize, and she accepted my apology, but even that relationship feels strained. And I can’t even call my parents about it, because they’re traveling, and I don’t want to ruin their time.”
I hated that Iris was dealing with this, but there was some small part of me that was relieved to know there’d been some tension between her and her sister before I ever entered the picture. I didn’t think I could walk away from her now.
“Alright. Tell me about work,” I urged her.
Tears filled her eyes again as she dropped her head back against my shoulders, pressing her forehead into my neck once more. “It’s been a couple of things over the last week and a half. I mean, I guess it’s been longer than that. Truthfully, things haven’t gotten any better at work since the day Robert asked me to take the remainder of the week off.”
My body went rigid beneath her. “I thought everythingwas going okay. You promised me you’d tell me if you had any more problems, so I could help you.”
She bolted upright, terror in her eyes. “Are you upset with me, too?”
God, the panic she felt. I reached up and stroked my fingers lightly through her hair. “No, sunshine.”
“You’re the only person who seems to like me right now, so I don’t think I could handle that on top of everything else.”
I smiled at her before tucking her close to me. “I’m not going anywhere, Iris. I only wish you would have told me you were having trouble at work again, even if only so I could be supportive. Is there still something going on with your emails?”
“Not with the emails, specifically, but things have been strained in general. I’m still dealing with colleagues who whisper when I walk past or ignore me in meetings. But the biggest problem was that I was cut out of putting together a campaign for a huge potential client. If it hadn’t been for Steph and Kasey telling me about it, I wouldn’t have even known the company approached us.”
My brows pulled together. “So, you’re on good terms with your friends, then.”
“Well, I was. But after I found out about that, I decided I was going to put something together anyway. I mean, how can you cut the marketing director out of such a big project? My plan was to work on something on my own, and when the time came to present it, I’d come out with it.”
I loved her ambition. I loved knowing that, no matter what came her way, this woman did not give up. “I’mproud of you, Iris. That takes guts. What I still don’t understand is how your friendships have been impacted.”
“I needed Brett’s help.”
“Who’s Brett?”
“He’s one of the software developers,” she revealed.
“Okay. Well, what happened with him?”
“As much as I wish I had the capability to do the sorts of things Brett is capable of, I don’t. So, I had to enlist his help to create something I’d need for my proposal. I didn’t tell him any of the specifics I was working on, only that I needed him to develop this specific thing. He told me he could get it done for me within the week. That was last week, and yesterday, he approached me to let me know it was completed. I wanted a demonstration of how the program he created would work, so while he was in my office, he loaded the program onto my laptop and gave me a quick presentation. Unfortunately, the office has some gossips, and one of them happened to see Brett in my office when I initially asked him about helping and again yesterday. Apparently, she decided to tell others around the office about it. That’s not uncommon for her, so I wasn’t worried when she saw us. It’s not like she knew what we were working on. Plus, it’s not unreasonable to presume that I would’ve needed Brett’s help on some other project. But today, at lunch, I guess Steph noticed how I offered a friendly smile of appreciation to Brett when I walked into the lunchroom, and she questioned me.”
Something about that felt unsettling. “Why would she question you for being friendly with a coworker?”
Pulling her forehead away from my neck, so she could look at me again, Iris explained, “I think it’s partly becauseNova spread some gossip about Brett being in my office and us working on something. But it’s mostly because Brett is the shy guy. Any time a girl looks at him, he blushes. So, I guess Steph must have initially thought that Nova was simply spreading rumors, but when my friend saw me have that small bit of interaction with Brett, she couldn’t ignore it.”
Iris seemed to think that was enough of an explanation, but I was still a little lost. “Why is Steph mad about that, though? I don’t understand why she’d be upset.”
It was at that question when I saw the weight of the situation settle on Iris’s shoulders. Evidently, there wasn’t something I had missed as she relayed the story. She simply hadn’t reached the part of it that would give me the explanation I needed to understand.
“Steph and Kasey are the ones who told me about the campaign.” Iris blew out a deep breath. “When Steph questioned me at lunch about what was going on with Brett, insisting she’d believed Nova had been making things up, I told her the truth. Steph and Kasey are the only real girlfriends I’ve made since moving here. Sure, I’m friendly with a lot of people, and until recently, I’ve always gotten along with everyone at work. But Steph and Kasey are the ones I maintain friendships with outside of work. And everyone knows it. So, they’re both really upset with me for deciding to put together a campaign for this potential client, because with the consultant there and jobs on the line, they suspect their jobs might be vulnerable. They believe everyone is going to know that they are the ones who told me about it, and they’ll be on the chopping block as a result.”
The pain and heartache were etched into every feature,leading me to feel an overwhelming sense of heaviness. If I could have snapped my fingers and fixed this that quickly, I’d have done it in a heartbeat.
Stroking my thumb along her cheek, I spoke softly. “I’m so sorry you’re going through all this. But I’m here. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to get you to the other side of it. For tonight, I’m going to order some dinner, and we’re going to have a quiet night in.”
She winced. “We were supposed to go out tonight. I’ve ruined that, too.”
“You didn’t ruin anything, Iris. You’re going through a tough time here, so we can adjust our plans. I’m happy as long as I’m spending time with you.”
My beautiful girl’s features softened a touch, a hint of appreciation replacing the pained expression. She draped her arms over my shoulders and pressed her body tight to mine. “Thank you for being here for me, Landen. As upset as I am about everything, I’m so grateful for you.”
I hugged her tightly, reassuringly. “It’s my pleasure, sunshine.”
