Page 15 of One Small Secret

He leans on my desk. “I’m just happy you're back.”

“Me too.”

Mr. Auger calls me into his office a few minutes later. He makes a hurried apology about the slip-up in the email system.

I shake my head. “You and I both know that wasn’t what this was.”

“Well, it was a slip-up somewhere, and if upper management wants to call it an email slip-up, I’m not going to contradict them. Are you?”

I know what he means. This is exactly the type of situation a large company doesn’t want to become involved in. I don’t want the mess of a lawsuit either. “Definitely not. I’m simply happy to be back at work.”

“And we're happy to have you back. You’ve done some really great things, and I was certain to point them out after I heard the news. Maybe that’s why there was a change of heart.”

“Maybe.” I don’t want to give Mr. Auger credit when Axley is the real reason I got my job back, but what does it hurt to let my boss feel good about himself? Standing up for me can be his good deed for the year.

The next few days fly by. Rebecca and I grab coffee almost every day and while it’s not the same as when Emily was here, I’m finally starting to feel like I’m back to myself. Usually, our conversation centers around my time in Vietnam. Today is no different.

Rebecca chucks her coffee cup in the trash as we walk into the lobby. “What’s your favorite thing you bought there? If I go for the hotel opening, what should I be on the lookout for?”

I tell her the name of my favorite tailor shop. “If you're there long enough, you should definitely order a few things. I may have gone overboard. Every time I got my order back, I was so impressed with the quality, I ordered something else. I might never have the chance to wear some of the things I bought, but I love seeing them in my closet.”

“Okay. I’m definitely doing that.”

“I’ll email the name and location to you. It took me months to find the best place in Da Lat, but it was worth it.”

I haven’t seen Ruben all week. Which is fine. I wasn’t expecting to. He felt bad about firing me when he found out I had a child to take care of, but that didn’t mean he wanted to renew our friendship. Plus, he normally spends a lot of time in New York, in the secondary office, which houses more employees than the corporate office. Some executives don’t want to live in a tiny town in Northwest Washington. Their loss. We step into the elevator and I scroll my phone for any emails I missed while we were out.

“Oh, my goodness,” Rebecca blurts out. “I left something in my car. I’ll see you up there.”

What? We hadn’t even been in her car. I glance up. She's already halfway out of the elevator and Ruben is striding towards it. Rebecca and I have only talked about Ruben a few times, but she had a major crush on him in college. Even married, she can’t handle looking him in the eyes or interacting with him. In her mind, he's some uber famous celebrity who belongs on her wall, not in her workplace.

I have the strongest desire to join her. But both of us leaving would be too obvious, so I hold my ground and push the hold door button, despite the fact that the button just below it is much more tempting.

He steps in and glances at where my finger is. “You resisted the close door button, eh?”

I give a little laugh, as if pushing it rapid-fire and waving at him through the glass door all the way up to the fifth floor was the furthest thing from my mind. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You definitely thought about it.” He leans forward and presses the 15.

Show off.

I put a hand on my hip. Since the elevator is glass, everyone in the lobby can see us, and I guarantee Rebecca is watching us.

“Why would I do that?”

“Maybe you're scared of my animal magnetism?”

I snort. That doesn’t deserve an answer.

The elevator grows darker when we hit the sixth floor and all we can see is the elevator shaft. Ruben steps toward the buttons and swipes a card over the controls. A beep sounds but the elevator keeps moving upwards.

“What are you doing?” My purse drops off my shoulder and onto the ground when I push him aside and try to figure out what his card did.

“I’m using my override card to prevent anyone from getting on the elevator.”

“Will it prevent me from getting off?”

“For now, we aren’t stopping on the 11th floor anymore.”

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