Page 55 of One Small Secret

“I didn’t think I was that obvious about it. But apparently I was wrong.”

I’m so confused, I barely notice that the plane has started moving forward. “Let me see the emails.”

“What?”

I stand up so he can have the seat by his computer again. “You said you wrote to me. Let me see the emails.” I point both hands toward his empty seat.

One of his eyes narrows to a slit, but he shrugs and sits. He navigates away from my New Year’s present and within a few clicks, he has an email open.

I quickly scan the message. It’s friendly and curious about Vietnam. I would have loved to receive it. I look at the date. One week exactly after I landed there. Like he planned it that way. And that’s when I see the problem.

“You’re missing my middle initial.”

“What?”

“In my email. When I moved to Vietnam, I had to get a new work email address, and they added the initial.”

“Who said you had to change your email?”

“Mr.—” I stop.

“Auger.” He finishes.

“Yes. Something about the domains there.”

Ruben grabs the edge of the desk so tightly I think it might break. He closes his eyes and swallows hard. “I thought…” He shakes his head. He curses a few times, low and severe.

When I speak next, my voice is low. “He’s the one who told me you wanted me transferred. He let me think that you hated my Redwoods project because Ben loved it so much.”

He swears again and slams his computer closed. “When have I ever cared that you were better at something than me?”

It’s true. If I’ve learned nothing else these past few weeks, I’ve learned that I was the only one competing. Mr. Auger must have seen my need to compare myself to Ruben and used it to his advantage. I took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. “I’m such an idiot.”

“No. Stanley is a worthless piece of incompetence who couldn’t handle the fact that a young new hire was outshining him. You were going to be up for a promotion if you’d stayed here, and he knew it.” Ruben puts a hand on the back of his neck.

What? “Mr. Auger had told me moving to Vietnam would be the fastest way to get a promotion.” Is everyone in that office pretending at something? “Ruben,” my voice sounds odd, like I’m speaking through a long tube. “When was the first time you heard about my Mekong River idea?”

“A week and a half ago, after I talked you into coming back to work.”

I shake my head. Mr. Auger had been filtering my emails the whole time I was in Vietnam. None of my ideas had been passed on to the committee. “That’s why I was going to be sent back to Vietnam. He knew I was going to present my idea in a way that made it obvious he’s been stopping my communication while I was gone.”

“So you never wanted to leave Rosco?”

“No. There was a lot I loved about my time in Vietnam, but I didn’t choose to go there. I thought you sent me away.”

Ruben looks like he’s been hit by a snowplow.

“We need to talk. This changes…everything.” He grabs my arm and gently tugs me down.

I sink into his lap in a daze, the world suddenly making sense in a way I’d never thought possible—the air suddenly so breathable, I think too much oxygen is hitting my brain. He wraps his arms around my waist and I put one of mine around his neck. “Are you sure we need to talk? Because I’m feeling like maybe we can both just acknowledge that Mr. Auger was the bad guy and get back to fake kissing again.”

Ruben narrows his eyes. “If this was a couch, I’d throw you again. Now, you listen to me, because there are some things we need to get straight.”

I nod as if I’m a good little student. His jaw slides to the side like he might actually be debating my first offer. But then he clamps it closed. “When I heard you had returned home from Vietnam with a child, I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it. But then I pulled up to your apartment, and there he was.”

“But you know—”

“Yes,” he interrupts me. “I know he isn’t your child, but that isn’t the point. The point is, I thought I’d missed my chance. I’d been waiting for years, standing on the sidelines, watching you and waiting, and while I wasn’t looking, I thought you settled down with someone else.”

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