Page 14 of Erik's Redemption
It was official…today sucked.
She quickly adjusted her pump before lifting a spoonful of dry cereal to her mouth. The kitchen window gave her the perfect view of her small house next door. She swallowed, thoughts of moving back flickering in her head once again. Some distance would help, right? It certainly couldn’t make things worse.
She got halfway through the cereal before tipping the rest into the trash and slipping the bowl into the dishwasher. With a sigh, she lifted her bag and moved to the door. Her Honda key sat right next to the key for the G70.
Screw it.
She grabbed that one instead. The second she slid behind the wheel of her old car, a small semblance of peace returned. Not a lot, but some. And God, she needed that right now.
As she drove to work, her phone dinged. She turned her head to see the message was from the group chat between her, Henry, and Brigid. The group had become a lot less active in recent months. Henry was well and truly the most frequent participant.
She really needed to check on Brigid. They texted daily, but that wasn’t enough. She needed to catch up with her best friend in person.
After parking at work, she took a few deep breaths, then headed inside. She was just pulling the office door open when Reuben stepped out.
She smiled at her boss. “Hey.”
“Hannah, hi.” His brows furrowed. “Are you okay?”
God, did she look as awful as she felt? “Yeah, just a rocky night’s sleep. You off to a meeting?”
He held her gaze for a beat before answering. “Yeah, meeting a potential client. Give me a call if you need me.”
“Will do.”
He gave a nod, still looking like he didn’t believe that she was okay, before walking down the street.
She blew out a breath and stepped inside. Since everything had gone down with James and Angelo, Reuben had been the best boss. But that wasn’t always a good thing. It meant on days like today, when she tried to mask the fact that she was feeling fragile, it was impossible because he looked at her too closely.
As she dropped behind her desk, she pulled her phone from her bag to see the stream of messages from her friends.
Henry: What do you mean, you might not go to Andi’s party?
Crap. She’d forgotten about that. Erik’s sister was turning thirty, and it was her party this weekend.
Brigid: I haven’t been feeling in a party mood. Plus, it’s outside and it’ll be cold.
Brigid was always in a party mood, and the weather would normally be the last thing to stop her. But after everything with James…who could blame her?
Henry: Then we’ll get some alcohol into you, woman! You have to go. I’m bringing Owen so you can both finally meet him.
Hannah: He’s right. You have to go because I have to go. And I need drinking and dancing friends.
Brigid: I’ll see how I feel.
Worry for her friend rippled through Hannah. Brigid and Erik were two of the most important people in her life, and neither of them were acting like themselves. Neither of them would tell her why, either. Though in Brigid’s case, she could easily guess.
A couple of months ago, Brigid’s long-time boyfriend, the love of her life, went to jail for trying to kill Hannah.
Years. They had been dating for years, and Brigid had had no idea he was doing drugs, sabotaging Hannah’s career, or was capable of attempted murder. That wasn’t something her friend would get over any time soon and Hannah needed to be there for her during this tough time.
She placed her bag onto the floor and turned back to her screen, her mood sinking further when she saw a buyer was pulling out of a purchase just before the cooling off period had ended.
Really? Did today hate her that much?
With gritted teeth, she lifted the phone to call the homeowners. As she knew they would be, the client was upset, but Hannah did her best to assure the woman they’d do more opens and find another buyer.
When she hung up, she felt depleted. And it wasn’t even nine thirty, dammit. She still had the entire day in front of her.
