Chapter Eight
“Hey, Allie, long time! How are you?” Bryce asked when he picked up the phone.
“Well, I just spent two hours in the tub, day drinking and contemplating going postal, so… you tell me,” I replied.
After my bath and receiving the email from Parker, I’d called up the first person that came to mind—Bryce. I figured he’d know what to do since he’d been there at the beginning of Cooper and me…and whatever it was we were doing together. It wasn’t a relationship. But then, it wasn’t not one, either.
It was complicated.
“Sounds like you need to get out of the house. The question is, do you want to continue drinking, or do you need something to sober you up?” he asked.
I hesitated, balancing the phone against my shoulder as I craned around the corner to look at the glowing digital clock beside my bed. It was nearly one o’clock in the afternoon. I was still exhausted, but with everything going on in my head, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to sleep without medicinal intervention.
“Coffee would probably be the best solution right now.”
“Done. Let’s meet at Piper’s Cafe. They have good coffee and we can get you something for lunch, as well.”
I smiled, appreciative of Bryce’s concern. He rattled off the directions, and we hung up. I went to my bedroom and quickly changed into a pair of dark wash jeans and a black tank. I didn’t bother with makeup and threw my long hair into a ponytail. As I slicked back my hair, I recalled confessing to Cooper that I am a natural redhead. It had been ages since I’d let myself revert to my natural color, but in that moment, staring at my reflection in the mirror, I started to consider it.
I swept out of the apartment, giving Sam a pat on the head as I left, and within fifteen minutes had arrived at the cafe Bryce had indicated. It was a cute shop with indoor and outdoor seating. I spotted Bryce right away, and then noticed he’d brought Clay, his boyfriend, along with him. I’d met Clay once before, when Bryce had coaxed me out of my apartment after a different encounter with Cooper had left me down in the dumps.
Man, I have got to get off this fucking merry-go-round.
I was a little embarrassed as I walked over to them. I didn’t want Clay to think of me as some whiny chick who did nothing but complain about men. I didn’t know why it particularly mattered to me, but it did. Bryce saw me and started waving me over to the table they had selected. I plastered on a smile and resolved to not talk about Cooper at all.
My resolve lasted all of ten minutes—before I knew it, Cooper was, yet again, the focus of the conversation.
“So, wait, let me get this straight,” Bryce interjected at the peak of my story. “You’re working for him now? For Plush?”
I nodded and licked my lips nervously. “Well, technically, I’m in the IT department, but the current project he has me working on is in relation to Plush.”
Bryce and Clay nodded slowly in unison and I felt even more awkward.
“Is that bad? Do you think?”
I’d left out the part where Cooper had stalked me and hauled me out of a strip club I’d been working at to make rent. I had no idea what Bryce—and now, Clay, too—would think if they knew that part. It wasn’t exactly something I liked to bring up.
“Well, I don’t know, Allie. I’ve heard that working for Brighton Enterprises is a pretty sweet gig, but do you think it’s good to be in such close contact with him, after…everything?”
It felt warm and I wished they had chosen a table inside. I took a long sip of my iced coffee, partly to stall and partly because it seemed like I was overheating. “I don’t know. He was nice and the job pays more than I could have ever imagined…” My voice trailed off. I’d thought talking to Bryce would make me feel better, but now I just felt stupid. “I wanted it to be different. I was going to keep it professional. And it was…”
“Until it wasn’t?” Bryce asked, his eyebrow cocked.
“Yeah. I don’t know what my problem is. But now, I don’t know whether to stay and keep working for him or if I should leave.” I let out a sigh, exhausted by my own drama.
“If you stay, isn’t that going to be kind of awkward? I mean, Cooper is the CEO. It’s not like you will really be able to avoid him forever.”
“I know. But if I don’t keep the job, at least for awhile longer, I won’t be able to find another job and I’ll get back in debt again.”
Bryce seemed to be listening, but he had an odd expression, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to say. He’d never been guarded with me in the past, but I got the distinct feeling there was something he was holding back. Maybe he just didn’t want to say the wrong thing and make me feel any worse than I already did.
I waved my hands and tried to laugh it off. I didn’t want to be having this conversation anymore. “Let’s drop it. I’ll figure it out.”
Thankfully, the server made her reappearance at that moment and set down plates in front of each of us. I’d been pleased to find a large selection of vegan-friendly menu items, and happily dug into my soup and sandwich combo. Everyone was so busy eating and enjoying the food that conversation dwindled away. The only thing breaking our silence was comments about how good everything was.
Somewhere between emptying my soup bowl and starting on my sandwich, a little nagging voice started up in the back of my mind. I was looking at Clay and trying to figure out where I knew him from. There was something else, something not related to Bryce. But I couldn’t place it exactly. I didn’t know where the sudden suspicion came from, but something about the way he looked had an edge of familiarity. I’d seen him, prior to the first time we had been introduced over dinner and drinks with them a few weeks before. I just didn’t know where…
As I wiped my mouth and set down my napkin on my empty plate, it hit me.
He’d been at the Plush fragrance event I’d been to, where Cooper and I had been photographed making out.
But why had he been there? And why hadn’t Bryce mentioned that he’d been there?
The whole realization struck me as odd.
“So, Clay, remind me again, what it is that you do?” I asked. It was a good change of topic, as well as a little sneaky recon.
He cleared his throat and took a sip of his iced tea. “I’m actually in the tech game myself,” he said.
I nodded, hoping he would proceed and I wouldn’t be forced to dig.
“Clay’s being modest. He’s a genius,” Bryce filled in, his eyes full of admiration as he looked over at Clay, who was obviously more subdued.
“That’s really cool. What kind of stuff do you do?”
“Mostly consulting, at this point. I branched out on my own a few years back.”
He didn’t elaborate, so I dropped it. We waited for the server to come drop off the bill and I tapped my fingers along the tabletop, mentally debating whether or not it would be wise to ask if Clay had been at the Plush launch party. I was burning up with curiosity, but I didn’t know how to ask—or if I even should. Maybe Bryce didn’t know that Clay had been there? Maybe he’d been on a date with someone else? I knew they were committed, and had recently purchased a condo together, but still…people cheated all the time.
That was a life lesson I knew all too well.
When the server came, Bryce snatched up the check before I could get my fingertips on it.
“Absolutely not, Allie. It’s my treat. I’m the one who invited you out.”
“Thank you,” I said, forcing aside my questions and letting myself relax.
Twenty minutes later, I was back at my apartment, having said goodbye to Bryce and Clay at the cafe. I’d barely laid my head down on the couch, before I was zonked out.
When I woke up, it was dark outside the windows. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. It was seven p.m. I was suddenly wide awake from my afternoon nap and decided to go in to the office and get some work done. I knew Cooper would be gone for the evening, and I had a key card to let myself in at any time, so I figured it would be a good time to go and be productive without any distractions. In the back of my mind, I was also well aware that whoever had hacked the system the day before may have been plotting another attack and I would rest easier knowing the data was all safe and accounted for, even though I figured Cooper would have already seen to it that someone was watching the data like a hawk, 24/7.
I got on Cherry Bomb and drove downtown. I parked in the garage and hurried to the Brighton Enterprises tower. As suspected, everything was dark and quiet as I slid my key card into the front door of the building. I rounded the corner to the elevator banks and waited for a car to descend. It was almost eerily quiet as I stood there, the sound of me nervously tapping foot echoing around me.
Finally, the elevator arrived and I punched the button and rode up.
As soon as I stepped off, I realized I’d made a mistake. I’d accidentally pushed the button for the floor that Cooper’s office was on, not the IT department.
“Smooth, Allie. Get your mind off of him for two seconds…” I chided myself under my breath.
I spun around again and was about to board the elevator, to go down one floor, when I heard a sound down the hallway.
I stopped, frozen in place, at the sound of voices drifting from somewhere nearby.
My heart raced as I instantly recognized one as Cooper’s, but the other voice, I couldn’t place.
It was definitely female…and giggling…
That son of a bitch.