It’s been seven days since I’ve seen Erin. The first two days were the weekend, so that was expected. The next two, I dealt with her absence well.

I thought, “Maybe she just wanted to take a few days off.”

But by the seventh, I was confused. We slept together and then she ran away. She ran away again. I’ve never had a woman run away from me before. It’s usually quite the opposite—I’m the one running away from them. But Erin she does it so much.

Spending time in my office doesn’t help. Every time I sit at my desk, I remember kissing her breasts, undressing her, having sex with her against the wall. Even falling asleep with her on the couch.

I cannot believe I fell asleep with her on the couch. Maybe she’s mad I let her sleep through the night. It was the just the feeling of her on my body. I had thought a mandatory cuddle would’ve been nice, given she just lost her virginity, but I know it was just an excuse. I wanted to be close to her. I didn’t want the night to end.

This is not like me at all. I usually have a strict no cuddle rule. What the hell is this girl doing to me?

My partners have noticed me moping. I once again can’t get a read for Garrett’s emotions, but Ron always seems to have a relieved expression on his face, as if he’s glad that Erin is gone, while Asher is worried. He’s been avoiding talking about it, but today, I can tell he’s had enough. About midday, he comes bursting into my office, wanting answers.

“Okay. What is it, Jameson? You’ve been a bucket of fucking sadness the past three days and I’m sick of it. What is going on?”

He’s taken an aggressive stance in front of my desk. I slowly stand up and make my way around, so we’re face to face.

“It’s Erin, okay? I just— I think I may’ve messed up.”

I run my hand through my hair and rack my brain. I’ve been over all our encounters, but can’t find anything to suggest why she would completely cut me out. It’s just my luck that I’d fall for a girl who wants nothing to do with me, when it’s usually the other way around.

I didn’t fall for her, I tell myself. Did I?

Asher grabs my shoulders and shakes me, pulling me back into the moment.

“What did you do? Dear God, Jim, what did you do?”

I feel bad letting my friend down, but I don’t regret any of it for one second. Even one night with her is worth it. That isn’t to say I don’t intensely want more, because I do. I can’t even fucking deny it to myself anymore.

“I slept with her and she hasn’t been back to work since and I’m worried that—”

“You slept,” he starts off shouting, but quickly brings it down to a loud whisper, “with her? After we all had a meeting about the firm’s image crisis? Need I remind you that an image crisis can lead to an actual crisis? What if she sues? What if Ron finds out? Do you have a plan?”

He’s assaulting me with questions I have no answers to, but soon his tone turns a bit more caring. I can tell he’s telling himself not to be a hypocrite. And I do understand why he’s mad. I have put the company in jeopardy. But this time, it wasn’t just for my libido. It may’ve started out that way, but I found myself genuinely liking Erin’s presence. She managed to fit into my life, so perfectly. And any moves I made were done because I wanted her to stay. Because I didn’t want to lose her.

“I know people have said that you come across as a saint but you have all these secret relationship,” Asher says, running his hand through his hair as if he’s trying to figure everything out. “I wasn’t sure if I should believe them or not. Frankly, it wasn’t any of my business. I wasn’t one to talk, and as long as you weren’t getting the firm in trouble, I didn’t care what you did. But what I’m trying to figure out is, why now? Why her? Just when we’re facing this crisis as a firm…”

“I know,” I tell Asher, patting him on the shoulder. “I know. It makes no sense. And none of the rest have been like her. If it wasn’t her, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. I’d be done with her and would have moved onto the next just like I usually do.”

“Holy shit,” Asher says, throwing his hands up in resignation. “That’s it.”

“What’s it?” I ask. He’d better not dare threaten me. I’m just as important to this firm as he is. I may have messed up, but he can’t toss me out.

“That’s it, you’re in fucking love,” he says.

I suck my breath in and just look at him, surprised not only at what he said but also that he’s right. At least, I think he’s right?

“In love?” I ask, as if it’s a foreign language. “How do you know?”

“Because this is the same fucking thing that happened to me and Madilyn,” he says. “Same exact way, pretty much.”

I’m about to ask Asher more questions about this crazy thing called love when we hear someone at the door— which neither of us had bothered to shut. We both turn and see Katie standing there, giving us an amused look. She always looks like she knows more than the rest of us. And she probably does. She did, after all, manage to make one of the richest men in the world fall in love with her.

“What are you two chit chatting about?” she asks, in her normal daring way.

I turn towards Asher, not sure what he plans to do. He could tell everyone, we’d have another meeting of the partners, and I could technically be forced out or he could try and protect me.

“We’re just having a friendly chat about…” I can see him searching for an excuse. He’s usually much better on his feet, but emotions are running high for him.

Katie basically ignores him and without missing a beat says, “Because if it’s about the receptionist named Erin you’ve been so obviously crushing on, Jim, I thought you should know she just quit. Monique told Claude, while Ruby and I were up there talking to him, and now Ruby is comforting Claude because he misses Erin and was hoping she hadn’t quit. So I decided to come tell you, as I thought you might need some comforting as well.”

Well, that was unexpected. There is a lot to unpack in that sentence. First off, Katie knows a lot more about Erin and me than I thought she did and secondly, Erin quit?

“She quit?”

Why?

Asher interjects with, “More importantly, Katie. How did you know?”

I’m not sure if he’s just perplexed and curious, or if he’s wondering the same thing I am—who else knows? Does Ron know? Am I in trouble?