Ashley

What Jimmy had done for me was so sweet, but I was scared he thought I was lying to him. I could tell he was uneasy in my apartment yesterday despite his outward demeanor. I had already admitted to lying to him once about calling out sick, and I was concerned he didn’t trust me. It was why I had sent him the prescriptions the doctor had written me in the office.

I went past Jimmy’s office and decided to stick my head in. I opened the door and smiled, watching as his head whipped up from his papers. Instead of offering me a kind smile, his stern expression set in.

“You should knock,” he said.

“I’ve never knocked before,” I said.

“Well, you should. What if I had been in a meeting?”

Furrowing my brow, I closed his office door. Maybe he was simply having a bad morning. I walked into my office and kept my door open, hoping to get a peak of Jimmy whenever he left. But he stayed in his office all day and not once did he open his door so we could see one another.

He always kept his door open so we could see one another.

Shit, he thought I was lying to him about something. That had to be it. I saw him smile at his receptionist and have a friendly conversation with Ross. He hadn’t ducked his head in to ask me if I wanted anything for lunch or even to offer having lunch in my office like he usually did.

Something was wrong, and I needed to talk with him.

“Ashley.”

“Jimmy. Hey. I was just coming to find you,” I said.

“Did you forget about the meeting this afternoon?” he asked.

“What meeting?” I asked.

“I put it on your calendar four hours ago.”

“You never put anything on my calendar. You always come and tell me personally.”

“Didn’t have the time today. Come on. You’ve made us late.”

I gathered up my things as tears welled in my eyes. I tried to blink them back as we flipped into a company-wide financial meeting. I took minutes of the meeting and recorded it, jotting down everything I could remember and making tick marks when I couldn’t get everything down. The meeting was almost two hours long, and Jimmy didn’t look at me once.

It was like he was intentionally trying to avoid me.

“Hey, Ashley. We’re all going out for a bite to eat,” Ross said. “Wanna come?”

I looked over at Jimmy, and he cleared his throat.

“Yes, Ashley. You should join us,” he said.

Robotically, like it was required of him to invite me.

“Sure,” I said. “I worked through lunch again, so I could go for a bite to eat.”

“Stop doing that,” Jimmy said. “You’ll get this company in trouble if we get audited.”

“Don’t worry. I’m still clocking out for lunch,” I said.

A bunch of us went out for lunch together, but Ross kept tossing us odd looks. Jimmy wasn’t sitting next to me, and he rarely addressed me over the course of our meal. He didn’t offer to pay, and he left before I could ask him to talk with me. Ross offered me a ride back to the company.

The car ride was silent, though I knew he wanted to ask questions.

The only bet I had was catching him after work. I sat in my office and tried to wrap things up. Then, I sent him an email with the minutes of the meeting in it. I stood from my desk as I saw his door rip open, and I ran up to him and grabbed his arm.

“Can we talk?” I asked.

“I’ve got a meeting with Markus,” Jimmy said.

“I thought Markus was already gone?”

“He’s extended his time in Miami. We’re going for some drinks.”

“That sounds like fun. Do you want some company?”

“I’ll have Markus.”

“I mean, Jamie might like some company,” I said.

“She’ll be fine.”

His words punched me in the gut as I dropped my gaze to my feet.

“Call me later? Let me know how it goes?” I asked. “If you can.”

“If I’ve got time, I will, Ashley.”

“And be careful. Don’t, you know, drink too many drinks and drive.”

“My driver’s taking me. I’ll be fine,” he said.

I watched him walk toward the elevator as Ross stuck his head out of his office. I didn’t try to conceal the tears flooding down my cheek. I turned and headed for my office, determined to bury myself in some paperwork.

I called Cass and told her to pick up Chipper for me, so I knew he would be okay for the night.

“Ashley, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. Just lots of work,” I said.

“You’ve been crying,” she said.

“No, I haven’t.”

“You’re my best friend. I know when you’ve been crying. Did that asshole do something to you?”

“Jimmy? He’s not an asshole.”

“He is if he made you cry,” she said.

I sighed and sat back into my chair as I turned toward the windows. Nighttime was descending onto Miami, and the town was coming to life. Jimmy was out to drinks with Markus and Jamie, and he was probably talking about how I was a liar, a filthy, bullshit liar like the rest of the women in his life were.

Or something like that.

“Ashley? You there?” Cass asked.

“I think I know who L.R. is,” I said.

“What?”

“In fact, I’m almost positive I know who it is. The problem is it’s someone this company trusts immensely, and I’m not sure Jimmy’s going to believe me.”

“Who the fuck cares? You have to tell him, Ashley. Why the hell have you not already told him?”

“So many reasons,” I said.

“I don’t know what the hell’s going on in your mind or what happened at work today, but if you know who that person is, you have to tell Jimmy. Not Jimmy, your boyfriend. But Jimmy, your boss.”

“What if he doesn’t believe me?”

“Then that’s on him. When have you ever given him the notion you couldn’t be trusted.”

I sighed as I closed my eyes.

“Ashley, what did you do?” she asked.

“I may have called in sick a time or two when I wasn’t sick to work out who L.R. was and then told Jimmy I wasn’t actually sick.”

“Seriously, Ashley.”

“I thought I was doing him a favor! Helping him, Cass. And now he doesn’t trust me. I don’t think, anyway.”

“Why don’t you think?” she asked.

“He’s been acting strangely. I had to go to the doctor yesterday because of a bad migraine.”

“And he thinks you weren’t actually sick.”

“I sent him a picture of the prescriptions I received. Hell, I could go get a doctor’s note.”

“But that kind of shit doesn’t translate into ‘I think I know who’s stealing from you, but you won’t trust me because I took a personal day once.’ ”

“I lied about the reason I took that personal day,” I said.

“Apples to oranges. I’m telling you, Ashley. You have to tell him. How he reacts is on him. But you have to tell him what you know, even if you’re flat-out wrong, because the alternative is you’re right and his company goes under for it.”

“I know,” I said. “I know.”

“Will you come get Chipper tonight? Or is he staying with me?”

“I’ll come get him in a couple of hours,” I said.

“We’ll be waiting. Tell him, Ashley. Write him a note if you can’t do it in person. But for fuck’s sake, tell the man.”

“I hear you, damn it. Okay? Sheesh.”

“See you soon.”

“Yep.”

I hung up the phone and sat in my office for two hours waiting for Jimmy to call. I left my office and went to pick up Chipper and waited for him to call. I curled up with Chipper in my bed and listened to his soft snores as I watched the clock tick over to one in the morning.

I waited for a call that never came.

And it broke my heart.