Ashley

“Ugh, this coffee is always so good,” I said.

“The clock is ticking,” Cass said.

“Holy hell, would you get off it? I’m talking to him today about it,” I said.

“Good. I want you to let me know how it goes.”

“Hardly. You’ve been riding my butt about this, and I’m tired of hearing you chirp in my ear.”

“Until you can woman up and chirp in your own ear, I’m always going to be there to do it for you.”

“I don’t think he’ll believe me, especially after the fight we had over the weekend.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. What fight?” she asked.

“We had lunch yesterday, and it spawned a huge fight between us. He knew I was hiding something from him, and I told him that wasn’t the time or the place to talk about it. But do you know what he accused me of hiding?”

“What?” she asked.

“Being pregnant.”

“He what?”

“Yeah. He told me to stop lying to him and admit that I was pregnant. We’ve all been on edge this week with everything going on, and I admit, I’ve been bouncing between my emotions pretty strongly. One minute I’m anxious and the next I’m upset. But I told him I wasn’t pregnant, and he unleashed.”

“What do you mean by unleashed?”

“Apparently, he’s still upset that I used a couple of sick days without being sick.”

“No, he’s upset because you told him you were sick when you weren’t.”

“Isn’t that what I said?” I asked.

“No, it’s not. But as long as you agree that’s the issue, I won’t break it down for you,” she said.

“I told him I wasn’t pregnant, and he told me to stop lying to him. I told him he had bigger issues on the table than me being pregnant with some child that didn’t exist. Then, we said a lot of things we didn’t mean.”

“Like?”

“I told him he was idly standing by while his company tanked.”

“You what?” she asked.

“And he told me he didn’t know what to think about me anymore because he couldn't trust me.”

“That’s ... not a terrible reaction given the scenario.”

“Then we laid out everything, how he’s been treating me lately and how my mood swings have been bad. My skin’s apparently paler and me not eating my lunch translated into morning sickness somehow.”

“Are you pregnant?” she asked.

“Hell, no, I’m not pregnant. I am worn down and worried about all this stuff with the company. But Jimmy lied to me, too. He looked me in my eyes on Friday and told me he trusted me, point blank in front of Ross. Less than two days later, he’s telling me he doesn’t and he doesn’t know what to believe because he doesn't know if I’m telling the truth.”

“You two need a break. You need to put this shit at the company behind you, sit down together, and have an adult conversation. But you can’t do that until this issue’s resolved.”

“Which is why I’m talking to him today about it,” I said.

I finished my coffee and hugged Cass before I went to work. I headed straight for Jimmy’s office, ready to receive whatever punishment was going to come my way.

But when I knocked on his door and jiggled the doorknob, I found his office locked.

Furrowing my brow, I dug out my cell phone. Jimmy was never late for work. Was something wrong? I dialed his cell, but it shot me straight to voice message.

Great. He was screening his calls.

“He’s not coming in for the day.”

I turned around and took in the receptionist sitting at her desk.

“Is he sick?” I asked.

“No. Just called in and said he was taking a personal day,” she said.

“Did he say where he was? I’ve got something very important to discuss with him.”

“All he said was to hold all of his calls and meetings until tomorrow,” she said.

I sighed as I looked down the hallway to Ross’s office. He would know where Jimmy was. I walked down the hallway, darted into the office, and waited patiently for Ross to look up at me.

“I can feel you standing there, Ashley.”

“Waiting for you to finish,” I said.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Do you know where Jimmy is today?”

“No. He called in and said he needed a personal day but didn’t give any specifics. Why?”

“I needed to talk to him today about something.”

“Is it something you can talk to me about?” he asked.

“You might want to be there, but it needs to be with Jimmy around,” I said.

“Well, he’ll be back in tomorrow. We can catch him then.”

Instead of heading for my desk, I headed for the elevator. Jimmy wasn’t getting out of this that easily. Just because he pissed me off didn’t mean I called in for a personal day. And now that I needed to talk to him about something important, he was doing the one thing he didn’t like of me.

I mean, it was sort of like what I had done.

Fuck. It was all so confusing.

I rode down to the parking garage and started up my car. I raced to his apartment and parked at the curb. If there was anywhere he would be during a time like this, it was in the comfort of his apartment. I placed a quarter in the meter and ran up the steps, busting into the main lobby.

I didn’t stop for anyone calling my name as I made my way to the elevator.

I rode it up all the way to the penthouse level. The doors opened, and I darted down the hallway to Jimmy’s front door. I rose my fist and banged on the heavy wooden surface, not intending to stop until I heard his footsteps.

But the longer I banged, the more my fist hurt.

I took my cell phone out and dialed his number again. I was listening for the ringing before he ignored my phone call again. It rang out twice, and I pressed my ear to the door to see if I could hear it. His voice message picked up again.

However, there was no ringing coming from inside his apartment.

I leaned my forehead against the door and groaned. Where the hell was Jimmy? I needed to talk with him. It was important, and this wasn’t the kind of information to relay to him through Ross. What kind of businessman didn’t come to work during the most important week of his company’s life?

What was wrong with him?