Chapter 83 Resolved Matters
ALICE
As soon as I strode into Ember & Ink, I was told that Francesca wanted to see me and I had no time to prepare myself.
She stood up when I walked into her office and smiled at me. I realized that I didn't feel any resentment toward her at all. She tried to help in the best way she could and things actually turned out in her favor.
I wasn't sure if Theo told her anything. I didn't trust myself to do it because we'd arranged to talk about it after he broke off his engagement.
"Alice," she began, tilting her head to the side. "I'm glad you're here. Please, have a seat."
I sat across from her and a few beats of silence passed. I tried thinking of something to say to break the ice, but nothing came to mind.
She spoke first. "I thought you wouldn't come back."
"I'm sorry for not saying anything yesterday. I felt so overwhelmed and I needed time to think."
"You don't have to apologize for that. I was in the wrong, too. I overstepped my boundaries in trying to bring you and my grandson together. The truth is that I could see how he was hurting and I couldn't sit by and do nothing. You're both so young. There's no reason why there can't be an understanding between the two of you."
I pressed my lips together tightly because I had the urge to tell her that we did have an understanding now, and that things between us were sorted out. More or less.
But that wasn't up to me to tell her.
So, I said nothing.
"Oh, well. I won't interfere, not anymore, but I would really like for you to keep the job, if you'd like. I do enjoy having you as an employee and I think everyone here thinks the same."
I'd been thinking about this for the whole night and I came to a decision concerning what I was going to do. Theo told me the same thing yesterday, and the truth was that I enjoyed what I was doing here.
"I'd love that."
Francesca smiled, clearly pleased. "That's great, then. I'm glad to have you onboard."
The door to Freddie's office opened and I turned my head to the side. We made eye contact and he offered me a small smile. I smiled back at him, then asked Francesca, "Freddie knew about everything, didn't he?"
"Yes," she admitted. "I asked him to keep an eye on you and make you feel more comfortable. I didn't want you to quit because you didn't feel at ease here. Please, don't blame him for what I asked him to do. Freddie is a good man."
I pressed my lips together and nodded. Francesca and I parted ways but before I went to my office, I stopped by Freddie's.
When he saw me standing by the door, he stood up and made his way toward me. "Hi."
"Hey," I said. "Could we talk?"
"Yeah."
I closed the door and we headed toward his desk. Francesca packed her bags next door and left, but not before waving at us.
"I take it you both talked?"
"Yeah. She made a lot of things clearer for me."
Freddie nodded and kept his eyes on my face. "I'm really sorry about everything. I want you to know that I didn't fake anything. Our connection was real and I'd love it if we remained friends."
"I'd like that, too."
I returned to my office and sat down. I felt so much calmer.
This was the right decision. I was sure about that.
I logged into my computer and started working. I had to put some effort into paying attention to what I was doing because my thoughts kept drifting off. I wondered what Theo was doing and though it wasn't my intention, I wondered if he had already broken off the engagement.
Two hours later, I'd managed to push everything to the back of my mind and focused solely on work. In fact, I was so distracted that I didn't see Todd Steimer approaching my door until he knocked on it.
The sight of his face ruined my mood.
I was torn between ignoring him completely and being professional. The right thing to do would be to figure out what he wanted, especially since he was a partner.
But I already knew that he didn't come to talk about work.
I stood up and walked up to him, ignoring his smug face. The glass door opened and he smiled widely. "Hello there, Miss Rhodes."
"What do you want?" I asked with barely contained anger.
"Nothing much. I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"I'm fine."
"I bet you are," he claimed, pushing right past me and into my office. Instinctively, I glanced at Freddie's office and sure enough, his eyes were on me.
I closed the door and whirled around. "What are you really doing here, Todd? Why can't you understand that I don't want anything to do with you?"
"Oh, everything is very clear to me now. I came here to tell you that I don't appreciate you lying to me. I was genuinely interested in pursuing you, but you were with him all along, weren't you? Could've fooled me."
I frowned and blinked a few times before asking, "What are you talking about?"
"Checked the news lately?"
My heart froze in my chest. What was he talking about? He started pulling his phone out of his pocket and all I could do was watch him. I had no idea what he was talking about but I knew deep in my heart that it couldn't be anything good.
"Here," he said as he handed me his phone, "why don't you tell me what I should think about that?"
At first, I had no idea what I was staring at. It seemed to be a photo of two people kissing and I was more than ready to throw his phone right back at him.
But then I looked closely and my heart dropped.
It was a photo of me and Theo kissing outside the office building.
The headlines made all the blood drain from my face.
Business Tycoon Sparks Rumors After Steamy Public Kiss
Oh, shit.