Under My Umbrella (Fated 1)

Ah, she couldn’t judge. Mia was sweet. She was the one full of bitterness. She needed to ignore herself.

They talked casually, gossiped a little bit though Jenna stayed mostly silent. Her sandwich long ignored, she sipped her drink, tried to concentrate on what the girls said, tried not to think about Brett.

Didn’t work. He was imprinted on her brain, and she couldn’t get rid of him if she tried. It was frustrating.

He was frustrating.

She was being stubborn though too. All it would take was one phone call and she’d hear his sexy voice murmuring in her ear. Holding out was doing no one any favors, including herself.

“Want to go out tonight?” Morgan jabbed Jenna in the ribs as if they’d been talking to her for hours and she hadn’t answered.

Probably close to the truth, she’d been in a dream state practically the entire lunch hour.

“Yeah

sure, what’s the plan?”

Mia looked at her oddly, which totally meant they’d been talking over the plan for a while. She really needed to get back in the swing of things and stop spending so much time in her head.

“Drinks and dinner, maybe a club to go dancing?” Morgan smiled, her eyes kind. “Something to take your mind off whatever’s making you so miserable.”

“That sounds good.” And she meant it. Really she did. Drinks and dinner was always good and she loved going to clubs. Listening to the music, scoping out the cute guys, oh yeah, she loved that. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Jenna burst into tears. Right there in the middle of the company lunchroom as she sat in between Morgan and Mia. Big fat tears rolled right off her cheeks and landed with loud plops on the wax wrapping paper of her sandwich. She swiped at her cheeks furiously, angry at herself for crying. Feeling silly for falling apart in the middle of the day at work.

Everyone was going to talk about this. She should care. She should try and compose herself.

She didn’t. She couldn’t.

“Oh my God, Jenna, are you okay?” Morgan immediately enveloped her in her arms, giving her a consoling squeeze. “Come on, hon, let’s go to the bathroom.”

Morgan hustled her out while Mia stayed behind to clean up the lunch mess, shooting Jenna an apologetic smile as they exited the lunchroom. Jenna sniffed, tried desperately to regain her composure. Mia was nice to help her out. She didn’t have to do that.

More tears flowed down her cheeks, and she brushed them away, swallowed hard to push down the sob that wanted to escape. Morgan barely got her into the bathroom before she broke down in great, heaving sobs that wracked her body, hurt her ribs.

She felt as if her heart had been wrenched out of her chest. Her reaction was way over the top. She’d never ever cried over a guy like this before. Not in high school, not in college, not in the last few years. She’d shed a few tears over guys. What poor woman in the modern world hadn’t? But never, ever like this.

She felt like a fool.

“What the hell did he do to you, Jen? So I can go search him out and tear him limb from limb.”

The idea of Morgan the warrior out on the hunt for Brett stopped the flow of Jenna’s tears long enough for her to emit a strangled giggle. “He’d kick your ass. He’s huge. Got big muscles and he knows how to use them.”

“I’m not scared.” Morgan actually pushed up her shirtsleeves, her right hand clenching into a fist. “Any asshole that breaks my friend’s heart deserves to be taken down. I wish I had a brother. I’d sick him on this guy.”

“You are totally overreacting.” No, I am overreacting.

“You’re the one falling apart in the middle of the lunchroom. Did you see the look on Tammy’s face? I thought flies were going to zoom into her mouth. All sorts of people were in there, Jen, practically everyone in the office. They’re gonna be talking too.”

“Thanks, Morgan. You’re making me feel so much better,” Jenna said dryly, taking the proffered wad of toilet paper Morgan just grabbed and dabbing at her eyes. Tammy was the office manager and usually discreet. She wouldn’t spread any gossip.

No just everyone else in the lunchroom would spread the word of her tears. Not a reassuring thought.

“Well, it’s the truth. You’re always the happy one, the go-lucky, nothing ever bothers me person. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry in all of the years we’ve been friends, Jenna. Ever.”

Jenna met Morgan’s gaze, saw the concern and confusion in it. She took a deep breath, let it out in a heaving sigh and shook her head. “I’m in love with him, and I don’t think he feels the same way.”

“How can you…” Morgan clamped her lips shut but Jenna knew what she would say.