Dad came rushing into the room, handing me a box of tissues that he must have borrowed from someone’s desk.
“Thanks,” I said, dabbing at my eyes. “Dad, did you see this?”
I pointed to the three folders. “These are three different branches of the Prescott Corporation. Are they all testing for the same thing?”
“Huh,” Dad muttered, skimming the files and opening his laptop.
As I sat back and tried to calm down, he went through the studies. “Well damn, would you look at that,” he said slowly. “They’re so paranoid of leaking things to other companies that they’re not even speaking within the parent corporation. They’re wasting millions of dollars here.”
His head snapped up to stare at me. “Emily, you’re brilliant.”
I shrugged. “Not really. I just noticed something, that’s all.”
He grabbed the folders. “Should we go show this to Mr. McHenry right now? Or at least, leave it with his assistant?”
“You do it,” I said. “I don’t think I can face him today.”
My dad was on his feet in a flash, with his hand on my shoulder as his face turned hard. “Emily, what happened? Did he do…anything?”
Shaking my head, I realized I had no choice.
Exhaling slowly, I managed to murmur, “I fell for him. Completely. I spent most of the weekend at his house, and I’m completely in love with him, but I messed it up. He found out about Aunt Betsy’s reading and it describes him perfectly...and please don’t make me say anything else.”
Dad’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “Okay.” He nodded slowly, pondering. “This is a lot to take in, honey.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. Just, please, be honest – was everything your choice and your decision?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“Then it’s none of my business, I think.” He stared at the folders. “But I really should point this out to him, before the next round of tests begin. How about I run this by his office, then I’ll come back and drive you home?”
“I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll take the bus. I just have to get out of here.”
Looking up, I saw Mason walking down the hall looking absolutely haggard, relatively speaking. I’d never seen him look less than impeccable. His tie was loose, it looked like he’d been running his hands through his hair all morning, and – oh my God.
He was holding a paper coffee cup from a cheap donut shop.
It should have made me feel better that he was a disaster as well, but it didn’t. Tucking my head down, I wasn’t sure if he saw me, since Dad was mostly blocking the window.
“Don’t leave,” Dad said. “I’ll take care of this then come back for you.”
Nodding, I helped myself to a few more tissues, curling up in the chair as I tried to figure out how to quit my job without offending Dad’s boss and mine.
The thought of anyone being angry with me always made me tremble. Even if he weren’t the love of my life, I had no idea how to do such a thing.
18
_____
Mason
Hurrying into my office, I managed to set down the dreadful paper cup before the last half of it spilled.
Emily had been crying. Seeing her tear-stained cheeks out of the corner of my eye was like a punch to the solar plexus.
Placing my hands flat across the desk to steady myself, I took a few slow breaths. All I had to do was decide what was forgivable, what was unforgivable, then figure out what had actually happened. Simple. Just a project.