I had a feeling I knew who it was, and my feeling was confirmed when I turned around and Violet was standing there, looking as if she very much needed to get something off her tight and perky chest.
“Violet, hi. How’s your first day going?” That was nice, right? I didn’t sound like I wanted to throw my coffee in her face?
“Oh, it’s good. I’m so happy to be here.” The confident girl from the interview had been replaced by a much less assured girl who looked as if she was afraid I was going to leap across the room and throttle her.
“Great,” I said, wondering where this was ultimately going to go. As far as I knew, no one had told her that Lucah and I were together, unless she’d noticed how obvious it was when he’d introduced her to me. The village idiot would have seen that.
“Um, if there’s anything you want to know, or anything I can help you out with, don’t be afraid to ask. My door is always open.” I tried to smile, but it wasn’t that easy.
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. Maybe we could have a chat this afternoon?” I didn’t need multiple guesses to know what she was going to talk about. But maybe I was just being paranoid. She probably did just want to talk about work.
“Absolutely. Come by anytime.” I grabbed my coffee and left before I broke my smile, or said something I shouldn’t.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
~*~*~
I waited in my office for the fateful meeting with Violet. I thought about calling Lucah, but what if she really just wanted to talk about work? Then I’d feel like an idiot.
So I waited and drank too much coffee, which only got me more worked up. Even Lilia came in and asked what was wrong and if she could do anything for me. I assured her I was fine, just stressed about a project getting done when it needed to be, and she pretended to buy it. I almost opened my mouth and spilled the whole thing to her, but that would have crossed some sort of boundary that I didn’t think I should cross with my assistant. I’d crossed too many with my last one.
I chewed nearly all the skin off my bottom lip and almost wore a hole through the floor because I kept tapping my heel over and over.
When Violet finally came and knocked on my door, I almost wanted to hug her in relief.
“Are you busy?” she said in a low voice, as if she was in a library. I was in the middle of something, but I’d been so busy waiting for her that I hadn’t gotten much done.
“No, no, come in.” She did and closed the door behind her. I saw Lilia’s puzzled face staring at us until the door finally shut and I was sealed in my office with Violet. Had she grown taller in the past few hours? Or had I just imagined her shorter? I motioned to the chair across from my desk and she sat down and crossed her insanely long legs.
“So, what can I do for you? Has anyone been giving you a hard time? Some of the uh, people, here can be a little . . . how do I want to put this . . . old-fashioned?” That was the nicest way to put it. I mentally crossed my fingers and hoped that was what she wanted to talk about.
“Oh, no. Everyone’s been so nice. Much nicer than I thought they would be. It’s been my experience that older men, in particular, are threatened by younger women being in power. Maybe some leftover instinct from the caveman days.” She smiled and I tried to fight it, but I smiled too. I knew exactly what she was talking about, and against my will, I started to like her.
“Exactly. Because we belong slaving over a hot fire and nursing babies while we wait for the big, strong men to bring home a half dead wildebeest.”
We both shared a quick laugh about that, but as soon as it died, the fear came back.
Violet inhaled through her nose and then stared right at me. Intimidating.
“I know about you and Lucah.” I opened my mouth to deny it, but she put her hand up. “No one told me, I figured it out based on the way he talked to you and how he looked at you. I know him pretty well.” I waited for a response to come to me, but I my words had deserted me.
“You don’t have to say anything, I just wanted to let you know that what we had was in high school. We were really young, and it was a long, long time ago. We were completely different people. Believe me.” I could understand that. I remembered the guys I’d been into in high school. I definitely wouldn’t be into them now. Definitely not. And look at my judgment with Fin. He’d turned out pretty damn sexy.
“I just didn’t want you to, I guess, feel threatened. I’m not going to go after him, or try to take him or make him relive the past. It’s over and done with and I would never do anything to jeopardize this job. So that’s all I wanted to say.” She got up and tried to flee, but I told her to wait.
“It’s okay. I never thought you were going to do that. I mean, I’d really like it if we could maybe be friends, since we’re sort of in the same boat here.” She paused with her hand on the doorknob.
“I’d like that, too. Thanks, Miss Clarke.”
“Call me Rory. Everyone else does.”
“Rory. Thanks.” I got another smile, and I gave her one back. I collapsed back in my chair as soon as the door clicked shut. That went as well as I could have expected. Now I just had to figure out how to work with her, and maybe be friends with her. I wasn’t going to fool myself into thinking that the Lucah thing wouldn’t come between us, or be an issue. It would. He would come up eventually, and then we’d have to deal with it. I just didn’t want to deal with it.
So I picked up the phone and called Lucah.
“Lucah Blythe, how can I help you?”
“It’s me,” I said.