“That makes sense,” I said.
Olivia nodded. “So, how is Brandon?”
I couldn’t help but smile at the question. She had always liked my brother from the time she met him but being married was obviously a deterrent to her letting him know how she felt or doing anything about it. I didn’t think she was going to try to jump on the opportunity now, but it was cute to see her worrying about him and taking more interest.
“He’s not great, to be honest. Just trying to get through this whole divorce thing and not fall apart. He’s actually at home right now waiting for his ex to come over and talk about stuff,” I told her.
“I hate that for him,” Olivia said. “He’s such a good guy. He really deserves somebody who will be good to him and show him how special he is…”
“I slept with Quentin.”
Well, there went thinking about it some more. I didn’t mean it to, but it just kind of popped out of my mouth.
“You what?” Olivia asked, now finally sounding shocked.
“I had sex with Quentin. At work. In my office,” I told her.
She gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth.
“I think this requires some fresh air,” she said after a few seconds.
We finished our drinks and headed out to walk to a nearby park where we could talk openly without anybody listening in. I didn’t tell her the lie Quentin came up with. When he first said it, it made sense and I was willing to go along with it. But now that I was actually standing here with my best friend, it didn’t seem right. I wanted to tell her everything. She needed to know why I was grappling with my feelings the way I was. I spilled out the whole story, and as soon as I was finished, I felt so much lighter. Even with my best friend scrambling to find the right words, it felt better to have said something.
“You don’t really need to say anything right now. I’m still trying to figure it out myself. The thing is, we already agreed it wasn’t going to happen again. It would only happen one time because it was a mistake, and that we have to just put it behind us. That’s why the feelings are so inconvenient. Now that I’ve told you about it, though, I think it’s going to be easier to deal with.”
“Good. And you know I’m sworn to secrecy. Whatever you’re going to do, you need to do it without anyone interfering. So I’m going to keep my opinions to myself for now. How about we go find some fun?”
I laughed. “That sounds like a really good idea.”
She grinned and linked arms with me. We made our way through the rest of the park, then headed for our favorite outdoor mall. We spent the rest of the day shopping and chatting about breezy, inconsequential things that let me keep my mind off everything. Dinner at a seafood restaurant was the perfect end to the day, and I went home feeling much better.
27
Quentin
My first meeting of the day Monday morning was with Brandon. I scheduled it right after he was hired, intending on going over his work and checking in on him. I liked to keep up with my employees and make sure they were settling in well when they joined the company. I never had to do that with an accountant before considering Artie was always with us, but that didn’t really matter. Whatever role he was playing in the company, I wanted to make sure he felt comfortable and was a good fit. I was always in the belief that it was better to catch problems or inconsistencies early so they could be taken care of rather than letting them get worse and having to do damage control later. Besides, after the time we spent together the day he was hired, I already liked him and wanted to get to know him more.
Of course, that was before everything happened with his sister. Now it felt a bit on the awkward side to sit down across the desk from him and talk about how he was settling into the team. I decided not to use my usual line about wanting to keep things in the family. That was uncomfortable now, considering everything. And as I sat there listening to him talk about numbers and tell me anecdotes about his first week on the job, I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew what had happened. It was obvious Merry and her brother were very close, so it wouldn’t be completely out of the realm of expectation that she’d told him the story we came up with. Especially considering he was there the night we were caught kissing at the bar.