“Wow.”
“I know. When I called her to confront her about it, she told me she thought the reason she didn't get promoted is because she was a woman. I told her about you and she shut right up. She told me she wouldn't let me make her feel guilty about ruining my bloody relationship. I told her in great detail why she was never promoted. It was nice to be able to tell her off. None of that makes it any better, though. It hurts to even get out of bed.”
Veronica snorted. “You're not sexist.”
“I'm many things, but that's not one of them,” he agreed.
“Did you explain that to Caroline?”
“Oh, wow! Why didn't I think of that?” he asked sourly.
“Cut the crap, Magnus.”
He rubbed a hand over his face and said, “Sorry. Sorry. Christ. You're right. I'm a fucking mess. I tried to call her but she won't take my calls. I don't want to create an issue for her here. I don't just want to show up at her house because that's... stalkerish.”
“She didn't even let you explain?”
“To be fair, Kathleen weaved enough of my egocentric bullshit into it, that it made for very believable reading. With the other personal stuff she has going on, I can see why she'd assume.”
Veronica held up a hand. “Wait. You're not giving her a free pass on this, are you? She didn't even let you explain the situation to her. That's not fair.”
“I'm hurt. She's just taken what this random woman said over everything I hope that I've shown her about myself. I'm pissed off. I can't bloody do anything about it. I'm not even sure I'd want to, either,” he admitted.
Veronica merely raised an eyebrow. Her expression clearly said, “Yeah, right,” but wisely she said nothing.
“So that's what's wrong with me. Now you know. Please just back off and let me get through the day.”
She held up her hands and said, “If you need anything, I'm here.”
Veronica was right. He'd been going back and forth between depression and being angry pretty regularly. He needed to figure out how to fix things between he and Caroline or he needed to know how to bloody forget her. He couldn't take much more of this.
Chapter Sixteen
The bar was quiet right now, which suited Caroline's mood perfectly. There were a few couples, but it was exceedingly slow. Even for a Sunday night. She rearranged the bottles on the shelf. Poor Cody Lee had clearly been slammed during the early afternoon because the bottles weren't even close to being in the right order.
Pulling a completely empty bottle down, she read the label and then tossed it. After a quick glance ar
ound the bar, she slipped into the storage closet to get a replacement. When she turned around after locking the door, she gasped. “Jesus. You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry!” Veronica smiled, holding up her hands. “Didn't intend to scare you. Do you, uh, have a minute to talk?”
Well, she didn't go for the throat, so that was a good sign. She wasn't under any illusions that Veronica was here to make friends. This had to be about Magnus and she really didn't want to talk about any of it. She was just trying to get by without crying. Caroline couldn't bring herself to be outright rude. Instead she waved a hand at the empty bar and said, “Let me just get all these thirsty customers taken care of...”
Veronica looked around and smiled. “Yeah. Looks like you're slammed.”
“So dead. All night.”
“The kitchen's not much better. Magnus has us cleaning grease traps to kill the time. Have you ever cleaned one of those?”
Caroline grimaced and shook her head no.
“You're lucky,” she advised. “But, we both know I'm here to talk about Magnus. Caroline. He's broken.”
“Broken? I'm broken. He took credit for my work and completely humiliated me over a personal matter that was humiliating enough beforehand.”
“Do you really, really believe he'd say that stuff? He's completely in love with you. Do you think that little of him?”
“I didn't, at first. It seemed so out of character that I actually spoke with the interviewer about it. She offered to let me listen to the recordings of their conversation. It was a little difficult to think the best of him once she offered me proof. Look. I'm heartsick over this. I'm not eating right. I can't sleep. I'm a mess too. I'm sorry your friend is upset, but I can't talk about this-”