If she could just talk to Alex, she could clear it all up. It was a good thing Barton was going to be able to get information back to her by the afternoon. That alone would make things better. Or at least clear the air.
Someone cleared their throat, and the sound had a twinge of agitation with it.
Annette.
"Hi. Can I help you with something?" Jamie stood, and treated the pretty redhead like she would anyone who walked into the office.
"Did Alex move you up to secretary? That was sweet of him. Felt sorry for you, I guess?" Annette wrinkled her button nose and shrugged, as if she were completely innocent of the label that fit her perfectly.
Bitch.
"Did you have an appointment with Mr. Reid, or are you here soliciting undeserved attention, because I'm happy to call security and have you ejected from the building. Trash pickup is at one, so your timing is perfect." Jamie forced a smile onto her lips as Alex's door opened.
He walked out with the older man from earlier that morning. "Thanks, Mr. Canning. I'll be in touch."
Jamie turned to him and lifted her eyebrow as he extended his hand to Annette. "You're early. Come on in and we can chat."
"I was excited to see you." Annette glanced back at Jamie and gave her a look that caused Jamie's blood to boil.
There was no damn way Alex was talking to that woman again.
"You have another appointment in thirty minutes," Jamie barked out a little too rough.
"Okay. Hold my calls until then?" Alex winked at Jamie and opened the door wider. "So, Annette, what have you been up to? How’re your folks?"
The door closed; tears burned Jamie's vision. She shouldn't be upset. She shouldn't be worried.
"‘Hold my calls’? Unbelievable." She dropped down into Gina's chair and reached for a tissue to blow her nose. She’d gone from senior advisor to secretary in ten minutes; from girlfriend to front-desk-hold-my-calls in ten seconds.
She was being irrational, but her I-don’t-give-a-damn was officially used up.
Chapter 6
Gina came back shortly, and didn't look much better than Jamie felt. She didn't ask why Jamie was sniffling, and Jamie didn't offer any explanation. They spoke briefly, and Jamie walked back to her office to find it empty. She closed her door and decided she needed someone to talk to. Christine was the closest thing she had to a friend outside of Gina, which was kind of sad.
After she hung up her coat, she dropped down into her chair and pulled out her cell phone. She took a deep breath. There was a fifty-fifty chance that her sister would be a butt and make things worse.
"This is Christina." She sounded upbeat, which was a good thing.
"Hey. It's Jamie. How are you?" Jamie pulled her cold oatmeal toward her and stirred the thick contents.
"I've been better, but I'll get through it. What do you
need?" Her tone was sliding a little.
"Nothing. I just wanted to check in to see how you and Stephen were."
"That's no one's business but ours."
"Okay. Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were doing better. We haven't really spoken since—"
"Look. I know I was a little off at Christmas, and I love you because you're my sister, but I was depressed. I'm better now, so thanks for checking up on me. I don't have time to chit-chat about my problems. I'm trying to make my mark on the world, and Stephen's starting to see just how possible that is." Christine had moved back to the demeaning tone Jamie was used to hearing.
"Right; well, good luck with that." She ended the call and closed her eyes, lifting her chin toward the ceiling. Why did people have to be so bipolar in her family? One minute they were being loving and softening a little and the next they were pulling back and lashing out with a bull whip.
Christine had been depressed and down, and, of course, without thinking at all, Jamie had stepped in to try to make her sister feel better. She had been taught the lesson a million times that Christine would always be a bitch, but there was a faint hope that maybe the girl had changed some.
"Nope." Jamie sat up and began going through messages and emails, typing up a few notes Alex had sent her and asked her to take care of. It was slow going, as she couldn't seem to get her focus back. Knowing that Annette was in the next room with Alex, and that he hadn't even mentioned it to her, drove a stake of worry deep into her. "Why not just tell me? Did he think it wouldn’t matter? That her coming to see him wouldn't have been kinda-sorta a really big deal?" she mumbled as she flipped through her calendar and double-checked Annette’s meeting that was only blocked off as personal.