“You have a minute?” he asked.
“Not really. I have a ton of work.”
Chris ignored her. “I see you moved on quite swimmingly.”
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”
“I know you well, Arielle. You’re not the type of girl who would fall for a guy so easily.”
“You’re right, I’m not. What’s your point?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Arielle put down her pen and stared at Chris with renewed amazement. Did she hear him right? He couldn’t be serious, could he? “This is too funny, especially coming from you.”
Chris face darkened. “So I’m a jerk, so what? I don’t care what you think of me, Arielle. I know I’ve hurt you, I just don’t want to see you get hurt again. There’s something wrong with that guy, but I can’t put my finger on it. My instincts are never wrong. You should get away from him before it’s too late.”
Arielle resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “You should give me a little credit, Chris. I’m a big girl.” She picked up her pen but put it down again when she couldn’t renew her train of thought. “Jesus, it is too early for this shit. I need some coffee.” She brushed past her ex to get a fresh a cup in the break room.
Chris snatched her arm as she walked past him. “I mean it, Arielle. You shouldn’t ignore it. I know who he is. His brother is the CEO of Animatrica and I once had lunch with him. His brother gave me the same feeling. There’s something seriously wrong with that whole family.”
“Fine, I’ll bite. What do you mean by that?”
Chris, who was so usually eloquent, seemed at a loss for words. He wrung his wrists in frustration. “I can’t really explain it but they made the back of my hair stand on end.”
“Like when you encounter ghost or spirit?” she said sarcastically.
“I don’t know what it is. They’re creepy.”
“Creepy? That’s an interesting choice of words.” Arielle forced a smile. “Thank you for your concern but I’m fine. I can take care of myself.” She then lowered her voice into a mocking tone, she just couldn’t resist it, “Or could it be that you are actually jealous, Chris?”
He narrowed his eyes. His lips thinned into a line, a telltale sign she knew too well that he was royally irritated. “You’re so childish, Arielle. Why can’t I worry about you? I’ve known you since we were kids. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“But it’s okay when you do it?”
“Knock it off. Even if we aren’t together anymore, I still love you.”
“Chris—” Arielle was at loss, dealing with him in this situation. She turned her head toward the door and saw Sabrina staring, frozen in the hallway. Her expression was furious. Her boss wheeled around and stomped in the other direction.
Yikes!
Could Sabrina have overheard what Chris was saying and misunderstood them?
She wanted to pull her hair and scream. Why am I in this situation? Too cliché. This isn’t happening. It’s too early for this soap opera shit. I want my peace and quiet back! She then took a deep breath. “Know what? You just worry about Sabrina, Chris. She’ll need you more than I ever needed you. I think you’ve got some explaining to do when you see her. Don’t complicate my life even more than it already is, please.” She yanked her arm from his grip. “And I really need that coffee.”
She went back to work after she got a cup of coffee, tackling the stack of documents that kept piling high on her desk during her absence. She even forgot to eat lunch because she was so immersed in her reading. Sabrina had a new case for her and the discovery process took her longer than she intended. Around three o’clock, she realized she was starving. She was about to make an excursion to the vending machine in the break room when Sabrina swooped into her office.
“I’d like to have a word with you,” she said. “My office, please.”
So Arielle followed her to her office.
“We have a problem,” said Sabrina right after Arielle closed the door. “We’ve received a formal complaint from Frank Darbo. It appeared you and your friend injured him right after you served him the summons.”
That piece of shit; the next time I see him, I’ll make sure I kick him in the nuts. Arielle was filled with murderous thoughts. “I had nothing to do with it.”
“Tell me what happened,” said Sabrina.
“My friends and I served him at a party. Since he was always with his bodyguard, we lured Darbo out underfalse pretenses and we served him the paper. After I left, apparently he wasn’t happy about being tricked. He became incredibly upset and attacked my friend. And my friend defended himself, appropriately. That’s it.”