ALICIA

I never got as sick as Ceejay. My poor little guy had the stomach flu for the next few days. I thought for certain I was going to be sick as a dog at any minute, but after a very short time of stomach upset, I seemed fine. Hannah, unfortunately, also got ill,

It was just as well I didn't g0 to the conference. I missed Christopher, something fierce. It physically hurt how much I missed him, but my people at home needed me. I spent the weekend taking care of Hannah and Ceejay.

I managed to finish the dinosaur costume. I let him wear it as soon as it was done. He said it made him feel better. Anything for that boy. He was my heart. I didn't have a costume for Hannah. She had to feel better with noodle soup and ginger ale while wearing her own pajamas.

After Christopher left for the conference, I let him know I had booked the room an additional day, and that even though I couldn't be there with him, he should take the extra day. He'd been working hard lately and deserved a day off. Especially before he headed into a busy travel schedule of meetings.

The office was quiet without him, he stayed the extra day. That effectively put him out of the office for two days, one day for a mini-vacation, one for travel. I was a bundle of nerves by the time I expected him back in the office.

I had missed him. Between his travel schedule and my missing work to take care of Ceejay, it had been almost two weeks since I had last laid eyes on the man.

I made it to work early and made sure to have coffee waiting for him. I even bought him a cinnamon roll. I wanted his return to the office to be something nice, and not just because I would be seeing him again.

My heart sped up when I saw him turn the corner and stride toward his office. Dark aviators covered his eyes. He looked like a cross between a model and a super spy. His suit was crisp and expertly cut to suit his frame.

I didn't stop the smile that was on my face as he reached my desk. I had missed him. If we hadn't agreed on not letting everyone at work know we were a couple, I would have been out of my chair and pulling him in for a hug and a kiss. But I kept my a*s firmly planted.

“Good morning, Christopher” I said as he reached me.

I felt my smile dissolve when he didn’t pause or stop or say anything. I watched, in what felt like slow motion, as he continued past me and pushed into his office.

“Christopher?” I had a sudden knot at the base of my throat. It was hard to swallow.

What had just happened? I stared at the closed doors of his office. My mind began racing, touching on all the different scenarios that could have happened over the weekend. I wasn't forgetting that he had come to my apartment and saw my son, saw that I had a sewing project out during work time.

Had someone seen us together at some point and mentioned something to his mother? From what I could get people to tell me, Agatha Hayes had a stranglehold on her son. With her being out of the country, I had no way of knowing, but Christophe didn't act like someone who had to clear every decision with his mother. He barely mentioned the board that provided advisory over-site to Hayes Imaging Solutions.

I'shook my head, of all the things to be paranoid about, his mother was low on my list. Unless she had returned to the states? No, I would have heard something. It had to be something else that had Christopher in a mood.

Maybe something at the show went wrong? Were the fliers printed properly? Did the presentation go well? Did he meet someone at the conference? There were so many possibilities, I simply didn’t know which ones I needed to be freaking out about. Unfortunately, stressing over all of them was the option I went with.

I don't know how long I stared at those doors in confusion and fear before my phone buzzed.

“Come in here”

Iwas out of my chair and in his office in a breath.

“How did the presentation go?” I asked. I wanted to ask other questions but figured it was safest to stick with work.

“Fine” He took a sip of the coffee, but he didn't say thank you or anything. exclusive content.

“Ym emailing you a list of contacts to send follow-ups. I'll indicate which ones I need you to schedule in-person meetings with!” He gave me a laundry list of other tasks before returning to whatever was on his computer.

“Is there anything else?” I tried to keep the quaver out of my voice, but something was seriously wrong. I didn't like not knowing what it was.

He looked up at me and our eyes met. A small smile played at my lips, but his expression was completely flat, impassive. There wasn't the slightest hint of emotion in his eyes. No teasing smile, no solder, no sexy smirk. Nothing.

“No, that's all. Il let you know if I need anything else.” He returned to ignoring me.

I nodded, unable to form words. I passed my desk and went straight to the restroom. I hid in the last stall and cried.

Damn it. I had always known this was a possibility. Only I had seriously thought there was something real between us. I was going to tell him I was in love with him and dance around in sexy purple lace and ribbons.

At least the lingerie still had its tags on. That had been an expensive purchase. I guess I was going to return it. I could put th money toward rent or pay for groceries. I should put it in savings in case I had to leave and start looking for a new job.

I composed myself and after splashing water on my face I returned to my desk. Christopher was a grown man. He would speak to me when he was ready. I hoped it would be soon.

It wasn't. The next day I went through the same emotional cycle of being excited to see him and then completely crushed when he ignored me.

I didn't realize I could be so completely sad and still function. I wasn't heartbroken, at least not yet. But we had gone back tc the level of animosity he had when I first started, and Valerie wasn't still there. I remember thinking at some point during that week, that he somehow blamed me for her leaving her job.

“Christopher?” I tapped on his office door before stepping in. I no longer felt comfortable just breezing into his office when I needed something.

He grunted. I took that as assent to continue.

“I need to leave early on Monday." I didn't elaborate that it was Halloween and I wanted to take Ceejay out trick or treating. I expected him to ask, to be curious about what I was doing, but that didn't happen.

“Fine.” He barely looked up, barely acknowledged me.

His attitude did not improve. I waited another couple of weeks before I gathered the courage to talk to him about anything other than his work calendar, and what he needed me to do.

I typed changes to his agenda into my tablet. I couldn't help but notice he looked a little gray around the edges. The bags under his eyes wouldn't fit a plane's overhead compartment; they were so big.

“Christopher?”

He looked up at me with a “now what expression. He had already told me he was finished. I was just wasting his time at this point.

“I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

“Ym fine. Why?"

I swallowed. I used to be in love with you and I thought you were in love with me, and you seem very disengaged from everything except work. You look like you haven't slept in weeks, and you've lost weight. I had a whole lot I could say. Instead, I asked, “You're looking a little tired around the edges.”

I gestured at his face and neck. His normally perfectly groomed beard was a little scraggly and his neck hadn't been shaved in almost a week. For a man who had been careful with his appearance as part of his personal brand, I was concerned he wa letting it slip.

“I hope you plan on taking some time off for the holiday weekend.”

His grunt was accompanied by a hard glare.

I got the hint; the conversation was over. I stopped talking, I didn't ask what he was doing for Thanksgiving. I had hoped it would have been an opening for me to invite him over. The angry man on the other side of that desk did not want to have a friendly conversation with me. I seriously doubted he would have appreciated my olive branch and invitation to dinner.

I nodded and left. For the first time in weeks, I didn't cry after walking out of his office. I still had no idea what had happened, or why he wasn't asking me for an explanation. Back at my desk, I prioritized my tasks, and ignoring what I shoul start doing, I launched a job listing website.

I think it was time to accept that the halcyon days of this job were over. Christopher wasn't overly hostile, but I no longer fel welcome.