Chapter 52
I couldn’t sleep again that night. I tossed and turned at the thoughts of the roller coaster that had been that day.
I rolled onto my left side. The blouse that Dylan bought me was hanging from a hanger on my closet doorknob and it caught my eye. I smiled, then my eyes grew wide and that smile turned to a frown. I bolted upright in bed. I realized I had never actually thanked Dylan for buying it for me.
I grabbed my phone from the night stand and opened our messages. To my surprise, there were three little dots at the bottom of the screen. He was typing something to me! Butterflies burst in my chest and a smile crept across my face.
“How was Logan with you after lunch?” He finally sent me.
“Well, he was talking to me, anyway,” I wrote back.
“I’ll keep working on him,” he replied. C0pyright © 2024 Nôv)(elDrama.Org.
“Thanks,” I sent him. Then added: “Also…I just realized I never thanked you for the blouse. So, thank you. You saved me and countless other light–colored blouses from harm today.”
“Lol, All in a day’s work,” he wrote. Then he sent a smile emoji.
I paused. I wanted to send more, but I didn’t want to come across as desperate. I also knew how Logan felt about Dylan and I flirting, and I didn’t want to keep crossing the unprofessional line with him, especially with Logan being as upset as he already was with me. I set my phone back on the night stand and laid back down. I had just pulled the comforter up to my chin when I heard my phone vibrate. I smiled and grabbed it, a little too eagerly.
“Well…I just wanted to check in and see how you’re holding up. Have a good night. 🙂” Dylan had messaged.
Ugh. More butterflies. Could he be any cuter? “Thanks for looking out for me. I hope you have a good night too!” That seemed innocent enough, I thought to myself. I pushed send. A moment later, 1 got a notification that he had heart–reacted to my message.
F
I held the phone to my chest and closed my eyes, still smiling. Suddenly I felt much more relaxed about things.
The next morning. I decided I would try again to get back into Logan’s good graces. I brought him a black coffee and a small container of mixed berries that the coffee shop offered. It was the healthiest thing I could find there. I set them on his desk and placed a “Good morning!” sticky note on the berries.
I got an early start on my duties for the day, so that I would be deep in my work by the time he arrived. I had also worn all black, just in case Elena had any more “accidents” around me. I wasn’t taking any chances that day.
Logan arrived at five til 8 as usual.
“Good morning!” I said cheerly. He kept his eyes forward as he walked into his office. I watched through his window to see how his reaction to his breakfast would be today.
He froze when he got to his desk, his eyes gravitating to the center of it where I had placed his coffee and fruit. He slammed his briefcase down, grabbed the fruit and coffee, and stomped back out to me with them. My eyes widened. This was certainly not the reaction I was expecting or hoping for. My heart jumped to my throat..
“What? Are you trying to butter me up?” he said, slamming both items down on my desk. “I don’t take well to bribes,” he added through gritted teeth before angrily going back into his office and shutting his door hard behind him.
I looked at the berries and coffee. Some of the coffee had spilled out onto my desk when he had slammed the cup down. I grabbed a tissue and wiped it up. As I did, a wave of anger flowed over me. I didn’t deserve this. How dare he treat me like this when I have bent so far over backwards for him every single time he asked me for anything?
I followed him into his office and slammed the door shut behind me like he did. He turned and looked at me, surprise washing over his face..
“What is your problem with me?” I said, more harshly than I intended. “Why are you treating me like this?” He walked over to me and put his face in mine. I imagined it was a tactic of his intended to intimidate me, but I stood my ground. I was too angry to feel anything other emotion. I leaned in even closer to him, which I think surprised him, because he suddenly backed off and returned to his place behind his desk. He let out an annoyed sigh. “Look. When you had a problem with Bob, you came to me about it. This thing with Peter you didn’t come to me. I saw you and Peter talking a lot, but you left me in the dark about things. It all just feels really suspicious to me. I don’t feel like I can trust you anymore, Hazel.” He looked down at his feet. The last part almost sounded…hurt and sad? Maybe that’s what was at the root of this anger he’d been showing, it suddenly hit me. His anger was actually pain and sadness.
My anger subsided at the realization. “Logan, I would never…”
He held up a hand to stop me. “You should know that I’m looking for someone to replace you. You won’t be let go from the company, but I need someone I can trust fully to be my personal secretary. Now please, I need to be alone. I have a very important phone call to make.”
His words hit me like an arrow to the heart. I left the office and shut the door behind me, the shock of hearing that I was being replaced starting to slowly sink in. I had worked so hard for this job, and he was going to demote me just like that?
I sank into my desk chair and closed my eyes, waiting for the tears that had built up behind them to Don’t cry, don’t cry…” I thought to myself. I didn’t want to give Logan any more reasons to come out and
pass.
yell at me, and I felt if he saw me sitting at my desk, bawling unprofessionally, he might do just that. Once the feeling passed, my mind raced with ways I could possibly fix this. Logan wasn’t going to hear me out on his own. I had to find some way to force him to hear my side of the story. I needed undeniable proof that Peter had been blackmailing me. I wished I had snapped a photo of the fake email Peter had shown me, or knew how to get a copy of that surveillance footage of Logan and me in the hallway together.
As soon as I had the thought, an idea hit me like a bolt of lightning. Of course! Why hadn’t I thought of this before??
I leaned down and dug through my purse for my phone opened the message thread I had with Maria.
“Say, you
wouldn’t still be flirty with that IT guy Mike would you?”