A Cosmic Kind of Love(83)

His lips parted in shock, and it sounded like Althea was choking behind me.

“Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do, and you’re standing in the way of my office.”

Dominic, blinking like he couldn’t believe what I’d just said, stepped to the side to let me pass. With my head held high, I strutted past him and down the hall. As soon as I was inside my private space, I sagged against the wall, my heart pounding, my legs shaking.

The urge to burst back out there and apologize was real.

He probably hated me now.

The worry reverberated around in my mind for a few seconds until an internal voice yelled, He already hated you!

It was true. Dominic saw me as competition and weak competition at that.

Yet I’d just shown him I couldn’t be pushed around anymore, and as sick as I felt, it also felt great! The world hadn’t ended when I stood up for myself with Dad, and it wouldn’t end today with Dominic.

Shaking off my nerves, I took a deep breath and crossed the room to my desk. Pulling out my tablet and phone, I was about to set them aside when I noticed the missed call notification on the screen. Five missed calls from my mom.

Coincidence?

I think not.

So I was only worth talking to now because she’d seen me kissing a famous astronaut?

A text popped up on the screen from Althea.

    You were magnificent!

I am so fucking proud of you!

I think Dominic is still in shock you stood up for yourself.



This was followed by three “raise the roof” emojis and three “crying with laughter” emojis and a “blowing a kiss” emoji.

Heart still hammering with annoyance at my mother, I quickly texted Althea back.

    It felt good.

I mean I’m shaking, but it was worth it, lol.

Also, I love you. You’re the best.



She texted back that she loved me too, and I tried to let that sentiment overpower the ugly feelings of resentment building in me toward my mom.

When I finally looked up from my phone, it was to find Lia standing mutely in my office.

Oh shit.

“Morning . . . Lia.” I tried to smile, but it appeared more of a grimace. “How was your weekend?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared stonily at me. “Dominic sent me a link to an interesting article this morning.”

Of course he did.

“Chris and I started seeing each other after he was no longer a client. No lines were crossed.”

Lia relaxed, her arms dropping back to her sides. “I thought as much. I just needed to check.”

“I understand.”

She studied me for a moment. “Are you handling this okay? Do you need to take the day off?”

I smiled gratefully. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. It’s disconcerting and strange, but I’m fine.”

“All right. Well, you know where I am if you need me.”

“Thanks,” I said to her back as she strode out of my office.

I sighed and took a massive gulp of the coffee Althea had given me. Work. I needed to concentrate on work.

Yet, I’d barely started when my office phone rang.

“Hallie Goodman, Lia Zhang Events,” I answered.

“Ms. Goodman, Kyla Dell, Uptown Magazine. I wondered if I could ask you a few questions about your relationship with Captain Christopher Ortiz. How long have you been dating, and is it serious? How does Darcy Hawthorne feel about it considering you’re planning her wedding?”

I gaped at my computer screen.

Was she for real?

“Ms. Goodman?”

“No comment.” I hung up, glaring at the phone.

Shit.

I quickly called Chris and explained what happened. After he let loose a few curse words, he told me I did the right thing and, if they called again, to just keep saying, “No comment.” In the end, I got two more phone calls from local journalists. Definitely freaked out, I informed Lia in case they started calling our main reception too. My boss was amazing. She handled it like it was no big deal and had her assistant, Amber, set up the phones so that my calls came to her first so she could vet them. Our receptionist, Navid, was directed to tell any journalists I was unavailable.

“This will die down,” Lia assured me, repeating what Chris had said. How it was just a puff piece and I would be yesterday’s news tomorrow.

God, I hoped so.

It stressed me out. I hated the thought of our romance being picked apart by strangers.

Back at my desk, I couldn’t help but look at Chris’s Instagram account. It was masochistic, but the urge was too strong. Scrolling through the comments, my heart plummeted at some of the nasty things people said about me. Apparently Chris was out of his mind for jumping from an environmentalist lawyer to a “silly party planner.” Most of the negative comments were sure I was just a “casual” thing. Other people said I wasn’t pretty enough for him. And although there were lots of comments about how cute we were together, the positivity couldn’t win against the way the negativity made me feel.

I closed the app like it had physically burned me and jerked back in my chair.

It took more focus and willpower than I knew I had to continue on with my work that day. Lunch with Althea in a café we liked across the street was fine, and no one paid any attention to me, which made me relax a lot. By the time I got back to the office, I was feeling more myself again, reassured that Chris and Lia were right and that this was just a blip.