No Kissing Allowed (No Kissing Allowed #1)(56)
The office was too quiet, every head down, every set of eyes on their work. I’d never heard the office so quiet in all the time I’d worked there. Then my gaze shifted to the front desk, curious if Alexa had the nerve to show her face, but her chair sat empty, her computer screen dark. My heart sped up as I took a few steps toward the main hall, and then my eyes locked on Aidan’s office. The always-lit, always-open office. But now, the blinds were closed, the room dark. I stared at it, unable to believe this was happening, and then I heard my name called from my left, and I peered over to see Gayle watching me, her expression unreadable.
“Cameron, can I see you in my office, please?”
And there went my stomach. So this was what it felt like to be fired. Through all this, I knew the risk, but deep down I never thought anything would actually happen. I thought I was safe, that Aidan would somehow protect me, like he said. But how could he protect me when he was as much at risk, maybe even more?
I swallowed hard and said, “Of course,” before following Gayle to her office. She closed the door behind me and went around to her desk, her eyes on anything but me. That fact alone said enough.
“I trust you know why I asked you here,” she said, her focus now on me.
I knew exactly why I was there, but I wasn’t stupid enough to hang myself. “I’m sorry, Gayle, I don’t.”
The clock on her desk seemed to tick louder with each passing second, wearing me down. I wondered if Aidan was in a similar meeting with the partners. If he were getting fired this second, or maybe they just planned to fire me, though surely that wasn’t legal. I’d never sue, of course, but they didn’t know that and—
“Cameron.”
I glanced up, my hands shaking. What would my father say if he saw me now? Would he tell me to be honest? Would he tell me to be strong? “Yes?”
“Can you tell me what happened? Or rather, how it happened?” When I didn’t immediately respond, she added, “I know about you and Aidan. He’s in with the partners now.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. There it was. The elephant in the room. And while a huge part of me was afraid, another part was relieved. I’d been carrying this secret for months now, petrified someone would find out. Until that moment, I never realized how much it weighed me down.
I met her gaze. “It started the Saturday before my first day.” And then I told her everything, leaving out the personal details that were no one’s business, but recounting the slow build of our relationship. More than once I found myself fighting a smile despite the situation. Aidan was a part of me now, and nothing that happened here would change that fact. I didn’t regret him. I didn’t regret us.
Gayle waited until I finished, then leaned back in her chair, her fingers drumming against her desk. “So, what you’re telling me is that this relationship has been mutual from the beginning? At no point did you feel pressured to enter into this arrangement? You never felt your job was in jeopardy?”
My eyes widened as I realized what she was suggesting. “No. Never. Aidan spent the holidays with me and my family. This isn’t an office fling. It’s…I…” I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that I loved him. Not because the words weren’t true, but because I wanted him to be the first one to hear them.
She sighed. “Oh, Cameron. I was hoping you would tell me it was just a fling. That would make our decision easier.”
“Decision?” Fear crept up my back once again.
“Our informant—”
“Alexa.”
Gayle hesitated, but eventually nodded. “Alexa. She’s claiming that Aidan showed you preferential treatment because of your relationship. She’s demanding your job.”
“What? He would never, and you know how hard I worked on the Blast account. Aidan had nothing to do with my success here.” Did he? I thought through my time with Sanderson-Lowe. Aidan and I worked as a team, sure, but he didn’t give me handouts. He didn’t help me with my work.
“I believe you. I do. But her story is convincing. If you agreed to stop seeing each other, I could have you transferred to a different division to avoid any further conflict, but I’m guessing that isn’t an option?” When I didn’t reply, she sighed heavily. “I’m not sure what the partners will decide, but I feel it’s best for you to take the rest of the day off. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something.”
Disbelief coursed through me, numbing my insides. This wasn’t happening. I’d worked too hard to get this job to see it pulled out from under me so quickly. “So, that’s it then? I’m…fired?” Tears brimmed in my eyes, and I blinked hard to push them away.
Gayle’s face fell. “I’ll do all I can.”
…
Four hours passed with nothing—no calls from Gayle, no emails. No hints at what was happening. And no Aidan.
I had hoped he would send me something, anything, to tell me everything would be okay, but my phone sat silent on the end table of my apartment. My mind drifted back to my graduation day at NYU, how certain I was of my life.
But then I met Aidan, and began working, and somehow my ideals shifted. I still longed for that rush of success, but that was no longer the only rush in my life. Aidan made me feel things I hadn’t felt in a long time, maybe ever. And with that small crack in my structured thinking, I began to see other things differently, too. My mom loved me, Eric loved me, and my family, while a shade past crazy, absolutely loved me. And I loved them. I wasn’t sure if I would ever move home, but I was proud of my upbringing. Without it, I wouldn’t be the Cameron I was today.