Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
I had no idea what I wanted to do anymore.
The last six weeks had changed everything. I’d never hated working here. I’d never hated my job. I’d just hated working for Theo, but even that was different now.
I didn’t want to admit it out loud, but I was wondering if it was impossible to imagine not working with him.
I was so used to being with him every second of the day, and that was almost literal over the past two weeks. Ever since we’d returned to Buckley Heath from our flying visit home for Aunt Fizz’s party, we’d been practically inseparable.
His bedroom had become our room. The evenings that had once been spent quietly apart doing our own thing had become quality chill time together where he’d catch pixel fish and I’d pet pixel chickens.
Never had I ever imagined I’d have nightly cosy gaming sessions with Theo, but the whole evolution of our relationship had been strange to me, so it was just one of those things.
I’d also never imagined that I’d be figuring out what the fuck to do with my life at my age.
I’d always thought I’d have it planned out, but didn’t everyone? It wasn’t like I was about to have an identity crisis, but everything I’d been planning for the last God only knew how long was going up in smoke all because of my heart.
Because I didn’t know if I really wanted to leave Theo at all.
“Chloe. Chlooooeeeeee,” Harvey sang from somewhere remarkably close to me.
I raised my head up and saw his face mere inches from mine.
“Hi.” He grinned. “Are you taking a nap?”
“I’m having an existential crisis,” I replied.
“Sounds about right. Wanna have one over lunch instead?”
“Can’t. I’m the only one here.”
“The boss said to turn on the answering machine and go.” He cocked his thumb towards Theo’s office. “I told him I’d bring something back for him.”
I glanced at his office door. “Are you sure?”
“I’m not about to lie to you, am I? He’d cut off my head if I lied to you before, never mind now.”
That was true.
“You’re going to ask me a hundred questions, aren’t you?” I asked, sitting up straight.
“Don’t worry.” He reached over and patted my head. “I’ll be much nicer to you than I was to him.”
***
“So, you were together the whole time?” Harvey raised his eyebrows. “That’s surprisingly.”
“Not the whole time,” I replied. “Things sort of happened before I came back for Aunt Fizz’s party, but for the last two weeks… yeah, it’s a bit like that.”
He narrowed his eyes. “That means it only took three weeks for you to go from his number one hater to his lover. That’s a twist I didn’t expect.”
“Do you have to use the word ‘lover?’ It makes it sound like we’re doing something illicit.”
“Some people might think so.” He paused. “Did he tell you?”
“About his ex?” I nodded. “It’s one of the reasons we’re keeping it secret. Well, I’m keeping it a secret.”
“I don’t think me, Alastair, Charles, and Cassidy count.”
“They count. It all happened without my consent.” I sniffed, propping my chin up on my hand. “I knew it would happen, but still. It’s just all a bit of a mess right now.”
“A mess? What do you mean?”
“What did he tell you?” I curled my pinkie finger down to the corner of my mouth and gently bit down on my nail. “Like… About our relationship.”
Harvey eyed me sceptically. “Shouldn’t you be asking him that?”
“Well, things are a mess in my head, and you’re his best friend. He’ll tell you different things than me, right? Just like I’d talk differently to Heidi.”
“Chloe.” He sighed. “Let me ask you this: are you going to resign still?”
I looked away, turning my attention to the people walking past outside. It was a grey, gloomy day befitting the early British summertime, and the weather only served to match my mood.
Grey.
Gloomy.
A little bit hopeless.
“That’s what you need to figure out first,” Harvey said quietly. “Because you both need to be on the same page. For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’ll matter either way to Theo, nor would he ever ask you resign just for the sake of a relationship.”
“That… isn’t what I’m worried about.”
“You think he’ll end things because of his anxieties?”
“Maybe. I wouldn’t blame him if he did. I can’t imagine how difficult it was to go through what he went through at the other company. I wouldn’t want him to do anything that would subject himself to rumours.”
“I think him ending things with you is the least likely possibility. Do you genuinely not know that he’s head over heels for you?”
I looked back at Harvey. “I think that’s an exaggeration.”
“All right, you really don’t know.” He snorted. “I think he’d rather date you in secret for the rest of his life than end things.”