Chapter 5

Then he leaned back against the couch.

And closed his eyes.

I sat there looking at him.

A dull pressure building in my chest.

Yes, I had planned three beach trips.

But I had never made it to the water. Not once.

The first time, Ethan came down with a sudden fever the night before we left.

I canceled on my best friend and spent three days at his side taking care of him.

The second time, he was in the middle of a major pitch.

I gave up my ticket and stayed up night after night rewriting the proposal from scratch.

The third time, a scheduling conflict meant an important client had no one to meet them.

I canceled without a second thought, put on my heels, and went to the meeting myself.

Three times.

I had never once actually left.

But all he remembered was that I had booked three trips.

I nudged his arm.

"Then I'll go with someone else."

He answered without opening his eyes.

"Yeah, go with your friends."

"It's not my friends."

He kept his eyes closed.

I listened to his breathing slow and even out.

I didn't wake him.

I texted the guy I was set up with and arranged to meet at the lakeside resort in two days.

Before I left, I had a few files to hand off to a colleague.

But the moment I walked into the office, Mia appeared in front of me dressed in the director's blazer.

"Oh, Vivian! You're here?"

"Perfect timing. These need to be printed, two copies each. Leave them on my desk when you're done."

"You know where that is, right? It used to be your office."

I looked at the stack of documents being held out toward my chest.

Then shook my head.

"I'm here to drop something off. Not to run errands."

"Vivian."

Mia smiled.

"Mr. Sinclair gave me this position. Have you forgotten?"

"I'm on leave."

"Did I approve that?"

All traces of the awkward girl from before were gone.

She stood there with her arms crossed, already carrying herself like she'd been in charge for years.

"A leave of absence requires a signed approval from your direct supervisor. Did you submit a request?"

I looked her over slowly.

"Do I answer to you?"

She frowned.

I let out a short, humorless laugh.

Didn't spare the documents so much as a glance.

Turned and walked out.

"Vivian Hayes."

From the CEO's office, Ethan had just caught the whole exchange.

Mia turned toward him immediately.

Then hugged the entire pile of documents to her chest.

"It's fine, Mr. Sinclair. Vivian was my supervisor. I can't ask her to do that."

"I'll take care of the printing myself."

She gathered the stack, which came up to her chin.

It looked like it weighed a ton the moment she lifted it.

She had barely picked it up before she was already gritting her teeth.

Ethan's voice was flat.

"If she can't be asked to carry it, what makes you think a director should be doing it?"

I felt a flicker of irritation.

Mia quickly said, "Really, Mr. Sinclair, I've got it, just let me—ah!"

She stumbled.

And went down, taking the entire pile with her.

Ethan crossed the room and grabbed her arm.

"Careful!"

"I'm okay, I'm fine, Mr. Sinclair..."

Mia pressed a hand to her ankle.

Her eyes were glistening as they drifted over to me.

Ethan's expression hardened.

"Vivian Hayes."

"You're not the director anymore."

"If you want to throw your weight around, do it somewhere else."

"If you don't want to be here, fine."

He looked at me.

"Go collect your final paycheck from HR. We don't need you anymore."

Everyone in the room was watching.

I looked back at him, quietly surprised.

"Go ahead."

Ethan said it without a flinch.

I hesitated for a moment.

Then said nothing.

After all, he hadn't said anything I wasn't already planning to do myself.