Chapter 3

Betty's eyes went red in an instant.

She rose to her feet.

"I didn't..."

I laughed, cold and short.

"Go on, then. Tell everyone. What exactly were you thinking when you wrote this proposal?"

"Enough, Ann!"

Forrest raised a hand to cut me off,

his gaze sharp as a blade.

"What matters right now is that you reflect on your own failings, not that you find someone to pin the blame on!"

"This meeting is over!"

Betty hurried over, her voice cracking as if she were about to cry.

"Ann, I really didn't steal your proposal."

The coworker beside her slipped an arm through hers.

"Somebody's just jealous of you and Mr. Yarrow, that's all. Don't waste your breath on her. Now come on, tell me again, what kind of necklace did Mr. Yarrow get you?"

They passed by me,

and I caught the thin silver chain glinting at Betty's throat.

Two months back, just before Valentine's,

I'd seen it in Forrest's shopping cart.

At first I thought he'd bought it for me.

He rarely gave me jewelry,

because wearing it out might give away what we were to each other.

I was happy about it for days.

Then Valentine's came and he was working late,

so I stayed and kept him company until midnight.

That night I took an Uber home alone, again.

And now the necklace I'd wanted was sitting on Betty's neck.

I took both proposals and knocked on Forrest's office door.

When he saw me,

the warmth in his face cooled a degree.

Something jabbed at my heart like a needle rolling in deep,

a fine, spreading ache.

"You knew all along that Betty's proposal was the one I made. Why would you..."

"I knew. So what?"

The words stopped in my throat.

I genuinely didn't know what to say.

Forrest raised an eyebrow and went on.

"The words are already out. It doesn't matter who made the proposal. Besides, Annie, I did this for your own good. Do you have any idea how many people on your team can't stand you?"

"What I did today drew their attention elsewhere. It'll make your life on the team easier. You really should learn from Betty. People actually like her."

The central air blowing through the room left me cold all over.

"And you like her too. Is that it?"

Forrest frowned.

Then a knock came at the door.

Betty poked her head in.

I walked out of the office without a word.

And I heard the voices behind me.

"Mr. Yarrow practically has 'I can't stand you' written across his face, and she's still out here begging for scraps. Pathetic."

"Right? He and Betty are already using the matching set. They just haven't gone public. Can she not throw herself at him like this?"

When that line landed, someone started laughing. I couldn't tell who went first.

My eyes fell on Betty's desk.

The markers, the vase, even the blind-box figurines,

all of it should have been mine.

Forrest wouldn't use anything matching mine, in case people talked.

So I bought stacks of things in the same color palette and pushed them on him.

Even then he wouldn't take them.

When he finally did,

those gifts were sitting at Betty's desk by the next day.

Forrest said,

"I can't very well throw the stuff out. You bought it, after all."

I bought it,

but if I'd known from the start it would end up in another woman's hands,

I'd rather have thrown it all away.

Betty came out of the office beaming.

Someone shot her a knowing look.

"See? Told you Mr. Yarrow only drinks the iced latte you bring him."

Betty bit her lip.

"He's just being nice, that's all."

Then she wandered over, smiling sweetly, and asked me,

"Ann, do you want an iced latte? Forrest says they're good too."

I shook my head and kept my eyes on my screen.

But my hands were pounding on the keyboard, hitting nothing in particular.

Forrest doesn't like sweet things. I only found that out a year into being with him.

Because when he was with me, he always went along with what I wanted.

I actually thought I was the special one, the one who could make a man who hated sweets willing to try them.

The day dragged past in that dazed fog.

I organized my files, getting ready to leave the company.

By the time work ended and I'd just reached the ground floor,

I heard someone scream.

"Somebody's about to jump off the rooftop!"

The phone in my bag was buzzing without stop.

The moment I answered, Forrest's roar came through.

"Get up to the rooftop right now, this instant. Come see what you've done!"