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Cherish: Where are you?
The read receipt came through almost immediately, but there was no response. No three bubbles popping up to indicate that Haylee was even writing a reply. Cherish froze. Her heart stuttered as she stared at her phone, tapping her fingers on her desk, willing Haylee to just text back already.
Her computer pinged with another email. Cherish held her breath as she opened it, finding a full budget for a new personal assistant. Someone who would make the same amount as Haylee depending on experience. Febe had sent through her updated specifications for the job description and what she wanted added to it.
This was really happening.
Haylee was leaving her.
Cherish’s hands shook as she printed out the information so she could have a record of it when she created the job listing. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it right now. She couldn’t force herself to start creating the position in all their systems. Was she even supposed to delete Haylee from them? Because she was still registered as an employee, and it wasn’t like Febe had told her to remove her access to anything.
Glancing at Febe’s closed door, Cherish bit her lip.
She should have known better. She should have trusted her gut and not put as much trust and hope that Haylee would actually work out. Haylee had a proven track record of leaving jobs, bouncing from one position to another. She never stayed somewhere for very long. But when she’d hit six months, then she’d hit nine months, Cherish had dared to hope that she might make it to a year.
Damn it, she was going to puke.
The migraine from earlier in the morning came raging back full force. It churned her stomach, twisting all the coffee she’d consumed into what was about to be a fountain of bile. There was no other conclusion to draw from this because she knew Febe wasn’t going to fire her.
Haylee was quitting.
Haylee was leaving her.
Cherish’s hands shook as she reached for her phone again to check once more and see if Haylee had answered yet. But there was nothing. She knew better than to fall in love. She knew it and still she’d fallen into the trap of thinking that maybe love could be real. Maybe she could be one of those people who fell in love and had it all.
But that wasn’t right.
Because love always left a trail of devastation behind. She’d seen it happen so many times, but especially with Febe. Cherish closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, swallowing down the bile that threatened to come pouncing out. Haylee was leaving. She’d never said she was there for the long haul. She’d never made any commitments to staying. And Cherish had let her imagination run away with her.
Again.
Why did she always do that?
She’d done it with Febe for so many years, and she’d allowed her fantasies to run wild with Haylee because she’d thought Haylee was safe just like Febe had been. She should have left well enough alone and kept her head down.
“Cherish?” Febe stood in her office doorway with a look of concern on her face. “Are you sick?”
She wanted desperately to say yes, to run home and hide under her covers. She could come back tomorrow and figure everything out when she had her head on straight and could think better. Would Haylee even be in tomorrow? Was she going to be stuck running the office on her own for months again?
“I…” Cherish glanced at her phone with still no response from Haylee. She dragged her gaze up to meet Febe’s. “I think it’s just another migraine.”
“I told you to go to the doctor for those. You have them so frequently.” Febe walked to stand right by Cherish’s desk. “Do I need to take you to get a shot?”
Cherish shook her head wildly. “No. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Maybe I just have what Haylee has.”
Febe’s face fell. Her lips parted as she scanned her eyes over Cherish’s form before nodding. “Yeah. Maybe. Take the rest of the day if you need. There are only a few hours left, and I’m sure we can survive without you. I don’t want your migraine to get worse.”
“I think I will.” That nausea swirled up again. Cherish’s eyes prickled with tears.
“Call me if you need to go get a shot, okay? I don’t want you taking a rideshare home after that.”
“I promise.” In a haze, Cherish grabbed her phone and purse. She didn’t even bother to turn her computer off before she stood up and stumbled out of the office. She had eighteen hours before she had to be back. And she needed to know what she was going to say to Haylee when they saw each other again.
Because I love you wasn’t it.
