Page 71 of Miss Typed

Once we’d parked and were in our office building’s elevator, I turned to him. “Thank you for inviting me to the meeting. I like learning more about the work you’re doing.”

He shook his head, grinning at me. It was only the two of us, which meant we could be comfortable with one another. “You may regret those words once we start the tedious task of combing through emails and hard drive documents. At least you made the meeting bearable. I’m not always great with social graces.”

“You were terrific at getting all of the facts. But can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

He appeared taken off guard by my question. He was about to answer when we were interrupted by the elevator doors opening on the lobby level.

Of all people, it was Tom, my ex-boss, who entered the elevator. He was obviously shocked I was still employed by Delmont Security by the way his eyes bugged out.

He didn’t spare my new boss a glance but instead focused solely on me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“She works here,” Aiden responded, before I could get a word out.

Tom’s face turned red. He turned as though only then realizing we weren’t alone. “She was fired.”

Aiden cocked a brow. “Tell me, Tom. What was she fired for?”

My ex-boss sputtered, obviously not wanting to respond since the answer was “calling me a pussy.”

Aiden simply smirked, clearly enjoying this encounter.

It would’ve been funny if I wasn’t the subject of their discussion and if Aiden wasn’t stealing my moment. This was my long-overdue confrontation, not his, dammit. But instead of speaking up, instead of taking control of the situation and doing what I’d envisioned doing since Tom had fired me, I clammed up.

Tom wasn’t done, however. “I’m going to see Helen, the HR director, about this. We’ll see if she agrees with Reid’s obvious misstep. It will not stand.”

He marched off on the fifth floor, leaving Aiden and me alone. Once the doors closed, Aiden turned to me. “Don’t worry. I’ll call Reid.”

I barely heard him. Stepping off onto our floor, I felt a combination of embarrassment and anger.

He was on my heels. “Chloe, it’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it.”

A tear spilled over despite my best efforts to avoid crying at work. My intention was to sit at my desk and ignore the whole thing, but instead, Aiden grabbed my hand and tugged me into his office.

The moment his door closed, he put his fingers under my chin and swiped his thumb at the moisture. I knew his eyes were on mine, but I couldn’t meet them. “Baby, it’s okay. I’ve got this. That asshole will not get you fired.”

He pulled me in for a hug, but I stepped out of reach. “Don’t.”

“What?” His eyebrows were furrowed together, confusion splashed across his face.

“You took away my moment.” Not exactly true. If I was being completely honest with myself, I’d squandered away my own moment by not insisting on it. At any time I could’ve interrupted and said my piece. But I hadn’t.

“I couldn’t just stay silent and let him speak to you that way.”

Which was exactly what I’d done. My irritation with Aiden quickly morphed into defeat. “It should’ve been me speaking up. But it wasn’t. And who knows? Maybe it’s better this way.”

“Better what way? For you to be fired. No fucking way.”

“I only have a couple months left on my contract. After that, I’ll go back to Toronto to get a job. Maybe it’s just better to go now. I need to help drive my sisters to their activities, and my mom mentioned a local law firm is hiring.” I was thinking out loud, wondering if the universe was telling me something. Maybe it was time to pack up and go home.

“Whoa, whoa. What am I missing, Chloe? Why would you return home? Wouldn’t you return to LA and go back to school?”

“Just never mind, Aiden. Never mind about the whole thing.” Now I was embarrassed I’d brought up any of it. And I felt like a nap. One where I could hide my head under the pillow and try to tell myself it was okay I never got what I wanted.

“I’m not going to never mind. What is going on? You need to finish your degree and do your art. It’s what you’re meant to do.”