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“Not. Now.” I move away and point at him, my voice barely a whisper. “If you embarrass me any further, I will never, ever forgive you. Do you understand me?”
“Embarrass you? What are you—”
“Not. Now.” She smooths her hair and takes a breath. “I’ll deal with you later. Right now, I need you to go.”
I see the stubborn set of his jaw. “That’s not happening. We can talk about whatever you’re mad about later, but I’m not going anywhere.” With that, he reaches out and unlocks the door, opening it slowly.
“About time! Sounded like you were having a great—” Shandy’s voice cuts off abruptly. “Cash? Holy shit, are you…” She peers past him at me and then looks back at Cash. Then she throws back her head and bursts out laughing. “Well, if this isn’t a small world, I don’t know what is.” She gives me a pointed look. “You didn’t mention having a boyfriend. Did you know he’s my ex? Of course you knew.” She smirks. “Aw, was that little performance for my benefit? You sound like you’ve still got it going on in the sack, Cash.”
I’m pretty sure my face is on fire but this is a hill I’ll die on. “My personal life is none of anyone’s business,” I say, impressed that my voice is as steady as it is. “I apologize for, uh, what you just heard. He’s been gone for a week. But he’s just leaving.”
“Actually, I’m waiting for you.” Cash leans against the door, with the coolest, most expressionless expression I’ve ever seen on a person’s face. He’s schooled his features perfectly to give away absolutely no emotion, and I don’t know if I’m impressed or even more pissed off.
“How long have you two been involved?” Shandy asks, still grinning like this is her favorite thing in the world.
“A few months—” Cash begins.
“It’s not important,” I say at the same time. Then I glare at him.
“Don’t tell me there’s already trouble in paradise?” she asks with a chuckle. “It’s okay. I remember what it’s like to be left behind on every road trip. It’s hard to find your rhythm again once he gets back.”
“I wasn’t the only one who traveled,” he snaps, the cool façade slipping.
I’ll be damned if they do this here, in front of me.
“What did you need to see me about?” I interject.
“Well, I had a thought about our collab,” she says, switching gears like finding her ex-husband in bed with a colleague is the most normal thing in the world.
“We don’t—” I begin.
“I know,” she interrupts. “But I was thinking a 75/25 split, in your favor. You’d be doing most of the work anyway, so 50/50 wouldn’t be fair.”
“Shandy, it’s been a long day and this isn’t the time—”
“No, you’re right. Your boyfriend just got back. I totally get it. We can talk tomorrow, or on the phone. Tomorrow is my last day on set, and then Jake and I are flying to St. Tropez.” She turns to Cash. “You should call him, you know? He misses you.” With that, she turns and disappears down the hall, the sound of her heels clicking on the tile slowly fading.
“Are you ready to go?” I ask him as I start throwing my things into my backpack.
“Yeah.” His voice is tight, as if he’s annoyed.
Well, that’s too bad.
I’m too angry to look at him.
Not to mention hurt.
I can’t believe he would embarrass me this way—at work, no less.
We walk out to the car in silence.
I throw my backpack in the back seat and he tosses in his suitcase.
We get in the car in silence and I pull out of the lot, gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turn white.
It’s probably not smart to start an argument while driving, but I’m so mad at him. We’ve never fought before, and I can be loud and sarcastic, so I decide to take it down a notch. As angry as I am, I care about him. I don’t know if this is a one-time mistake or a prelude of things to come, but I’m going to find out before I get any more deeply involved.
“I can’t believe you would treat me like that,” I say as I stop at a red light.
