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“What? What time is it?” Victoria gasped.
“It’s eight-thirty. You’d better get your ass down here, pronto.”
“On it!”
Victoria couldn’t believe she had overslept. Too late, she remembered that she had stopped setting an alarm, preferring the gentler wake-up of Alexa’s kiss to the obnoxious beeping.
She didn’t have time to berate herself, or even to shower. Victoria flung herself into the bathroom, grabbing hertoothbrush with one hand and trying to get a start on detangling the bird’s nest of her hair with the other.
She was out of the house in ten minutes, a record. She just hoped that she hadn’t put her shirt on inside out or something similarly catastrophic.
Victoria screeched through the streets, arriving at court with two minutes to spare.
Luke’s expression broke out in relief when he saw her. “Victoria. Is everything—I mean, are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” Victoria had no idea if that was true or not, but now wasn’t the time to discuss her feelings.
She glanced across the room to see Alexa already there. Her face looked pale and drawn, but as beautiful as ever. Victoria had been in such a hurry to get here that she hadn’t had a chance to mentally prepare herself for seeing Alexa again. Alexa wasn’t looking at her, and Victoria was grateful for that much.
The case picked up where it had left off yesterday. Victoria had to clench her jaw to prevent herself from shouting when Alexa gave her testimony, claiming that Victoria had stolen the knowledge that had led to her getting the patent.
By the end of the court session, she felt wrung out and physically exhausted, as though she had been running all day rather than sitting.
Luke clapped her on the shoulder. “Good job, Victoria. It’ll be several more weeks of litigation before we meet here again. You have time to… sort your head out.”
A few weeks was hardly enough time for Victoria to recover from losing Alexa. Honestly, she didn’t know if she’d ever recover from that loss. However, she would have to try. She had to do right by her business and the people who depended on her.
Alexa had already taken her heart. Victoria wasn’t going to let her take her career as well.
It was only midday, so Victoria returned to the office. Jillian ambushed her the moment she walked in, grabbing Victoria by the elbow and practically dragging her to her office.
“Well? Talk.”
“I didn’t know,” Victoria said quietly. “If I had, we never would have even gone on that first date.”
“Of course you didn’t know. I knew you would never willingly date Alexa Rossi. I want to know about now. How are you doing? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Victoria grimaced. “I’ll tell you one thing, it’s not pretty. I feel so torn. How can I love Alexa Rossi? But how can I hate my Alexa? I can’t believe they’re the same person.”
“I should never have made you try out that stupid app.”
“No, this isn’t your fault. It’s no one’s fault, really. Just stupid bad luck.”
“You’re not angry with Alexa?”
“I’m angry with her for not telling me as soon as she knew, but beyond that? What could I be angry for? She was as much in the dark as I was. Not talking about work was a mutual decision, one we are equally to blame for.”
Victoria sighed. “I don’t see what else I can do except move on. Or at least try to. It’s not like I have the luxury of time to process right now.”
“Take what time you can. This is a big deal. You loved her. I know you can’t take any time away from work, but at least try to get home at a decent time.”
“And sit at home alone, missing Alexa? No thanks. I’ll spend as much time as possible at work, where I can at least be with people I care about.”
Jillian seemed to be able to come up with no argument against this line of thinking. “Well, I’m here if you need me. You’ll talk to me if you need someone to vent to, yeah?”
“I will. Thanks, Jillian. You’re a good friend.”
“That’s good to hear, because now I need to go into assistant mode.”
