The longer things dragged on, the more uncomfortable I became. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t him. I didn’t like it.
Then a booming male voice called Jared’s name, and he put his fingers on my elbow to turn me toward the noise. His mother and father glided toward us, waving and nodding politely to the people who greeted them along the way.
They came to a stop in front of us, and Joanne inspected Jared’s tux, then my dress, her lips pursing ever so slightly.
“You brought the girl,” she said, not looking at me.
“Hello, Mother. Father,” Jared replied, inclining his head. “Congratulations. You must be happy about all this.”
“I really would have preferred you came alone,” his mother said, “or brought someone more appropriate.”
An elongated pause. “The food leaves a bit to be desired,” Jared noted.
They were doing that thing again-talking past each other. Having two separate conversations where the things that weren’t said were as meaningful as the things that were.
It reminded me of my teenage years with my mother. After my father died, she was consumed with grief-we both were-but she forgot that I needed her. I didn’t exist to be her shoulder to cry on. Didn’t exist to ease her pain. She forgot that I was hurting just as much as she was. So we talked exactly like Joanne spoke to Jared. At each other, instead of with. Never connecting, and never even attempting to.
I inhaled slowly, trying to tamp down the heat that crawled up my neck.
“The Gerbers have a daughter, you know,” Joanne said, her gaze flicking to me for the briefest moment. I gathered I was supposed to wonder who the Gerbers’ daughter was, and how she stacked up against me.
Too bad for Joanne, I had the benefit of a contract and a healthy paycheck to keep me right here, smiling politely at her hidden barbs.
“I don’t know the Gerbers or their daughter,” Jared finally replied directly. “Nikita has accompanied me to every event for the past three weeks. It would be noticed if she weren’t here tonight.”
“Still,” Joanne said, her lips curling as she glanced down my gown. “It amazes me how you manage to make things about yourself.”
Jared stiffened next to me.
“Your mother’s right,” his dad said, leaning in as he lowered his voice. “Attending these events solo never seemed to bother you before, and now the spotlight is on you and your date instead of on your mother where it rightfully should be. Why couldn’t you just come alone? You couldn’t do that for your mother, just this once?”
Outrage filled me and moved my tongue before I could clamp my mouth shut. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
For the first time, Jared’s parents met my gaze, their expressions startled, as if they’d forgotten I was able to speak.
I sneered at them. “Why do you want your son to be alone? Do you enjoy the thought of isolating him from people? Is that why you sent him away when he was just a boy and rubbed his face in it when you had a second child?”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Joanne whispered at me, the apples of her cheeks growing bright red.
“I know damn well what it feels like to be the family punching bag,” I replied in the same harsh whisper.
“You shut your mouth, you little?-“
“Mother.” The word whipped out from Jared’s mouth, sharp.
Her eyes widened, and Jared’s father cut in. “Get a handle on your woman, boy.”
Jared’s hand appeared on my lower back. Suddenly, my blood ran cold. What had I done? What had I said? I was supposed to be the perfect, charming companion who took all the off-color jokes and the boring conversation and pretended to love it.
I wasn’t supposed to talk back to my boss’s mother, of all people. Especially not on a night when she was the guest of honor.
Her face was tight, and, judging by the fury and triumph flashing in her eyes, she knew I’d just realized I’d messed up.
Slight pressure on my back drew my attention to Jared, whose other hand wrapped around my elbow. He guided me around his parents and led me toward the front of the room, where the exit was located. He murmured greetings to people as we sliced through the crowd, not slowing down as he marched me out of there.
My chest collapsed. I’d messed up. I’d messed up bad.
With every step we took, dread grew claws that sank into my chest. In the far corner of the room, a corridor led off toward the bathrooms. Jared walked me down the hallway, past the bathrooms, all the way to a stairwell. The sound of our footsteps echoed as we walked up the steps, and all I could do was focus on keeping my steps steady as my mind whirled.
I shouldn’t have said anything. I’d forgotten myself. I was reading into our relationship when all it should have been was professional. My attraction to the man blinded me and made me mess up, and now I’d be jobless and homeless, and?-
And I’d never see Jared again. That shouldn’t have been the thought that made me want to burst into tears, but it was.
“In here.” Jared pushed open a door at the top of the stairs. To our left, the sound of conversation filtered through. There were a few tables on the mezzanine level overlooking the main event space, but he led me to the right, into what looked like a smaller, private dining space that hadn’t been set up for the event. Chairs were stacked around the edges of the room, with a few boxes full of miscellaneous supplies strewn here and there. A long table dominated the space, with light from the big dormer windows illuminating the room.
The door latched shut, and I turned to face him. My heart thumped as my throat constricted, but I had to get the words out-had to explain. “I’m sorry,” I said, staring at his bowtie. He’d shaved, but I could see the shadow of his beard on his jaw and throat. “I shouldn’t have said anything. She was just being so horrible to you, and I couldn’t take it.”
“To…me?”
I blinked, lifting my gaze. “What?”
“You’re upset because she was being horrible to me?” His brows tugged together.
I gulped and nodded. “Well…yeah. All that crap about you coming alone. It’s like they want you to be miserable. Not that I’m the one to make you happy, but someone will. And you deserve that! But the way they talk, it’s like they want you to just stand there and absorb all their criticism because it’s your job. It’s not right, Jared. It just isn’t.”
My eyes stung, and I blinked a few times to clear them. When I finally looked up again, Jared’s expression had changed. His eyes were focused on me with an intensity that made me suddenly go still.
“You weren’t upset about what they were saying about you? Talking like you weren’t even there?”
I shrugged. “Sure, but I mean, whatever. No offense, but they kind of suck. So their opinion doesn’t really matter to me.” I took a deep breath, dropping my gaze to his bowtie again. I knew what I needed to say, and I didn’t think I could do it while looking at his face. “I understand if you need to fire me. I know I was out of line down there, and I completely failed at my job. I should never have talked back, especially not to your family and especially not when they’re the point of this whole event. So, it’s okay. I understand?-“
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.