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She was late, thanks to a traffic snarl that lasted an entire hour and an already late start from her apart in on noon, and her mood was in the toilet
When she saw Shelby, she knew so The usually cheerful receptionist eyed Celia with so that looked suspiciously like pity, and she refused to hold Celia’s gaze for long
Not even wanting to knohat that was all about, Celia bypassed her usual reet with Shelby and headed for the sanctuary of her office To her surprise, Elle aiting for her
“Hello, Elle,” Celia said as she came in and tossed her briefcase onto her desk
Elle’s face was drawn, and she looked like she was dreading talking to Celia In her hands was a folded newspaper or azine Celia couldn’t tell
“Celia, there’s so you need to see Everyone else has already read it I tried to call you but couldn’t reach you at home or on your cell”
Celia’s stomach sank She didn’t like the look on Elle’s face or the way she was co at her with that paper
Elle plopped the newspaper on Celia’s desk and it was then that Celia saas a gossip rag Her nose wrinkled in disgust
“Elle, what are you doing reading that crap?”
“Look at it, Celia”
Elle jabbed her finger at the photo spread and the headline Celia looked down and all the blood drained froe of the desk to keep her knees fro way
There were pictures of her and Evan at Mitchell’s wedding The same pictures she’d received via e-hing up at hi her Her hand was splayed over his chest and there was no er
The headline blurred in front of her, but she got the gist It was all about Evan and his new fiancée and was it coincidence that Evan had allegedly signed a contract with Maddox Coency where his fiancée worked
She scanned the article, but she was too furious to continue past the insinuation that Celia had spent the last several weeks doing whatever was necessary to land Evan’s business
“That’s not all,” Elle said grimly
She walked around Celia’s desk and jostled the mouse so that her screen came up She typed in a URL
and navigated to an advertising coe board,professionals There in the latest blog post was the picture of Evan kissing her along with the announce with Maddox Communications The subtitle was short and to the point, and ht Celia landed the account
Celia sank into her chair, stunned Absolutely and completely stunned by what she’d read
“My God, Elle, what do I do?” she whispered
Elle squeezed her shoulder in sy a loss as Celia was as to how to handle it
“Does everyone in the office know?” Celia asked painfully “Have they all seen it? And what do they think?”
“Well, Ash hasn’t been back in, so I don’t know if he’s seen it I know Brock and Jason saw it because I was in Brock’s office with both of them Jason didn’t have much to say but Brock was pissed”
“At me?”
Elle shook her head “I don’t know, to be honest I doubt it He’s not the type to get angry before he hears your side Besides, you got the account It shouldn’t matter to him how you did it”
“That’s true, I guess It only matters tome ”
“I’m sorry, Celia Really sorry”
Celia put her hands over her face “I was stupid, Elle I was stupid, and now I have to pay the price”
The sound of so up toward the door Brock stood there, an indecipherable expression on his face
“Elle,” he said “Would you leave me and Celia for a moment?”
“Of course,” Elle murmured as she hurried away
Tears burned Celia’s eyes She was holding on by a sheer thread
“Want to talk?” Brock asked
It was that question that did it for Celia If he’d been angry or if he’d been indifferent, she could have handled it, but the simply worded request broke her down
Her shoulders shook, and she lowered her head as a sob welled from her throat It appalled her that she’d cry in front of her boss But there was no holding back the release of the crushing pressure that had been building over the course of the last feeeks
Brock didn’t say or do anything He just stood there while she gathered herself together again When she looked up, he sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk and waited for her to speak
“It’s not how it looks,” she said as she wiped tears from her cheeks
He glanced at the spread out paper on her desk “Well, it looks like you earing his ring, but you’re not now”
With a sigh, she explained the whole sorry tale about her trip to Catalina with Evan and how she hadn’t
felt like she could refuse when he was short on tin
She left out the mushy details she’d shared with Elle Brock was, after all, A her boss and B a man He didn’t need to know that she’d stupidly fallen in love with atis entirely too messy What if they broke up? Would Evan feel weird about continuing the relationship with Maddox or would he take his business elsewhere?
There were a otten involved with Evan, and yet, she hadn’t heeded any of the warning signs
“I overheard what Elle said about how it shouldn’t ot the account I won’t lie It doesn’t Furthermore, it’s none of e the reputation of Maddox I don’t think this qualifies My concern is for you I kno devastated you were by what happened in New York
“I meant what I said when I told you that you had ed I’llon in the office, but I can’t control what people think or say outside the work area I don’t i to be easy for you to deal with in the next little while, but Maddox Communications stands behind you”
“Thank you, Brock,” she said in a shaky voice “That means a lot to me”