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I nod. “Last weekend. He came home with me to meet my parents, and we made out on the couch while they were sleeping.”
“Sounds like high school.”
I laugh. “Yeah, it was, kinda.”
Kit makes me feel younger. Maybe it’s because he’s younger than me. Maybe it’s his playful personality. I feel more like myself when I’m around him and act nothing like my normal behavior. I’ve never even kissed a guy in front of my parents before, and Kit’s refusal was theonly reason we didn’t have sex in their living room.
“Was it good?”
“Yeah. It was … special. But then I woke up the next morning, and it felt hazy. Like this really good dream had ended. And I don’t know how to get back there and stop overthinking everything.”
“Kiss him again,” Margot suggests.
I laugh. “That’s your advice?”
“It sounds like you’re putting up extra caution tape because he’s the father of your kid. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun, Collins. Are you seeing him around the holidays?”
“New Year’s Eve, I think.”
Yesterday, I fielded several phone calls from an event planner named Lucy, who is organizing a New Year’s Eve party that Kit is throwing. He made it clear that I was invited and also mentioned Lili wouldn’t be back from London yet, as if anticipating me using that excuse. Technically, I’ll no longer be a Kensington Consolidated employee by then.
“That’s perfect!” Margot exclaims. “Kiss him at midnight. Why don’t we get drinks—I mean, ginger ale for you—next week and make a plan?”
I exhale, chewing on my lower lip. Aside from human resources, Kit is the only one who knows this is my last week at the company. I haven’t told Margot or anyone else I’ve gotten to know here because I’ve been debating how much to say. Especially to Margot, who knows about the pregnancy.
“I, uh … I need to tell you something.”
Margot raises an eyebrow. “Okay …”
“I’m changing jobs. I accepted a paralegal position at a law firm. Friday is my last day, and I start at the firm right after New Year’s.”
She blinks rapidly. “You’re leaving Kensington Consolidated? Why?”
I shrug a shoulder. “I preferred that work. The only reason I started here was because I couldn’t find a paralegal job in September. With everything …” I gesture toward my abdomen. “It just makes more sense for me right now. But I’ll still be in the city. We can still be friends? Meet at sample sales after work? Elastic waistbands aren’t going to cut it for much longer. I’m going to need to shop for actual maternity clothes soon.”
“Of coursewe’ll still be friends, Collins.” Margot pouts. “But I’m going to miss having you just down the hall.”
“I’ll miss it too,” I admit.
Leaving Kensington Consolidated is the right decision. For me and for Kit. He’s worked incredibly hard the past few months for everyone to take him seriously. To admire him for more than his last name. Whatever way I can shield him from the scandal of an unplanned pregnancy, I will.
But I’ll also miss working here. My desk and its brown fern. The glass offices that don’t appear as intimidating anymore. Margot and Stella and Aimee and all the other colleagues who I’ve gotten to know since reluctantly starting here in September.
Margot tilts her head. “Does Kit know?”
“He knows.”
“How did he take it?”
Sheknows, I realize. Maybe she’s wondered all along. Maybe my sudden departure, right as I start showing, has confirmed a hunch. But I’m suddenly positive Margot is aware Kit’s more than simply my boss.
“Uh, fine,” I respond carefully.
Margot nods. “Be careful, Collins.” She glances at the snow. “People aren’t talking about Arthur because they’re excited to see him. They’re talking because they’re afraid of him. People with that much money and power … they live in a different world.”
I keep a smile fixed on my face, attempting to ignore the ominous echo in her words. “I’m always careful.”
“… you didn’t trust me to protect you.”