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The door bursts open, and Julia strikes a pose at the doorway, one hand on her hip.
“Why don’t you ask your girlfriend?” Nelly throws at me, her voice calm even though the tempest brewing in her eyes shows her annoyance.
“You went to her for help and shared your plans with her grandfather to convince him to back you, right? She probably shared that information with Joe.”
“Why would I do that?” Julia asks from the doorway.
Nelly breaks her hand free from mine and walks out of my office without another word.
Julia maintains her position as I turn to glare at her.
“We had a deal, Ethan. I helped you convince my grandfather, and in turn, you were to help me.”
“I’ve fulfilled my end of the deal, Julia. You wanted me to stage an outing with you that night so you could feed the rumors to your journalist friends, and I did. I’ve paid my debt.”
“But—”
“Stop,” I cut her off, then take slow, menacing steps towards her.
“If I figure out that you betrayed me again, or that you’re working with Joe, then I’ll make sure your grandfather knows the truth. Do you think you’re so special? Let’s see how he’ll handle the news of his precious granddaughter being a self-serving, selfish femme fatale instead.”
She holds my gaze with contempt for a second longer, huffs, then pulls back. “Fine!” Julia storms out of my office without another word, and I glance down at the flash drive before walking over to my desk to plug it into my laptop.
***
Three hours later, I had figured out enough to have my insides twisting into a tight ball of nerves. Joe had stolen my contract and tried offering Nelly a position in his company. The details were in the files on the flash drive she gave me.
Nelly is alone in the living room when I get back home that night. She barely spares me a glance as I shrug out of my tie.
“Nelly—”
“We need to talk, Ethan,” she says before I can finish my sentence. I take the spot beside her on the couch, and she angles her body so she’s facing me.
“I figured it out,” I whisper to her. “Joe and Julia are definitely working together. I made a mistake, thinking I could trust herthis time. Either way, what’s done is done. We have to come up with something new. Start afresh.”
Nelly is still quiet as she listens to me, and when she still doesn’t reply, I ask, “Is there something wrong?”
“No, it’s just—” she trails off, then shakes her head. “You thought it was me. You thought I’d betray you with Joe, and I don’t know if I can continue, knowing that you don’t trust me, Ethan.”
She gets on her feet, and an erratic rhythm makes my heart pound against my ribcage when Nelly turns her back to me. “I don’t know how we can do this if we don’t trust each other. You should have told me about your deal with Julia. You didn’t trust me enough to handle it?”
She turns around and looks into my eyes. I feel faint for a moment. I’ve thought about the way she makes me feel, and I’ve wondered if I can let myself indulge.
“It’s not that I didn’t trust you … I wanted to protect you from everything, Nelly. All I think about is making sure you’re okay, and I thought that if I told you about Julia’s request, you would want us to figure out some other way. If I lost the CEO seat, you would have blamed yourself. I didn’t want that.”
“Why?” Her question makes me pause, and for the first time, I’m forced to really think about my actions. She walks over to me and places one hand on her chest, her eyes searching mine deeply.
“Why, Ethan … You don’t owe me anything.”
Why do I feel the need to protect her? And make everything better?
I would do anything for Nelly. I know that deep down, and I’ve never wanted anything in return.
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I just …”
“You confuse me, Ethan, and make it so difficult for me to stay mad at you. You don’t want love or a relationship and yet you …” She stops and nibbles on her lower lip. “I can’t let you do that to me again. You’re not going to hurt me again, Ethan.”
Watching her walk away from me after that makes me realize how special every moment I’ve spent with Nelly is. Until now, I didn’t realize how content I was with having her in my life.