Page 18 of Forever, Never, Always (Forever #2)

“We have to go now,” she calls, and the music turns back on and up.

I groan, feeling for the boxes and sitting down. I’ll just have to wait until she gets bored.

I’m not sure when I pass out, sprawled out on top of the boxes. But I wake with a start when light floods the cupboard and Dexter’s booming voice wakes me. “What the hell are you doing?”

I sit up, shading my eyes from the sudden brightness. “Thank god you’re back,” I say, standing and feeling flustered. “I was locked in.”

He gives me a doubtful glare. “Wait for me in my office. Now.”

I head inside, straightening my hair as I do, and when I glance out the window, he’s speaking with Amelia quietly.

But before I can jump in to defend myself, he joins me, slamming the office door closed.

“It’s almost three o’clock,” he snaps, and my heart stutters.

“Amelia tells me you’ve been in there all day putting ‘stationary away’. ” He uses air quotes.

The realisation that I’ve missed almost an entire day of work makes me feel sick. I have so much to do. “She locked me in there,” I accuse, “and refused to let me out. I must’ve nodded off.”

He scoffs. “So, she locked you in, and you happily fell asleep? You didn’t think to call for help?”

“I tried. She turned the music up.”

Dexter pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “Look, Sofia, this is getting ridiculous. There are witnesses who say you never called for help. Who said you were going to put the stationary away and you never reappeared.”

“Let me guess, Lula and Noah?”

“Amongst others.”

“She’s telling them to lie,” I cry. “She even told me to put the stationary away. Said you’d given the order.”

“How, when I was in meetings all day?”

I suddenly feel silly. He believes her. Of course, he does. “You’re not impartial,” I snap. “She’s lying, not me.”

“I’m merely looking at the evidence, Sofia. I found you asleep in the cupboard.” He opens a picture on his phone and shows me. I immediately groan at the sight of me spread out, sleeping peacefully. “This is your first official warning.”

“What?” I cry.

“If anything else happens like this, I’ll have no choice but to take things further.”

“That’s not fair,” I yell, rushing to the door and ripping it open.

I turn the music off, my face red with fury as I turn to face my colleagues, who are now all looking in my direction.

“Someone please say something,” I beg. “You all must have heard me calling for help.” Blank faces stare back at me.

“I’m getting a warning for something I didn’t do,” I add.

“So, you didn’t fall asleep in the cupboard?” asks Amelia, smirking as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“Well, yes, I did. I have a baby, of course, I’d nod off in the dark if left to it. But you locked me in there and refused to let me out.”

Her mouth falls open like she’s shocked, and she glances around the office. “Oh my god, you’re blaming me? Sofia, I was doing interviews most of the day.”

Tears fill my eyes, and I nod in understanding as I scan the room. No one is willing to stand up to the office bully. Not for me, anyway.

“You’ll need to stay behind and complete whatever you need to do,” Dexter mutters from behind me.

“I can’t. I have Harry to collect.”

“It wasn’t a polite request, Sofia,” he adds, heading into his office and closing the door.

I groan and head for my desk. I type off a text to Meg asking if she’ll collect Harry, which thankfully she agrees to. Then I call the nursery to let them know.

Eric

It was Meg who approached me at work and asked me to come to dinner this evening.

It’s not something she’s done before, but I have a sneaky suspicion it’s to do with the breakup, so I agreed.

And now, as I sit entertaining Harry, I regret it, because she’s eyeing me suspiciously as she chops potatoes.

“What?” I eventually ask.

“I didn’t see it when Dan first started cheating on me,” she begins, and I brace myself in case she demands the truth. “Actually, that’s sort of a lie. I suspected it because he was acting odd, but I don’t think I thought he was cheating until I actually caught him in the act.”

“Dan’s a prick,” I say, shrugging.

“Maybe I was hoping I was wrong, but when I think back, it was a gut feeling, yah know.”

“Where is this going?”

Hugo enters the kitchen freshly showered, his tattooed torso glistening, and Meg practically melts as he places a kiss on her head. “Dinner smells good,” he tells her. “Can I help?”

“She was just accusing me of cheating on Zoe,” I say, and she rolls her eyes because I’ve outed her to my big brother.

“Men don’t often leave a good relationship unless it’s for another woman,” she says, shrugging.

I approach the kitchen island and rest my hands against the white marble Hugo imported from Greece because it reminded them of their first holiday together. “I was honest with Zoe, which is more than I can say for her.”

“Not entirely honest because you snooped in her phone.”

“For good reason.”

“There’s never a good reason,” Hugo interjects, and I glare at him.

“She aborted my child and forgot to mention it.” Meg opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off by holding my hand up. “And I know—her body, her choice. I get that now. But I can still be upset about it.” I narrow my eyes. “And I can still be pissed that my sister-in-law hid it from me.”

“Not fair,” she snaps. “She was my friend before I was your sister-in-law.”

“I told Zoe the truth. I have feelings for Sofia. Once I realised, I ended it with Zo. That was the right thing to do because I can’t be in love with her if I’m thinking about her best friend.”

Hugo’s expression softens. “He’s got a point,” he tells Meg.

“It’s what happens from now that worries me,” she admits.

“Zoe made it clear I’m not to tell Sofia. It’s a selfish thing to do, but I respect her wishes.”

“That’s not entirely true,” mutters Hugo, avoiding my glare.

“I almost told her, but I stopped myself,” I cut in before he can grass me up. He glances up, and I give my head a slight shake. He knows better than to break bro code before I’ve had a chance to explain things, so he reluctantly nods. It means my secret is safe for now.

The front door opens and Sofia bustles in looking stressed. Her step falters when she sets eyes on me, but she recovers quickly, turning to Meg. “I am so sorry,” she rushes out, rounding the island, and they embrace. “Thank you so much for picking him up.”

“It wasn’t a problem.”

“It won’t happen again.” And she goes to Harry, who reaches up for her. “Hey, baby,” she whispers, kissing him. “I missed you.”

“I’ve made enough dinner to feed an army,” says Meg. “Why don’t you stay?”

Sofia briefly glances my way before smiling in Meg’s direction. “Only if you’re sure.”

“Absolutely. Ric, help Hugo set the table,” she adds.

I follow my brother into the dining room and watch as he gets table mats from the cupboard. “You just made me lie to my future wife,” he states.

“It wasn’t a lie. I’m just not ready for Meg to know how Sofia knocked me back.”

“Why?”

“Because it will complicate everything. Zoe will know Sofia knows how I feel. It’ll put an unnecessary strain on their friendship because of me. Let’s just leave it and let the dust settle. They won’t be talking about the breakup by next week.”

He scoffs. “You’re underestimating how upset Zoe is,” he states. “She was round here last night talking to Meg, who said she’s never seen her so upset.”

“Because she’s not used to men walking away,” I snap. “She’s embarrassed. She’ll get over it. And the process will be a lot quicker if everyone stops telling tales.”

Dinner is a painful ordeal. I sit opposite Sofia so as not to arouse suspicion. If I was beside her, I wouldn’t be able to help myself from touching her. It’s like there’s an invisible pull between us, and that’s all I can think about.

After, Sofia insists on clearing up, and I jump at the chance to help, so I grab some of the empty plates and follow her to the kitchen.

The second we’re alone, I dump them on the side and grab her, pulling her to me and kissing her.

It’s exciting and breathtaking, with the pull between us crackling to life.

“Stop,” she whispers, giggling as I release her.

“I can’t wait to get you home,” I murmur.

“How come you’re here, anyway?” she asks, rinsing the dishes and passing them to me to load the dishwasher.

It’s the last thing I want to talk about because I know it’ll make her nervous if I mention Meg’s onto me too, so I shrug. “Hugo invited me after work instead of going to the pub. The others couldn’t make it. How come you were so late?”

She hesitates too, also shrugging. “It was a long day, and I had some urgent things to get off for print.”

I smile. “The life of a journalist.”

Zoe

I narrow my eyes. “What do you mean you invited them both for dinner?”

Meg suddenly looks unsure. “Well, I originally invited Ric so I could talk to him about you. But I had Harry unexpectedly, and so when Sofia came to collect him, I thought it would be a good opportunity to see if I could pick up on anything between them.”

“And?”

“And no, she hardly even glanced his way. She was quiet, actually.”

I give her my best ‘I told you so’ look. “Which is my point entirely.”

“Because she’s quiet, you think she’s suddenly in love with your ex?”

I resent the judgement and pout. “Of course not, but she’s acting odd. Quiet. Not texting me like she normally would. When you broke up with Dan, she was always calling in on you to check up.”

“A little different—I was married to Dan for ten years. Plus, we have a child together.”

“I don’t think we should make this a competition, Meg. My point is, she’s not acting like the caring best friend I expected.”

“Maybe she’s still struggling with Harry?”

“Maybe we need to drop by and check on her again.”

Meg narrows her eyes like she’s suddenly switched teams. “Check to see if you catch her with Ric?”

I scoff. “No, Meg. Check that Harry hasn’t driven her into the nearest river.”

She gasps, standing. “Oh my god, do you think she’s suicidal?”

I also stand and grab my bag as Meg shoves her feet into her trainers. “I think kids make you do silly things.”

“Hugo, I need to nip out. I shouldn’t be long,” she calls as we head for the door.

Hugo appears in the living room doorway. “Hold up. Where to?”

“To check on Sofia. Zoe thinks she’s suicidal.”

He frowns too, concern marring his features. “Shit. Should I call Ric to go round and check on her?”

God, this is backfiring. “Yes,” agrees Meg, “great idea.”

“No,” I cut in. “Jesus, I don’t think she’s killed herself,” I say, rolling my eyes. “We just need to work out why she’s so quiet.” They both visibly relax. “Now, if the fire’s out, can we make a move?”

Hugo takes Meg’s hand and pulls her to him, kissing her on the nose. “I’ll run you a bath for when you get home.”

She blushes, and I groan. “Okay, people, enough. Some of us hate love.” And I shove her out the door.