Page 11 of Kayla's List

I’ve slowly regained my memory of what happened on Saturday night, and from what I can remember, Anderson and I seemed to have a lot in common. We spent the night laughing and talking about technology out of all things.Warren and I hardly ever had conversations about technology because he never wanted to talk about work. And I wanted to please him, so we didn’t discuss techy stuff. But I really enjoyed sharing my thoughts on the process of how to develop and launch a social media app. It was fascinating. I feel bad that I didn’t immediately remember all of the interesting things we’d spoken about.

Remembering everything that had gone on this weekend made me realize the rollercoaster of emotions I’ve been on since Friday night.

Now, it’s Monday, and I have to go to work and pray that I don’t run into Warren. Going through a break-up is bad enough, but thewaywe broke up was a complete mess. I just want to do my best to forget all about the humiliation.

I nervously enter the building. I’m looking around like I stole something. I nod at the security guard and swipe my badge. I look at the elevator and the stairs. I bite my lip in indecision.If I take the elevator, I will get to the fourth floor faster, but I might be stuck on there with Warren. If I take the stairs that nobody uses, then I won’t run into him, but then my out of shape behind will be struggling to make it up the stairs.

I look behind me and see everyone filing into the building. I don’t want to take the chance on running into Warren, so I take a deep breath and head toward the stairwell.

Once I finally get to the fourth floor, I inhale deeply. Not only because I’m out of breath, but because I didn’t run into anyone while climbing the stairs. As I enter the door, I cautiously look around.I get to my office and plop down in my chair, relieved.One morning down and a million more to go.I frown at the thought. It has only been a few days since my break-up, and although my friends were able to temporarily get my mind off of Warren, I still had to face the fact that my relationship and future plans went up in smoke.

My plans for a family were done. I’m all alone in the world again. I still had my friends, but there’s nothing like belonging to someone else. Being a wife and a mother is the only way that I’ll have the family I’ve always dreamed of. Now, it is once again an unreachable goal.

I spent most of the day drowning in my dark thoughts. By the time lunch rolled around, my emotions were going down like the Titanic. However, before I could get to the point of no return, my co-worker, Ken, knocks on my door. He comes in with a fake sympathetic smile plastered on his face, and I want to groan. There’s no way he knows about Warren and me.

Warren would never in a million years, volunteer that he was gay to the people at work. Hell, he didn’t even tell me. So, I’m not sure why Ken is giving me sympathy, even if it is fake as hell.

“Good afternoon, Ken. What can I do for you?” I ask, ignoring the look on his face.

“Afternoon, Kayla. I just came to check on you,” Ken replies.

I frown. In all of the years that I have worked at TRI, Ken Snyder has never come to “check on me” for anything. As a matter of fact, Ken barely talks to me. He is in a not so secret competition with me for some reason.

“I’m fine,” I respond.

I purposely didn’t askwhyhe was checking on me. That would mean more conversation, and I really didn’t want that with Ken of all people.

“Oh, that’s good. I’m sorry to hear about Warren breaking up with you,” Ken says, sitting down in the chair in front of my desk.

I shift my facial expression to neutral.I’m not at all surprised that Warren changed the narrative on our break-up. I am surprised that he’d volunteered the false information so quickly, though. I’m suspicious about what could’ve caused news about our break-up to come out. But by the look on Ken’s face, he’s all too willing and eager to tell me.

“Thank you for your…sympathy. But there’s no need for you to be sorry about anything regarding my personal relationships, Ken. Now, did you need anything relating to business today? Because I really don’t have time to engage in office gossip.” I quirk an eyebrow in challenge.

I’m not normally this straightforward, but my personal life is off-limits. I have never spoken to anyone at work about my home life and I definitely won’t start today with Ken.No sir.

“I just came to see if my co-worker needed some support. I’m not here to be accused of gossiping.” Ken sneered with a huff as he stood from the chair.

I give him a blank stare. He wouldn’t get a reaction out of me. Although I’m not particularly outspoken, I refuse to be run over anymore. There was a reason Warren thought he could cheat on me and I would stay. It is a lesson that I am learning the hard way.

“Thanks for the support. Have a blessed day, Ken.”

I know he hears the sarcasm in my voice because he frowns then huffs once more before marching toward the door.

He didn’t say anything else, and I am glad he didn’t. I’m not sure if he had pushed that I wouldn’t have caved. It is part of my personality to want to be a people pleaser, even to people I don’t care for.

After the little visit from Ken, I stayed in my office to avoid the obvious gossip that was spreading like wildfire. Part of me wanted to know what lies Warren was telling, but the smart part told me not to entertain it at all.

I sigh in exasperation. I really wish that I could go back to being invisible. When nobody noticed who I was or what I was doing with my life. It was a much simpler way to live. Even if it was a little lonely and extremely boring, at least I didn’t have to deal with public humiliation.

When I finally left work, I was thankful that nobody else felt the need to “show me support” or come by my office to be nosy. I was also glad that I hadn’t seen or heard from Warren all day.

Warren called my phone all day Saturday, but by the evening, the calls went silent. He hadn’t even bothered texting. The fight wasn’t even there, and now he’s telling everyone he broke up with me.What an ass!

As I was relaxing from a semi-stressful day and doing my best not to fall victim to my dark thoughts, my cell rang. It could only be one of three people, well two now, so I didn’t bother looking at the Caller ID before picking up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Kayla. It’s Anderson.”