Page 66 of Strings

Cherese immediately removes her hand from his arm and her face stiffens.

“No. Hi. What are you doing here?” he asks, placing a soft fake kiss on my cheek.

“My assistant and I decided to work from here today to catch up on some last-minute preparations”

They both smile awkwardly and Sebastian stuffs his hands into his pockets.

“Hey, since you’re here, want a ride home tonight?” Cherese asks. “Unless you two have plans?”

I grit my teeth. “Oh, we most definitely don’t have plans. But maybe you two do?”

They gaze back and forth at each other for a moment and Sebastian shakes his head. “Just wrapping up. Is something wrong?”

Cherese’s discomfort is apparent. “I’ll give you some privacy. I’ll text you before we leave.”

“Thanks so much, Cherese. That would be grand.” I hope she can hear the fake sugar I’m throwing her way. Is she really hitting on him?

As soon as Cherese is out of sight, Sebastian approaches me. “What’s going on? Is it Mercer again?”

“No. What’s going on here?” I motion to where Cherese last stood.

“With what?”

“You and Cherese?”

“Nothing. We were just talking.”

“Yeah, it looked like you werejust talking.”

Sebastian leans away from me slightly as he tries to read my face. “Are you… worried?”

“What would I be worried about?” I question, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“I don’t know. But if I didn’t know any better, with the way you’re acting right now, I’d say you were jealous.”

I chuckle in a ridiculous manner. “Don’t flatter yourself. I could care less what you do or with whom. But maybe you should flirt in a less conspicuous area. After all, we are still pretending to be a couple.”

He tries not to smile and it pisses me off. “Who said I was flirting with Cherese?”

“You two have history. Maybe the fire is still burning.”

“I’m not sure what she told you about us, or what you think you know, but it was never a fire. It was more a flicker. That flicker went out a long time ago.”

“Well, from what I could see by the way you had your hands all over each other, it seems to be sparking back up again.”

He purses his lips, stares at me for a moment, then slowly removes his glasses to clean them on his shirt. He doesn’t say a word as he purposefully holds them up to the light, cleans them again, holds them up to the light, and then places them back on his face.

I feel my blood starting to boil.

He leans in toward me and whispers, “You’re cute when you’re jealous, but next time, save it for an audience. This isn’t real, remember?”

I stumble for words as he opens the door to the hall, glares at me briefly, and walks inside.

Baring my teeth at no one, I stomp back toward the conference room. I’m angry, but I think I’m more pissed at myself then I am at him. What got into me back there? I mean, I might have been a little upset that he almost blew our cover, but that’s all it was. I think that’s all it was. Why would I react that way? He’s right. I have no business questioning anything he does. Sitting at the table, I lean my head on my hands. “I’m such an idiot.”

“What’s wrong?” Amy asks as she enters the room. “Why do you think you’re an idiot?” She sits down next to me and places her hand over mine. We’ve become sort-of friends working so closely together. At least, I think we are. I’ve never really had female friends before, so I’m not sure how the whole thing works.

I confide in her because I feel like I’m going to explode.