A Workplace Affair (12 page)

“We’re going to remodel it, the bottom level will be a gourmet restaurant, and the floors above that will become apartments, why?”

“So the businesses that are there right now?”

“Will be let out of their leases and given a notice to move. What is this about, Victoria? You know how this works.” I lower my eyes, yes, I know how this works, but this time it’s my friend.

“How can you do that to someone? How can you just come in and destroy their dreams, their futures?” My voice is getting louder and any control I had on my temper is gone.

“What are you talking about?” I can’t sit still any longer, so I get up and walk over to look out the windows. “Victoria, please, sit down and tell me what is going on?” I’m quiet for a few minutes, gathering my thoughts, and trying to figure out what to do. He gives me the time, I think it would have been easier if he would have pressed me, but he sat quietly and let me think. I have never been the type to be super dramatic or physical, but I guess that today, I’ll make an exception. Turning around I throw the glass I’m holding straight at his head.

“Who the hell do you think you are? Sage is my friend, and you’re just going to send her a notice that she has to move!” He dodges the glass, barely, and seems to be frozen in shock. “She has put her whole life into that business, and you think just because you have a lot of money you can destroy her dreams for profit?” He still has no idea what I’m talking about, but he’s regained his ability to move. He comes for me, understanding only that I am upset. “NO!” I yell at him as I move away, “You do not get to comfort me. You don’t get to be the big strong man who comforts the crazy, broken female.” He stops, and I can see the internal fight going on in his head. Deciding it’s best to listen to me, he keeps his distance.

“Victoria, please, tell me why you’re so upset. I would never do anything to hurt you, or Sage.” I cross quickly to the bar and find one of Sage’s business cards in my purse; handing it to him I wait.

Sage’s Sweet Delights

1355 Peachtree Street

Atlanta, GA 30309

It takes him a moment, but it hits him hard.

“Oh God, Victoria, I swear I had no idea.” He drops his head into his hands. I know he didn’t know before now, and I start to realize how ridiculous I am being.

“I’m sorry for getting so mad Leland, of course you didn’t know, how could you.” He sits down at the bar and takes a long drink. “Now that you know though, you can stop the deal.” He shakes his head slightly.

“Victoria, look at the dates on that paper.” Confused, I pick up the papers and skim down to the date, the twelfth of June, two thousand and thirteen, over a week ago. My heart sinks.

“Please Leland, please don’t do this.” I’m all but on my knees begging him to tell me that it’s not too late.

“The deal was finalized last week, I’m sorry Victoria.” He reaches for me, but I pull away.

“Don’t, please don’t touch me.” Rational thought eludes me again. “I thought you cared about me. I thought that if it was really important to me, you would stop at nothing to make it happen.” I grab my purse and head for the elevator, “I guess I was wrong.”

“Victoria, I do care about you. I wish more than anything that I could change this, but I can’t. I promise you, I will make it up to you, though.” I can’t even look at him. Keeping my back to him I fight the urge to cry, I never thought I’d actually have to walk away from him.

“I’ll come by and get my stuff tomorrow.”

“Victoria, please don’t go.” The elevator finally arrives after what seems like forever.

“I’m going to take some time off of work, too. I’ll have a leave of absence form for you to sign in the morning.” Stepping into the elevator I take one look at him as the doors close. He looks crushed. Once I am in the safety of the elevator, I give in to the emotions that my anger has pushed aside, and sink to the floor. With tears running down my face, I pull out my phone and call Sage.

“Hey, you busy?”

“Victoria? What’s wrong?”

“I need to come over, are you busy?”

“No, no, I just locked closed for the day, come on over.” Hanging up I pick myself off the floor and prepare to break the news to Sage.

Chapter 34

Everything happened so fast, I didn’t even have time to react when Victoria got into the elevator and left. I tried to call her at least ten times, but she rejected the call each time. Then, when I got to work this morning there was a leave of absence request on my desk, as she promised there would be, with a note.

“Please don’t deny my request. I will be back; I just need some time to help Sage. -V”

Any thought I had about not signing went out the door with the mention of Sage. I sign the paper reluctantly and set it aside, I just can’t bring myself to take it to human resources yet. Turning on my computer, I find an email from Harold Sneck informing me that while Miss. Bryant is on leave that Avery Simmons will be filling in. It goes on to state that Victoria has personally requested that Miss. Simmons fill in for her, as she feels she is adequately qualified for the job. Somehow, I feel this is Victoria’s way of making sure that she can quit without feeling guilty. I can’t imagine what it will be like to not see her every day, I feel like I’m being crushed.

Since I can’t think about anything else, I open the file on 1355 Peachtree Street and start trying to find a way to fix this. Looking over the file I pull up the website for Sage’s Sweet Delights and take a look, the website is full of pictures of delicious looking cupcakes and pastries, making my mouth water. Sage is an amazing baker; maybe she can reopen somewhere else. Looking through the pictures an idea comes to me, I know how I can make things right. It’s going to take me a while to work things out, even if I am the owner of the company, so I get started right away. When I’m done, I hope I can give Victoria the surprise I didn’t get to give her last night.

Chapter 35

When I get to the bakery I have stopped crying, mostly. Sage is waiting for me, and opens the door as soon as I park.

“Ok, now what the hell is wrong?”

“Let’s go inside and then I’ll tell you, you have any alcohol?”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” She locks the door behind us and rounding the counter, pulls a bottle of tequila out and puts it on the bar. She pours a shot for each of us and I take mine dreading this conversation. “So, what’s wrong?”

“I was doing some filing at work today when I came across some paperwork. Sage, I don’t know how to tell you this, but Leland bought this building. He’s going to make you leave.” After a minute or so, she pours two more shots and slides one over to me. “Sage, I’m so sorry, I tried to make him stop it, but the deal went through last week. I left him.” She raises her shot glass in a silent toast, before we take them.

“Leland bought the building, or his company bought it?”

“I guess his company did.”

“Then you’re a fool.”

“He could have stopped it, Sage. He could have stopped it and he chose not to.”

“Are you sure he could have stopped it, Vie? Because I’m pretty sure that if they paid for it already, the previous owner is not going to just give that money back because his girlfriend is unhappy about it.”

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“I just told you that he’s going to shut down your bakery, and you’re defending him.”

“I can do that because I know it wasn’t his fault.”

“Did he know my bakery was in this building?”

“I don’t know, I don’t think so.”

“Then how could he know he was doing something that was going to hurt you, or me for that matter.”

“Screw you.” She smiles and pours me another shot.

“Don’t be mad at me because you’re being ridiculous.”

“You’re my oldest friend, Sage, and I can’t stand that he is going to hurt you this way.”

“This isn’t about me, or the bakery, ok well, maybe partially. What this is really about is Leland leaving.”

“No its not, he asked me to move to New York with him.” She doesn’t seem to be surprised by my announcement.

“What did you say when he asked you?”

“That I had to think about it.” She pours us both another shot, and when I take it I feel the effects of the alcohol.

“Then you’re a bigger fool than I thought.”

Chapter 36

It’s been three weeks since I walked out of Leland’s suite, and he finally gave up calling after a week. Today is my first day back at work, and I’m nervous as hell. Avery called me about a week ago and told me that Leland was getting suspicious of her. When I requested that Avery fill in for me, I asked her to keep me updated on how Leland was doing. Despite everything, I do care about him, and I didn’t want to come back before he was ok with seeing me. Around the same time construction started on the floor above Sage’s bakery, we were denied access when we tried to take a look. Now, as I stand looking in the mirror, scared to death, I begin to wonder what he’s up to.

I take my time driving to work, and when I get there, Avery is at her desk at the front door.

“Good morning, Victoria, how are you doing?” The tone she uses tells me she understands.

“I’m ok, nervous, I guess.” I give her a weak smile.

“You’ll be fine, if you need anything, I’ll be here.” She turns to answer the phone on her desk as it starts ringing. I head to the elevators and I prepare myself to see Leland again.

At my desk I settle in, not yet ready to face him just yet. When I go to put my purse in the drawer I find a small box inside. Lifting it out I pull a note off the top and read.

“A treat for your first day back. I hope you enjoy them, but don’t eat too much we have a lunch meeting at 12. -Leland.”

Opening the box I find three small chocolates like the ones I had the first night Leland and I worked late at the hotel. Despite myself, I smile and lift a chocolate from the box. The chocolate melts on my tongue and the hazelnut cream inside follows. A small sigh escapes as I feel a small amount of the tension leave my body. Suddenly I’m aware that someone is watching me. Opening my eyes I find Leland standing less than five feet away.

“I see you got my gift.” There is no smile when he speaks to me.

“I did, thank you.” It’s weird being back and somewhat uncomfortable at how distant we are.

“I have some things to take care of out of the office this morning, but I will be back at 11:30 to pick you up for our meeting.”

“I can meet you there if you give me the address.” There’s no way I can be in a car with him.

“That won’t be necessary, just be ready when I get here.” He turns and leaves without waiting for a response. Leaving me little choice I set an alarm on my phone to be sure I’m not late, and get to work.

Despite everything, it’s good to be back.

Chapter 37

At 11:30 exactly, I head down to meet Leland for our lunch meeting. I’m hoping the dread is not written on my face. Avery offers me a smile as I push open the doors and head out to the waiting car. Plastering a smile on my face, I allow Leland to shut the car door behind me before rounding the car and sliding in beside me.

“Is there anything I should know before we go into this meeting?” I force myself to talk about business before any personal stuff has a chance to come up.

“Not really, I just want you to observe and give me your thoughts afterward.” He turns to look out the window, but I think I see him smile as he does.

The car ride takes about fifteen minutes due to the lunch hour rush, but as we pull up I’m very confused. Instead of being at a restaurant, we are stopped in front of Sage’s bakery. Looking out the window I see Sage standing outside. While I am distracted, Leland makes his way around and opens the door for me.

“Why are we here?” Having Leland here is hard, and I fight back tears.

“Why don’t we get Sage and I can tell you both.” He acts as if he might grab my hand, but thinks better of it and leads the way across the street to where Sage is standing. “Miss McCarthy, thank you for meeting me here.” He offers Sage a warm smile that is refused.

“Victoria, what is this about?”

“I wish I knew, I thought we were going to a lunch meeting.” I walk over to her and give her hand a little squeeze. No matter how hard this is for me, I know it’s harder for her. We both look at Leland, waiting.

“Why don’t we go inside and I can explain better.” Instead of going to the door of the bakery, Leland pulls out a set of keys and heads to the door that leads upstairs, reminding us that he owns the building now. He holds the door open long enough for us to step through and then locks it behind us. We follow as he leads the way past the bank of newly installed mailboxes, and up the stairs. None of us says a word as he stops at another door and, using the same set of keys, opens it and goes inside. Following him, once again, we enter into what appears to be the first of the new apartments being built.

“Why are you doing this, Leland? What sick reason do you have for torturing Sage this way?” A fire is burning inside me. There was a time I would have said he cared about me, but clearly I was wrong.

“I’m not trying to torture anyone. Here.” He extends the keys to Sage, but she just stares at him. “The apartment is yours Sage, if you want it. We have a lot to discuss, but I’m not closing your bakery, and as the only current tenant in the building, we wanted to offer you the first apartment.” Sage looks at me briefly before taking the keys from him.

“Are you serious?” Tears fill Sage’s eyes, “Thank you, Leland, but even if you don’t make me close, I can’t afford to stay open.” Sage makes to give Leland the keys back, but he refuses them.

“You can with this.” Pulling an envelope out of his jacket he passes it to Sage. When she opens it she lets out a quiet sob as tears begin to fall.

“Thank you.” Leland is caught off guard when Sage catches him up in a big hug.

“We’ll discuss everything in a few moments, but could you give me a few minutes alone with Victoria, please?” Letting go she wipes away her tears.