InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (57 page)

            “Hey, Lex,”
she said. “I’m really sorry about what happened last week…I had no idea. Major
bummer.”

           
Ya think?
Lexi thought, but she forced a thin smile. “I’m sorry, too,” she said, for the
sake of office peace. “I overreacted.”

            Candy seemed
unphased, and Lexi was immediately suspicious. “No problem,” she said brightly.
“I was thinking, since you’ve got some free time now, that you’d come to this
month’s progressive dinner. The theme is French cuisine, and we’re having it at
Denise’s on Thursday. Seven o’clock. You don’t have to bring anything for your
first time,” she added quickly, “just show up and have fun.”

            What was her
deal? Lexi thought. No way Candy really wanted to hang out with her; there was
always an ulterior motive. “I don’t think so,” she answered. “I’m really not
into it. But thanks anyway.”

            “Oh, come on,
it’ll be fun! You need to get back out there; trust me, I know.” She put her
hand on Lexi’s in a fake show of sympathy. “You can bring Tia too, if you want,
we’d love to have her!”

            So that was
it. She was still trying to find a way to get to InHap. “Tia’s out of town.”

            “Oh, that’s too
bad. Will she be back next week? We could postpone it.”

            Lexi groaned
inwardly and held her breath for a ten-count. “Look, Candy, I’m just going to
say it. Again. It’s really nothing personal, but you and I don’t really have
anything in common. We’ve worked together for three years, and we’ve never once
done anything socially together besides office parties. Tia barely knows you at
all, and she’s got to be careful about going out in public these days. You
wouldn’t believe how many people suddenly want to be her friend just so they
can get close to the band. It’s pathetic, really.” A small part of her hoped
Candy would get the hint, but Lexi wasn’t at all surprised when she didn’t even
bat an eyelash.

            “Oh, I believe
it,” she said, eyes wide. “She’s such a sweet person, though…I’ve always liked
her. I can’t believe we didn’t think to invite you guys before; we’ve talked
about it a lot.”

           
I just bet
,
Lexi thought. “I think I can speak for Tia when I say she wouldn’t be able to
make it. She’s got a lot to do with planning the wedding, and packing up stuff
to move out to the new house in Colorado.”

            “Oh my gosh,
the wedding!” Candy exclaimed as if it were the first time she’d considered it.
Lexi knew better, though, and her scheme was coming into focus. “Obviously they
had planned on you bringing a guest, and now Brian won’t be going with you.”
Lexi didn’t bother to correct the name—she saw the question coming, and
couldn’t believe she’d have the gall to even ask. “I’d do anything to go to
that party,” she said wistfully. “I’d be a really fun date.” She winked and
turned the corner of her mouth up in a sly smile.

            Lexi tried to
tighten her tenuous grip on her self-control, but it was a lost cause. She
balled her hands into fists and kept her voice low, although her tone was
menacing. “Oh my God, you just don’t quit, do you?” She clenched her teeth and
fought to keep from yelling. “You are not my friend, Candy. You’ve made it a
point to exclude me from your little clique; not that I ever wanted to be a
part of it; so you can just stop pretending right now, OK? I’m not going to
introduce you to Dylan or any of the other guys in the band, I’m not going to
get you tickets, and I’m sure as hell not getting you into the wedding. Period.
End of of story. So just go back to looking down your nose at me and talking
about me behind my back and quit trying to worm your way into my life just so
you can try to get one of the guys from InHap into your bed. Not. Going. To.
Happen.”

            Candy’s face
reddened with fury and her eyes narrowed to slits. “You are such a bitch,” she
spat. “You walk around like you’re big shit while you ride on your friend’s
coattails. You’re nothing, Lexi. No wonder Brian cheated on you—who could stand
to be around you and your newly-inflated ego? You deserved it, you
condescending fame whore.”

            “Ooh, a four
syllable word,” she yelled as Candy stalked out of her office into the lobby.
“That’s a stretch for you, Candy. Better to be a whore for fame than the kind
you are—everyone knows you’re fucking Bryce, so you’d best be careful about the
accusations you toss around.”

            Candy’s face
split into an evil grin and she slowly and deliberately raised her middle
finger. “Fuck you, Lexi,” she snarled. Then she turned and marched toward the
boss’s office, just as his wife walked out. She collided with Candy and grabbed
her arms before she could make a getaway.

            Time seemed to
stop, or at least go into some sort of slow motion phase that Lexi couldn’t
quite make sense of. Bryce burst into the lobby, and Lexi saw the warning he
shot at Candy with his eyes over his wife’s shoulder. 

            “Are you
sleeping with my husband?” her voice was low and level, but the tone was
downright menacing. Candy squirmed in Cecile’s firm grip, and Bryce put his arm
around his wife, trying to pull her back into his office. Cecile shrugged him
off and turned to him without loosening her hold. “Get your filthy hands off
me, Bryce, and tell me right now. Is this your mistress?”

            “Don’t be
ridiculous, Cecile. Lexi is pissed off at the whole world right now, aren’t
you, Lexi?” He shot her a similar warning as he tried to take Cecile’s hands
off an obviously pained Candy. “Her fiancé cheated on her, so now she thinks
all men are snakes, that’s all. She’s projecting…”

            “Shut the hell
up, Bryce, and tell me the truth for once in your pathetic life.” She turned to
Lexi. “Is my husband a snake?”

            Lexi nodded.
“I’m afraid so.”

            Cecile’s
flaming eyes turned immediately to her husband’s and then to Candy. All around
the office doors started opening and people either stepped out to watch the
spectacle or peered through cracks so as not to get hit with any of the
backlash. Bryce threw Lexi a hard look and tried to cover his tracks by
berating her.

            “We cannot
have this sort of bullshit happening in our office!” he bellowed. “You were
supposed to apologize to your coworker for your unacceptable behavior, not
start some ludicrous office gossip!” He turned back to his wife and his
mistress. Candy was visibly shaking now, whether from the physical pain of Cecile’s
vice-like grip or the emotional pain of being busted, and the black streaks of
tears and mascara that were running down her face were  dripping onto her
too-small and too-low-cut perky cream colored sweater. Bryce once again tried
to separate the two women. “Come on, Cecile, darling,” he whined, “This is
nothing but a pack of lies and misconceptions invented by a depressed woman. I
love you, and would never be unfaithful. Come in and talk to me.”

            “He’s lying,”
Lexi said quietly. As much as she hated being the one to give Cecile the news,
no one deserved to be treated that way. And as much as she hated that Ryan
cheated on her, knowing was better than playing the clueless fool.

            “I will deal
with you later,” Bryce growled, his face reddening and his eyes narrowing to
slits. “Not one more word. It ends here, Lexi.”

            Lexi had done
some research during her sabbatical, and knew that the stages of grief after a
break-up were similar to those that followed a death.  She actually felt
herself cross the plane from sadness to anger, and it roared through her blood
like a beast. She stepped out of her doorway and into the lobby, and closed the
distance between her and the lying piece of crap that was her boss. “Does it?”
Does it really? What ends here, exactly, Bryce? Candy harassing me to try and
get an invitation to my friend’s wedding so she can attempt to get one of the
guys from InHap into her bed?” His eyes widened like he’d been slapped. “Oh
yeah, that’s right. You think you’re the only one? She tells everyone she has a
sex addiction, but she has a power addiction, too—you think she sleeps with you
because you’re an Adonis? Ha!”

            “You are out
of line Miss Summers, and are treading on very thin ice.”

            Lexi threw her
head back and laughed. “Am I? Maybe you should check the ground you’re standing
on, Bryce, because I think a sinkhole is about to open up under you.” She
looked at Cecile with sympathy in her eyes, but turned daggers back on her
boss. “How about the lies and manipulation? Maybe
they
can end here,
Mr.
Southerton
. Oh, come on, Bryce,” she hissed, “You’re going to sit there and
defend an underproductive para against one of your attorneys because she gives
good head?” She turned to Cecile. “I’m really sorry, Cecile. I’ve very recently
been on the receiving end of that kind of news too, and I know it’s not pretty.
I hate that you had to find out like this, and hate even more that I had to be
the one to break it to you, but I’m sure as hell not going to cover for his
cheating ass.”

            “I figured as
much,” Cecile said, releasing her grip on Candy, who immediately made a dash
for the restroom.

            “Get out,”
Bryce growled, turning his beet red face to Lexi.  “I’ve tried to be patient
with you while you went through your little celebrity encounter and your break-up,
but this is beyond inappropriate, and I won’t tolerate it.”

            “Are you
firing me, Bryce?” She was hepped up and ready for a fight—she felt alive again
for the first time in weeks.

            “Yes, Lexi, I
guess I am.”

            “Fine. Screw
you, Bryce. I hope your wife dumps your worthless ass.”

            “You know
what?
You
get out,” Cecile fired back at her husband. “You might want to
remember that my father owns this building, and I guarantee you a quick
eviction notice.” Bryce tried to put his arm around her, and she efficiently
stepped out his reach and thrust her finger at his chest. “You are finished,”
she hissed. “Everything you have is because of my family, and it’s gone, Bryce;
all of it.”

            “Cecile,
please. Just talk to me. We can work this out.”

            “All of it,” she
said again, touching the tips of her fingers together in the air and then
splaying them open in one quick motion. “Poof. Just like that.” She grabbed her
coat from the hook on the wall and walked out the door with her head held high.

            Bryce’s eyes
swept around the room and took in the sea of faces that witnessed the scene.
“Get back to work!” he bellowed, turning his stare on Lexi. “Except for you.
You get the hell out of my sight!” He strutted back into his office and slammed
the door.

            Lexi spun on her
heel and stormed into her office, dumping a case of copy paper on the floor and
tossing her personal things into the box. Just for fun, she opened her filing
cabinet and grabbed a huge handful of client files, turned them upside-down,
and let the contents flutter to the floor. She knew it would be Candy’s job to
have to clean them up; if she even had a job anymore; and that with her
piss-poor filing skills, it would probably take her days to get them all sorted
out. She strolled out of her office with her back ramrod straight, accepted the
praise or looks of pity from a few people that she’d likely never see again,
and walked out the door.

            Lexi hadn’t
taken two steps into the parking garage when the sleek red Jaguar pulled up and
the tinted passenger window slid down. “Hop in,” Cecile said. “I’d really like
to have a chat.”

            Lexi leaned
down and peered inside, the words, ‘don’t kill the messenger’ rolling through
her head. When she made eye contact, however, there was no threat in the
woman’s eyes. She didn’t know Cecile well, but they’d attended their fair share
of office parties together and she’d always been kind and easy enough to talk
to. “I’m really sorry for you,” Lexi said as she plopped her butt on the warm
leather. “I just found out my fiancé was cheating too, and I’m having some
trouble dealing with it—obviously. I swear I didn’t know you were there—it’s
not my place to bring you that bit of news, and I’m really sorry. I guess I
already said that, but I am.”

            “I’ve
suspected it for quite some time now,” she said, “but I couldn’t bring myself
to face it. Oh hell, I’ve known it all along. She’s not the first.” Lexi put
her hand on Cecile’s arm in a show of support. “I didn’t want it to be true,
but I had a feeling the bastard only wanted me for my family’s money from the
start. Don’t apologize—I’d rather know than be in the dark. And you just saved
me from a costly divorce. Now I’ll make sure it’s Bryce who pays.” She rolled
up the sleeve of her coat and glanced at her watch. “I know it’s early, but can
I buy you a drink? I sure could use one.” 

            “Why the hell
not?” Lexi said, tugging the seat belt and enjoying the throaty sound of luxury
engineering as Cecile gunned the engine and headed for the exit.

*****

            It had seemed
like a good idea at the time, but by Tuesday, regret settled in like like a
flood. She didn’t feel bad about walking out—at least she could say she
maintained her integrity—but she suddenly found herself with no fiancé, no job,
and a best friend who’d be moving halfway across the country in just a few
months. A best friend who was, unknowingly but at least partially, responsible
for the mess her own life had become. Damn it. She’d never considered herself a
jealous person; or a vindictive one; but the downward spiral had really started
with the damn secret. Ryan lost his faith in her loyalty, lost his sense of
self-worth in Dylan’s shadow, and found solace with another woman. She’d
foolishly thought that her life would get better after the secret was out—she’d
certainly never anticipated the landslide that had effectively buried her
entire future.