Busted

Oh how I wish I could have given this to you guys sooner as a bonus. Unfortunately I am totally out of extra posts until Thanksgiving, haha. But here it is a few hours earlier than usual at least!

ETA: actually, after a random inspiration, I lied. Consider this a bonus and come back in the morning (Wednesday at 6am CST) for the next post!
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I didn't sleep well Monday night.  Jordan and Savannah took turns haunting my dreams, and I woke up drenched in cold sweat twice before I just got out of bed around 4 in the morning.  Tuesday night was similar, but I did get a little more sleep.

I was working on paperwork in my office on Wednesday when Leigh, the person who runs our desk and the business office, popped her head in.  "Someone's here for you," she said.

"I'm not expecting a client," I said, confused.

"He's not a client," she said with a small smile.  "And he's really cute."  Oh shit.  Which one?  I followed her up front and saw Brody leaning against the wall in the corner.  I had avoided two calls from him yesterday.  Looks like I couldn't avoid this.  I squared my shoulders and walked over.

"Liv," he said quietly, almost desperately.  "Please have lunch with me."  His eyes pleaded with me.  I stalled, trying to think of a good reason to decline.  I just needed some space from both him and James. When nothing came to me, I nodded.

"I have 50 minutes," I said, looking up at the clock on the wall.  I told Leigh I was taking my lunch and she smiled conspiratorially and told me to have fun.

We walked to the coffee shop across the street where we'd gone for lunch the first time, months ago.  I ordered a sandwich and tea and we sat.  "Lauren told you?" I asked, finally.

"She did," he said with a slight edge to his voice, "but I wish you would have told me."

"Don't," I responded.  "It doesn't change anything."  His face didn't change, but I saw the tick of his jaw tightening.

"Liv, come on.  It changes everything.  Are you going to let her do this?"  His voice was steady, but I could see his pulse in his neck.

"Me?  Am I going to let her?  As far as I'm concerned, you already let her do this." My voice was strained and I gripped the edges of my chair to keep my arms from shaking. This wasn't how I wanted this conversation to go, but it was so much easier to just be mad at him than to admit to him that I was confused and feeling pressured.

"Why are you pushing me away so hard?" Brody shot back.  "That kiss on Saturday felt right.  And I know you thought so too, or you wouldn't have left in such a hurry, and you wouldn't be acting like this now."

"Stop," I said, struggling to keep my voice at a volume appropriate for public.  "I'm not doing this right now.  I can't.  If you want to talk about Savannah and what she did, then let's do that.  But I can't talk about us right now." I looked away, swallowing hard around the lump in my throat.

He looked like he wanted to continue, but he relented.  He leaned back in his chair.

"What are you going to do?" I asked, once I had sucked in enough air to steady my voice.  "About Savannah, I mean."

"Lauren is taking care of her," he replied.  He didn't say anything else about it, and I didn't push it.  I just nodded and took a bite of my sandwich.  I swallowed hard and pushed it away.  I wasn't hungry anymore.

"I need to go back," I said.  We walked silently back to my office.  Outside the building, I turned to him.  "Why did you come here today?" I asked.

"I came to show you that I meant it when I said I would jump through hoops for you," he said grimly.  He leaned down and let his lips brush gently against my cheek before he walked away, leaving me standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring after him, my cheek on fire. 

On Thursday, Lauren texted me mid-morning.  "I know you're going to try to skip happy hour, but you have to come.  Brody won't be there," she wrote.  I groaned, cursing her for knowing me too well.  I had been planning to go straight home and ignore calls and texts.  I was getting good at that.  Brody had tried calling me again Wednesday after work, and I sent it straight to voicemail. 

I ended up going to happy hour.  I almost turned around and walked right back out when I saw Savannah.  Lauren saw me though, and dashed over to me before I could.  My pulse was throbbing in my ears and I was itching to put my fist through Savannah's pretty face. 

"Don't worry," Lauren said soothingly.  "I have a plan."  I gave her a funny look, but she just led me over to the table.  We sat down and Savannah skillfully avoided my glare.

15 minutes later, Lauren began talking loudly to Savannah.  "So Savannah, you must be so excited about Nate!" she exclaimed.

"Nate?" Savannah asked, but the blood was draining from her face.

"Yeah, Nate Pearson.  I know you must be happy that Brody is giving him a chance."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Savannah snapped.

"That's funny," Lauren said sweetly, "since I know you must feel awful that he got fired.  He was really doing well for himself working for Mr. Adler in Miami.  I know you didn't mean to get him in trouble.  How do you know him?"

Savannah was completely white by this point.  Everyone at our table was staring at Lauren or Savannah.  She didn't say anything.

"Anyways," Lauren barreled on, "I think it's just great that Brody is hiring him to work at his company.  Don't you?"

"He is?" Savannah asked, panic in her voice.  I watched as face changed from white to pink.

"So you do know who I'm talking about!" Lauren said with a sweet smile.  "I would hope so, since you're the reason he got fired."

"Hey, can you back up and tell the class what's going on?" Alex interrupted.

"I'd love to," Lauren said, her face changing from sweet to steely.  Savannah looked like she was hoping the ground would open up and swallow her.  "Remember how Brody had to go down to Miami because some upper management level person got fired for sending inappropriate emails?"  Alex nodded.  "Well, he sent those emails because Savannah tracked him down and manipulated him into it.  She wanted him to get fired so Brody would have to go to Miami."  She stopped and looked around, triumphant.  Savannah was gaping at her, her face red as a tomato.  Kendra was looking from Lauren to Savannah to me.

"That is a lie!" Savannah exclaimed.

"Would you like to see the texts?" Lauren asked.  She turned to me.  Allie had forwarded the texts to me. 

"Texts?" Savannah sputtered, before I could pull my phone out.  And then it dawned on her which texts Lauren meant.  "That bitch," she muttered.

"You are a seriously crazy person," Alex declared.  "You're lucky Olivia hasn't knocked you out."  At that, all the eyes at the table turned to me.

"The thought had crossed my mind," I said, as nonchalantly as possible.

Savannah looked around.  "Whatever."  Then she looked straight at Lauren.  "Should I say hi to Quinn for you?"

Lauren laughed hard.  "Part of your big plan, huh?  I don't care about him.  Go say whatever you want to him.  Just go."

Savannah looked around one more time, then stood up and strode out.  No flouncing this time.