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“You showed up.”

“Yes.” Kayla purposefully tilted her head upwards as she sank into her desk chair. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Peggy stared back at her, a slightly amused expression on her face. “I’m surprised that’s all.”

“Peggy, I know that you’re disappointed in me. I’m sorry for what happened the other day at Brian’s. I just think you ought to know that I ended it.”

“You did?” Peggy raised her eyebrows even higher. “Now I’m even more surprised.”

Kayla struggled to maintain her composure. It was a good thing that Peggy had forced her to take the previous day off. She had spent the day curled up on the couch, balling her eyes out and obsessing over online pictures of Brian. She must have watched the ‘Show Em’ What You’re Made Of’ video upwards of twenty times; mostly to torture herself. To his credit, Brian had been calling her nonstop since the moment she had walked out his door. Her phone was filled to capacity with his voicemail messages, and the text messages were stacking up at an alarming rate.

“I didn’t tell Anthony.” Peggy placed her reading glasses on her desk and leaned forward in her chair. “As far as I’m concerned, Monday’s events are completely off the record.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” Kayla failed to keep the scepticism from leaking into her voice.

The older woman sighed and leaned back even farther. The chair squeaked in protest as it bent to accommodate her weight. “I know how much Mr. Carter – Nick means to you.”

Kayla remained suspicious. “You do?”

“You clearly went to great lengths to be with him.” Peggy affirmed. “It’s a shame that you’ve broken things off.”

“It is?”

Peggy nodded. “Believe it or not, Kayla, I’m not a horrible person. My sole purpose in this world is not to ruin your life. Who you choose to see outside of work is your prerogative. I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of the potential repercussions of your behaviour. If you want to choose a man over your job, like I said, that’s your prerogative.”

“Nick and I felt that things would be better this way.” The lie rolled off of Kayla’s tongue, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. “We didn’t want Brian to lose his son.”

Peggy studied Kayla’s face for a long while. Her well established laugh lines intensified as she squinted in the bright lights of the office. “You do know that there is still a chance that this whole situation may come out in court? If it does, the judge may see everything that you’ve signed off on as a conflict of interest. All of those documents would be thrown out.”

Kayla nodded to indicate her understanding. She didn’t trust her voice.

“I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Peggy sighed. “But I can’t promise that your relationship with Nick, regardless of how brief it may have been, will remain buried forever.”

“Thank you.” Kayla gave Peggy a genuine smile. “I appreciate you not saying anything, especially to Anthony.”

Peggy repositioned her reading glasses on the bridge of her nose. “You are aware of the fact that you will still have to accompany me to the court hearing next week, right?”

“I will?” The butterflies that had finally settled in Kayla’s stomach had once again taken flight. She had just assumed that Peggy would have her removed from the file. Attending the hearing meant that she would have to see Brian, and Kayla wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle that.

“You’ve done the majority of the work on Mr. Littrell’s file.” Peggy explained. “If one of us is asked to testify in regards to our findings, it will most likely be you.”

“Right.” Kayla was seconds away from vomiting all over her desk. Attending the hearing was not part of her plan.

“Kayla!”

The interruption was enough to make her flinch. Kayla would recognize that voice anywhere. There was no mistaking it. Girls around the world went crazy for that voice, but at that moment the sound was enough to make Kayla cringe. What was he doing here?

“You have a visitor.” Peggy stated the obvious. “Although it’s not the one that I expected.” The amused expression that she had been sporting when Kayla had first arrived at the office had returned to her face. “You better acknowledge him before security gets a hold of him.”

“Makayla!”

Kayla reluctantly turned in her seat when he used her full name. He was hurrying towards her, looking strangely out of place amongst the cubicles and her business-casual clad co-workers. The general hum of the office ground to a halt as he continued on his quest, oblivious to the fact that he was causing a scene. Kayla could see two security officers stepping out of the elevator. He had obviously managed to bypass the security check-point in the lobby, otherwise he never would have been granted access to the floor.

“It’s okay.” Kayla stood up from her chair and waved off the rapidly approaching security guards. She recognized them from the desk in the lobby. “I know him.”

“You really know this guy?” The younger of the two raised his eyebrows. “He just blew past the desk; commandeered the employee elevator.”

“I didn’t have time to wait.” There was an edge to his voice as he stared at Kayla. “I need to talk to you.”

“I’m working.” Kayla informed him. “At least I’m trying to.”

“It will only take ten minutes.”

Kayla looked at him helplessly. “I can’t right now.”

“Just go.” Peggy waved Kayla off. “He’s clearly not going to leave otherwise.”

“Fine.” Kayla glared at him and began walking towards the elevators, ignoring the curious stares of her co-workers. “You’ve got ten minutes.”

The two security guards accompanied them on the short ride down to the lobby. Kayla remained silent for the entire trip, the butterflies swirling manically in her stomach. She allowed him to wrap his strong fingers around her arm as they stepped out of the elevator; allowed herself to be pulled off into a quiet, empty alcove in the lobby of her office building.

“What are you doing here, AJ?”

“I’m here to try and figure out what’s going on in your head.” AJ’s voice had lost its edge. “I need to know why you walked out on Brian.”

“I did what needed to be done.” Kayla couldn’t bring herself to look away from AJ’s intense stare. “I couldn’t let him continue to jeopardize his future with Baylee.”

AJ shook his head. “If you were worried about him losing Baylee you should have rejected him in the beginning. You knew the risks, you both did.”

“I didn’t think that we would get caught.” Kayla knew that her excuse was weak. It sounded lame the second that it left her mouth. “What we did was wrong.”

“Bullshit!” AJ’s voice echoed through the lobby. The lady working at the coffee cart turned to stare at them and Kayla instinctively shrank back into the shadows. She didn’t want another scene.

“AJ, you shouldn’t be here.”

“I know.” AJ lowered his volume. “Kay, Brian’s a mess. He misses you.”

“That doesn’t change anything.” Kayla willed herself to stand her ground even though her heart was breaking at the confirmation that she had caused Brian to suffer. “He’ll move on.”

“No, he won’t.” AJ grabbed Kayla’s wrist to stop her from walking away. “I came here to tell you what Brian should have told you before he let you walk out. I came here to tell you what Brian knows and is just too fucking scared and stupid to say.”

“AJ, please don’t do this.” Kayla’s eyes were filling with tears. If she allowed herself to cry her makeup would run and Peggy would ask questions. She couldn’t let AJ say the words.

“He loves you, Kay.”

Kayla frantically shook her head. “I have to get back to work.”

AJ held tight to Kayla’s wrist and she twisted in an unsuccessful attempt to lessen his grip. She could see the two security guards watching them from the desk. Kayla knew that they would come to her rescue if she continued to resist, so she relented and allowed AJ to pull her back towards him.

AJ’s face was only inches from hers, his beard tickling her chin as he spoke. “He loves you.”

The tears were now sliding down Kayla’s face. She had known that Brian was on the verge of telling her the same thing right before she had walked out on him. That’s why she had left so quickly; she wouldn’t have been able to tear herself away if Brian had been able to utter the words that AJ had just spoken.