up later this week.”
“God, Lynnie, I’ve missed you.”
“Me too, love.”
I hung up with Kennedy. In better spirits, I placed the phone back on my desk and continued working. I didn’t bother leaving for lunch. If Peyton planned on coming to work, he’d have to face me one way or another.
At three in the afternoon, my cell phone rang with an unfamiliar number. My mind wandered to the possibility of Peyton being hurt. My hands shook as I answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hello, may I please speak to Braelynn Wolf?”
“Speaking.”
“Hi, Ms. Wolf. This is Carla with the District Attorney’s office.”
“Hi, Carla.”
“I’m pleased to inform you that everything has checked out and we would like to offer you the position to join our team. A formal letter with all the details you’ll need will be mailed to your home today.”
I closed my eyes and listened to her speak. It was my dream job calling, yet I felt a pang of guilt for the excitement that consumed me. Carla continued, explaining that I would have to leave my job as soon as possible to avoid any possible conflict of interest. As she spoke, I made a quick list of the pros and cons and the only point against was that Peyton’s feelings were hurt. But so were mine. He had left me in the dark, avoiding me like a child who didn’t get his way. We were supposed to discuss this. We were supposed to talk like adults, but instead he’d closed me out.
“Everything sounds great, Carla. I’ll stop by your office today to have all the paperwork filled out.”
Peyton wanted to be selfish? Well, I planned on taking a play from his book and returning the favor.
Braelynn
Peyton never showed up to work, and he wasn’t home when I arrived that evening. I sat on the bar stool, facing the foyer and watching the elevator door until midnight. When my body was aching and begging for sleep, I crawled into bed then tossed and turned until I fell asleep.
Like the previous morning, the other side of the bed—Peyton’s side—was empty. The shower had been used and the guest bedroom had been used again.
Coward.
It was the only way to describe how I felt about him. I rested my lower back against the countertop as the coffee machine brewed my morning coffee. Since I’d accepted the job with the DA, I couldn’t go back to PH Esquire. I took my coffee with me and sat at the island. I pulled my laptop from my tote bag and typed out my formal resignation letter for PH Esquire. I made sure to copy the Human Resources Department and Peyton’s work email before I clicked the send button.
I spent the entire day at his house, waiting to see if he would come home for lunch or to just check in. He never showed. Never called. I replayed the past week in my head. What had happened between us? Yes, I’d interviewed for my dream job, a job I wasn’t even sure I would get, but I never imagined that it would affect him. Not like this. And even though I didn’t want to move in with him, I was still there every single day.
Was this his last straw because I didn’t agree to marry him?
All day I waited at his house, going over every detail of our relationship in my mind. When the sun began to descend and the night rose, I took my purse from the counter and left the cold, empty penthouse. There was no point in being locked away like Rapunzel if your Prince Charming never came to save you. If he didn’t want to spend the night with me, that was fine. I was going home.
I didn’t leave a note for him. I just left, heading back to my tiny brownstone. Without a trace or a word to anyone, I semi-jogged home with my fingers locked around my pepper spray. It had been a month since I’d walked the streets of New York with the sun down. Drew was in jail—a continent away from me—but the fear that someone was watching my every move still lived deep inside. I should have told Thomas I was leaving, but if Peyton wanted to leave me in the dark it was only fair I showed him the same
“God, Lynnie, I’ve missed you.”
“Me too, love.”
I hung up with Kennedy. In better spirits, I placed the phone back on my desk and continued working. I didn’t bother leaving for lunch. If Peyton planned on coming to work, he’d have to face me one way or another.
At three in the afternoon, my cell phone rang with an unfamiliar number. My mind wandered to the possibility of Peyton being hurt. My hands shook as I answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hello, may I please speak to Braelynn Wolf?”
“Speaking.”
“Hi, Ms. Wolf. This is Carla with the District Attorney’s office.”
“Hi, Carla.”
“I’m pleased to inform you that everything has checked out and we would like to offer you the position to join our team. A formal letter with all the details you’ll need will be mailed to your home today.”
I closed my eyes and listened to her speak. It was my dream job calling, yet I felt a pang of guilt for the excitement that consumed me. Carla continued, explaining that I would have to leave my job as soon as possible to avoid any possible conflict of interest. As she spoke, I made a quick list of the pros and cons and the only point against was that Peyton’s feelings were hurt. But so were mine. He had left me in the dark, avoiding me like a child who didn’t get his way. We were supposed to discuss this. We were supposed to talk like adults, but instead he’d closed me out.
“Everything sounds great, Carla. I’ll stop by your office today to have all the paperwork filled out.”
Peyton wanted to be selfish? Well, I planned on taking a play from his book and returning the favor.
Braelynn
Peyton never showed up to work, and he wasn’t home when I arrived that evening. I sat on the bar stool, facing the foyer and watching the elevator door until midnight. When my body was aching and begging for sleep, I crawled into bed then tossed and turned until I fell asleep.
Like the previous morning, the other side of the bed—Peyton’s side—was empty. The shower had been used and the guest bedroom had been used again.
Coward.
It was the only way to describe how I felt about him. I rested my lower back against the countertop as the coffee machine brewed my morning coffee. Since I’d accepted the job with the DA, I couldn’t go back to PH Esquire. I took my coffee with me and sat at the island. I pulled my laptop from my tote bag and typed out my formal resignation letter for PH Esquire. I made sure to copy the Human Resources Department and Peyton’s work email before I clicked the send button.
I spent the entire day at his house, waiting to see if he would come home for lunch or to just check in. He never showed. Never called. I replayed the past week in my head. What had happened between us? Yes, I’d interviewed for my dream job, a job I wasn’t even sure I would get, but I never imagined that it would affect him. Not like this. And even though I didn’t want to move in with him, I was still there every single day.
Was this his last straw because I didn’t agree to marry him?
All day I waited at his house, going over every detail of our relationship in my mind. When the sun began to descend and the night rose, I took my purse from the counter and left the cold, empty penthouse. There was no point in being locked away like Rapunzel if your Prince Charming never came to save you. If he didn’t want to spend the night with me, that was fine. I was going home.
I didn’t leave a note for him. I just left, heading back to my tiny brownstone. Without a trace or a word to anyone, I semi-jogged home with my fingers locked around my pepper spray. It had been a month since I’d walked the streets of New York with the sun down. Drew was in jail—a continent away from me—but the fear that someone was watching my every move still lived deep inside. I should have told Thomas I was leaving, but if Peyton wanted to leave me in the dark it was only fair I showed him the same
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