Chapter 32

I was too busy the rest of the day with clients to think about Bob and the reporter. By the time I got back to my apartment, I was just too worn out to remember seeing them. All I wanted was to get to bed and forget that lunch with Bob had even happened.

The next day, it felt as though a reset button had been hit. All the anger from my encounter with Bob had dissipated, and I was ready to embrace whatever challenges came my way.

Then I got to the office.

It was rare for me to see Barnett there. It wasn’t as though he were never there, but it was so big that I didn’t even know where in the building his office actually was. Whenever I did see him, though, I made sure to go out of my way to greet him, and he would greet me back.

This morning, we happened to be the only two in the lobby except for the receptionist herself. As soon as I saw Barnett, I raised my hand and started waving to him.

“Hi, Barnett!” I said cheerfully.

Barnett’s eyes narrowed at me for a moment before he turned to the receptionist, his back to me, and started to chat her up.

I blushed fiercely at the slight. My hand lowered until it was scratching the top of my head. The receptionist caught my eye and smiled apologetically, and in that moment, I wished that I would just be swallowed up by the floor and disappear forever.

Rather than try and catch Barnett’s attention again, I scurried to the elevator and made my way to Arthur’s office. I couldn’t figure out why Barnett had ignored me like that. Our last interaction hadn’t ended badly—well, a little embarrassing for me, but not badly—so why was he acting this way now?

As I stepped into his office, Arthur could almost immediately tell that something was wrong with me. He told his assistant to get me a coffee before turning to me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, obviously not in the mood to beat around the bush.

I shrugged.

“I don’t know. I saw Barnett in the lobby, but when I waved to him, he completely blew me off. I don’t know what I did wrong.”

For a moment, I thought I saw Arthur’s shoulders tense at the mention of Barnett’s name and a flash of anger in his eyes. Then he relaxed so quickly that I was certain that I had imagined it.

“Are you sure you didn’t do anything to set him off?”

The question took me aback. I was accustomed to Arthur comforting me in moments like this, but this question almost seemed…accusatory, like Arthur already had something in mind for what I had done to anger Barnett.

“Nothing that I can think of. Why, did you hear something?”

Arthur now seemed like a deer caught in the headlights. He didn’t speak for a couple minutes, during which time my coffee came. I sipped at it quietly while I waited for him to answer.

“No…” he said slowly, deliberately. “Barnett just doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would get mad and give people the cold shoulder for no reason.”

“I didn’t think so, either. That’s why this whole thing is so odd.”

I watched him over the edge of my cup.

“You would tell me if you knew something I didn’t, right?”

“Of course, of course.”

Arthur waved the matter off with a motion of his hand.

“Come on, let’s get moving. The day won’t wait for us.”

My instincts were telling me that Arthur was hiding something from me, but I could only follow his lead and continue with my day.

•* *

After work, I headed straight for the gym. I wasn’t sure if I felt up to making another video at that moment, but working out was the best way I could think of to clear my head of what had happened with Barnett earlier, so I figured that I might as well. It would be a good distraction from everything that had happened the past couple days.

When I got into Stand Up, it was fairly busy. Most of the treadmills and stationary bikes were in use, so after stretching, I decided to try my luck on the rowing machine. When I got there, two of the three machines were already in use.

I swallowed against the knot in my throat when I realized who had the machine next to the empty one. Barnett.

I decided to ask the guy next to him first if he was fine with me filming while we worked out. Frankly, he seemed a bit too enthusiastic about the idea, as though he thought that he could become the next TikTok sensation just by being in the background of my video, but I didn’t question it too much.

I turned around to ask Barnett the same question, but he was getting up to leave.

“Barnett?” I said, hurt and confused.

He didn’t even turn to acknowledge me.

“Barnett, I’m talking to you,” I said, determined this time to get him to notice me.

Still, he didn’t so much as acknowledge my existence. Instead, he grabbed his gym bag and headed straight for the locker room without once glancing my way.

I watched him, stunned, until his disappeared into the locker room and for a couple minutes afterward. My trance was only broken by the guy at the other rowing machine speaking.

“Hey, so, are we going to do this or what?”

•* *

A good workout was supposed to get my mind off of things. After that run-in with Barnett, though, it just made everything worse.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Why was he ignoring me? Had I somehow offended him on that dinner we went to or by everything I had said on Soul M8s?

I got some Greek takeout after the gym as a little treat to cheer myself up and then headed back to my apartment. I contemplated texting Lily about this, but I didn’t want to drag her into some drama I was having with her uncle. Besides, she’d probably turn it into something about him liking me, and I knew that wasn’t true.

As I reached my apartment, I froze. There he was, again, pulling out the keys to his own apartment. Why couldn’t I just catch a break?

I decided that I wouldn’t try to interact with him this time and see how he reacted. Maybe that would surprise him enough into talking, maybe not. Either way, at least my dignity would still be intact.

At least, it would be at first.

I attempted to grab my keys out of my purse with the bags of takeout still coiled around my wrists. As I fumbled with the various bags, food pushed against the inside of the plastic bags and started to spill out, causing the souvlaki and dolmades to plop out. Somehow, the sweet loukoumades were spared.

I cursed under my breath and attempted to salvage what I could of my dinner. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and could see Barnett staring right at my struggle. Fury built inside me to the point of exploding.

“Can you please help me over here?” I asked him through clenched teeth, trying to hang on to the last remnants of civility I had left.

His gaze drifted away from me to his apartment’s doorknob.

“Hello? Barnett? I could use some help with this mess.”

Still, he did not acknowledge me. Instead, he reached for the doorknob and started to open the door almost in slow motion, as though he were uncertain of what to do.

This act sent my fury, hurt, and confusion boiling over. I threw down my bags and marched over to him. I slammed my hand on the door, effectively closing it on him.

“I have put up with this long enough. Why have you been ignoring me all day?”

Barnett turned his head to face me. The glare he shot me sent shivers down my spine.

“Why were you on a date with Bob?”