Chapter 47

Aria

It was safe to say that the events of that morning had left me a little more than rattled. My mind kept replaying that confrontation, my so-called family’s accusations, the disgust on my mother’s face, the disappointment in my father’s eyes.

But most importantly, there was Sarah… her evil little sneers, her lies, her attempts to drag me through the mud in front of everyone. She’d only brought her parents here to embarrass me because she was pissed that Darren had taken my side over hers.

What did she expect, given the fact that she’d put people’s lives in danger multiple times, and for what? Because she wanted the attention and money of a wealthy man? It’s not as if I was trying to take that from her. I was just… existing.

I hadn’t taken the abuse, of course. I wasn’t the scared little girl I used to be. But I did feel exhausted and shaken up after the ordeal. I’d considered leaving work early; Darren probably would have understood. But I’d stayed anyway, if only because work actually helped take my mind off of things.

When lunchtime finally rolled around, I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I considered taking a walk to get some air. I was so lost in thought that I barely noticed Lily until she waved a manicured hand in front of my face.

“Hey, are you eating lunch alone?” she asked.

“Oh, I was just going to…” I gestured vaguely toward the door, uncertain about whatever I had planned even as I said it.

“Well, you should come to the breakroom,” she replied, nodding her head in that direction. “We should eat together! Plus, I brought some extra snacks today and thought you might like to share.”

I blinked, surprised. “Oh, um, thanks.”

With that, I followed Lily to the breakroom. Melissa and Brandon were already there, chatting at the table. I half expected them to pick up and move elsewhere, because they still weren’t on the friendliest of terms with me. It wasn’t that they hated me anymore, but I was still a human, an outsider to them.

But when we walked into the room, they actually moved to make space for us.

“Come, sit,” Melissa said, forcefully shoving aside Brandon’s rather comical pile of processed human snack bags to make room for me.

I glanced at them for a moment, bewildered, but took a seat next to Lily. She handed me a heart-shaped cookie with strawberry jam in the center, which I bit into gratefully. It was really sweet—as in, three-cups-too-much-sugar-sweet—but I didn’t know what else I expected from her.

“Nice speech earlier,” Brandon said around a mouthful of chips.

I raised an eyebrow. “Speech?”

“Yeah.” Melissa nodded as she carefully mixed her healthy salad. “I think it’s about time Sarah had her comeuppance. She’s been sauntering around here like she owns the place since Darren hired her.”

Heat crept up my cheeks. “I don’t know too much about that. Sarah and I had our own history, as you can tell.”

Lily snorted. “Even so, you handled it so calmly. I think half of us would’ve just frozen.”

Brandon chuckled. “Or attacked her.”

“I would have liked to have seen that,” Melissa added, flashing me a pretty, but mischievous, grin. “But you were ice-cold. I have to admit, I thought you were a pushover when you started. But you’re actually pretty chill. And confident.”

I laughed awkwardly, fiddling with the edge of my napkin. “Well, um… Thank you.”

They went on eating and chatting like it was the most natural thing in the world, as though we had done this dozens of times before. And strangely enough, it did start to feel natural. Comfortable, even. Lily shared more of her too-sweet cookies with me, Brandon nearly toppled his chair over from leaning back too far, and Melissa laughed in his face.

It was… nice.

By the time lunch ended, I felt a little lighter as I watched them head back to their desks, laughing and talking amongst themselves. Maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all. And maybe I wasn’t as much of an outsider as I thought.

Not anymore, at least.

The rest of the afternoon passed surprisingly quickly, and by the time five o’clock rolled around, I was ready to head home and collapse on my couch with a blanket and a glass of wine. I’d just shrugged into my coat and was about to grab my bag when the sound of a deep voice coming from behind startled me.

“Aria.”

I turned to find Darren standing a few steps behind me, watching me with that intense, unreadable expression he wore so well. “Oh—Darren. I thought you’d left already.”

He shook his head. “I was going to… but I wanted to talk to you first.”

My stomach twisted. “Talk to me? Is it about this morning?”

He hesitated, his gaze flicking to the floor for a moment before meeting mine again. “It is. But I’d rather not talk here.”

“Oh. Your office, then?” I adjusted my bag on my shoulder, feeling a little nervous. I hoped I wasn’t about to get a royal scolding for what had happened this morning.

But he shook his head and jerked his chin toward the door. “Let’s go out for dinner. It’s stuffy in here.”

My mind scrambled to process what he was saying. Was he… asking me out? Or was he angry? Maybe he thought I’d caused too much of a scene, embarrassed him in front of the staff, and was going to give me one last hurrah before he fired me. Like giving a dog one last delicious meal before the end.

“Oh. I mean, sure. I guess I could go somewhere for a little bit,” I said.

Darren nodded, his expression softening ever so slightly. “Good.”

I followed him outside, my heart racing a little faster than I would have liked to admit. Part of me kept waiting for him to say something, to hint at why he was doing this, but he stayed silent as we made our way to his car. He opened the door for me, and I slid into the sleek leather seat, trying not to let my nerves show.

“So,” I said as he got in and started the engine. “Where are we going?”

He glanced at me as he put the car into drive. “You’ll see.”

I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms. “Vague. Mysterious. Got it.”

“Just trust me.”

Surprisingly, that did ease my worries a little, even in his ominous tone of voice.

As we drove, I expected him to turn down one of the familiar city streets that led to a more casual spot—the bar we’d met in, a diner, maybe even a coffee shop despite the late hour.

But instead, he kept driving, taking turns that led us further into the city, to the part of town where the high-rise buildings were glimmering under the evening lights.

Finally, he pulled up to a restaurant that looked… Well, way too fancy for me. Crystal chandeliers glinted through the windows, and the doorman was dressed in a full suit, complete with white gloves.

I blinked, my mouth dropping open. “Are you… are you serious?”

Darren parked the car and shot me a bemused glance. “What’s wrong?”

“This is… this is one of the fanciest restaurants in town, Darren,” I sputtered. “I was expecting… I don’t know, a bar or something?”

“Is there something wrong with this place?” he replied, looking at me like I had just spoken a foreign language.

I shook my head, laughing a little. “No, it’s just… unexpected. You don’t have to take me anywhere fancy just to ‘talk’.”

And it feels awfully romantic, I thought, but obviously didn’t say that out loud. Bella would have a field day if she found out like this.

“Maybe I do have to,” he simply said with a shrug.

I swallowed, feeling suddenly shy under his gaze. He gave me a small nod before getting out of the car. I watched him walk around to my side, my heart pounding as he opened my door and held out his hand.

I took it, letting him help me out of the car. When he released my fingers, I felt strangely warm where his had just been, despite the chill of the March wind.

“Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the restaurant.