Page 94 of Love Under the Microscope
CHAPTER 23
JACK
As I tell Drew I know who Mr. Z is, he grins like the fucking Cheshire cat. When he opens his mouth to speak, I spot a figure in my peripheral vision. Turning, I see Zelda running through the bullpen.
“Fuck!” She must have heard me. “I need to go.”
I don’t wait for him to respond before I race past the desks. Gordon rolls back in his chair, and I run into him.
“What the fuck?” he cries out.
“Sorry.” I push him out of my way and keep going.
But the collision hinders my progress. By the time I reach the sidewalk, I can’t see Zelda. Breathing heavily, I glance to the right and left, but I have no way of knowing which direction she went. I guess she’s on her way to Zentello to see Nate. A car horn honks, and someone yells. I glance toward the sound to see Zelda hurrying across the street, dodging cars. She’s not heading to work but going in the direction of where she lives. I start running but then hold up, scared she’ll keep darting through the road without looking if she notices me.
Zelda glances over her shoulder, and luckily, I’m standing at the crosswalk behind a couple of guys, so she can’t see me. She continues on her way at a brisk walk, but the pace is easy enough for me to keep up with her. She’s taking the most direct route home. What breaks my fucking heart is how she appears to keep wiping her eyes and nose.
I hate making her cry.
As she walks toward her front door, I speed up. She puts the key in the lock, and I stop behind her.
“Zelda,” I say. “You have to stop running from me, baby.”
She gasps and spins around to face me. “Don’t ‘baby’ me. Go away. I don’t want you here.”
“Well, I’m here, and I’m coming inside.” I need to talk to her, even if she wants to send me away. “We need to figure this out.”
“No, I heard enough at your office. I waited as we planned, but you didn’t show up. I’m not interested in hearing anything you have to say.” She pulls her key from the lock and pushes open the door.
I’ve had enough of her stubbornness for one day. I wrap my arms around her and practically carry her over the threshold and into the living room, where I place her in front of the couch.
Zelda hisses like a snake. “I’ll scream.”
“Just be quiet and listen for once.” I’m being deadly serious now. She needs to let me speak because this back-and-forth shit needs to end.
She raises her chin. “Nothing you have to say will interest me.”
“Stop pouting and open your mind. You might be surprised.”
Her face falls, and she blinks slowly. “What did you say?”
“You heard me, Zelda.” I gently push her onto the couch and sit on the armchair, not wanting to push my luck by getting too close to her. “I know what you think you heard, but I wasn’t throwing you under the bus to my bastard editor.”
“Sure, you weren’t.” Sarcasm drips from her words. “So where were you? Why weren’t you at the park?”
“I was at UnoPharm meeting Nigel.”
Her lips part, but the hurt in her eyes nearly does me in. “So, what are you doing now? Selling your soul to Nigel?”
She turns away from me, sniffles, and swipes a hand over her face.
My heart aches again. “Please don’t cry, baby.”
“I’m not crying, and I’m not your baby, so stop calling me that.”
She’s my fucking baby whether she likes it or not, but we’ll argue about that later.
Now, it’s time to lay my cards on the table. “I had two plans. The one I told you about and the one I had with Nigel. I made up one for you because I didn’t want you involved.”
