Page 75 of Deking at Love
The building he’d called home for over a year loomed, and a mix of unexpected emotions welled inside him.He swallowed a lump that had formed out of nowhere.This was no longerhisworkplace, but it was still hers.
“Need me to stick around?”the driver asked.
“Thanks, but I think I’m good.”
Minutes later, Sam stared at the slow-moving digital display telling him which floors were slowing the elevator car’s descent.Finally, it opened, letting out a flood of people.
Minutes later, Sam stared at the slow-moving digital display telling him which floors were slowing the elevator car’s descent.Finally, it opened, letting out a flood of people.
“Hey, Durby!Good to see you.What are you doing here?”Toby chirped from behind him.
Sam stepped into the car and turned, cold fury rising inside him.“Taking care of business.”
Toby braced his arm against the elevator doors to keep them from closing.“Yeah?I’ll ride with you.Haven’t talked to you since your trade.I want to hear all about it.”
Sam squared his shoulders.“I know the truth about the vote, Toby.You stood in that clinic with me and went upstairs right after and told Grims you couldn’t find me.And guess what?Grims knows the truth too.”
Toby’s eyes went puck-wide.“But I—”
“Save it, asshole.Enjoy my share of the bonus.I hope it was worth the lie.”Sam stabbed at the basement button.
Recoiling, Toby jerked his arm back.His mouth was opening and closing like a gutted fish’s as the elevator doors snapped closed.
Even as satisfaction flooded Sam, he grew impatient with the elevator.It seemed to stutter its way downward.Had it always been this slow?When the doors finally opened, he raced down the hallway and burst through the PT door.He was greeted by Attila the Bun, shock clearly etched in her dour features.“Mr.Durbin?”
“I’m here to see Angelina Rossi.”He darted to the side and peered into the clinic’s interior, where several therapists blinked back at him.Angie’s table and workstation were empty.Clean.As if she’d never been there.
Attila rounded the reception counter.“Mr.Durbin,” she repeated sharply.
“Where’s Angie?”His voice took on a sharpness of its own.
“Perhaps we’d better sit down.”She led him to a corner where chairs sat perpendicular to one another.
Sirens began to screech inside his head.“What’s going on?”
“Sit, please,” she hissed.
He did so reluctantly, perching on the edge of the seat.His leg vibrated as he waited.
“Ms.Rossi was let go on Friday.”
“Like laid off?”
“No.She was terminated.”
What the hell?“Why?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.You’ll need to speak to her about that.”
“I can’t find her!”Now his voice was coated with panic.
Attila’s eyes widened in surprise, making her look almost human.“Oh no!Did you check for her at home?”
“That’s the first place I went!”Where else could Angie be?His place?No, she didn’t really treat that like her own home.Where else—
He sprang from his seat.The office manager rose with him.“You have an idea?”
“I think so.”He sped from the clinic, Attila—Celia—calling after him to let her know as soon as he located Angie.The woman struck him as genuinely—and surprisingly—concerned.
