Page 105 of The Encounter
She stepped inside with Seth right behind her and shut the door before they both sat on chairs in front of his desk. The two of them coming to him together and not fighting, raised some red flags. He looked at them warily, raising an eyebrow.
“You look like shit,” Seth said.
“Thanks,” Jace muttered.
“What are you doing, Jace?” Haley asked.
“I’m throwing a stress ball in the air.”
“I can see that.”
The silence passed, and after a few minutes, Jace caught the ball and slammed it down on his desk. Haley and Seth didn’t even flinch.
“She won’t speak to me.”
Haley and Seth looked at each other.
“We figured as much,” Haley said.
“I don’t get it. It’s not like I’m inflicting all this on her.” He actually did understand why she felt that way, but he didn’t think he’d give up someone he cared about if the roles were reversed. Although he had grown up in the spotlight. She hadn’t. He was used to bad press and had learned to ignore it.
“Well…” Haley said, dragging out the word and holding her hands in the air as if she were weighing something.
“Are you serious? You think this is my fault?”
“Come on, Jace. She was thrust into the spotlight because of an attack that happened to her at your club. The other women could skirt the press after a few weeks, but Samantha has yet to let it die down.”
“It’s not just because of the attack at the club.”
Haley and Seth stared at him as if to say, ‘no shit.’
“That’s not the point,” Haley said. “She has been verbally attacking Maddie for weeks, and this isn’t the first time she’s gone after someone you’ve dated. You could have predicted this would happen.”
“I can’t control that! Yes, Samantha is a raging bitch, but I can’t stop her from writing the articles! What do you expect me to do?” His voice had reached the point of shouting, and he clenched his hands into fists.
A knock sounded on the door, so light that Jace barely heard it. He took a deep breath and scrubbed his hands over his face.
“Come in,” he called.
Kayla stepped in, wide-eyed, like she had heard everything, and he knew she likely heard the last part at the very least.
“Hey Kayla,” he said.
“Hi. Um. I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m just wondering if you want me at the main bar again tonight?” she asked. Her eyes darted between the three of them.
Jace cleared his throat and tried to calm his beating heart. Everything with Samantha had him outraged, but he knew taking it out on his employees would be unfair. And the last thing he wanted to do was for Kayla to go back to Maddie and tell her he treated his employees poorly.
“Yes, you’ll be with Haley again.”
Haley twisted in her seat to face Kayla and smiled. “Tell me, Kayla. How’s Maddie doing?”
Kayla’s eyes widened as she looked at everyone, clearly uncomfortable. Jace was about to scold Haley, but then realized that Kayla was generally brazen. She wasn’t uncomfortable about the fact that she was asked. She was uncomfortable because she didn’t realize that the three of them were close friends unless Maddie had already told her. Kayla looked more worried about discussing anything about Maddie in front of Seth and Haley.
Jace nodded. “It’s okay. Seth, Haley, and I are close friends.”
Kayla nodded and relaxed her posture a little before stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. “She’s been better, honestly. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her so broken up.”
Those words twisted a knife in Jace’s gut.
