Page 42 of Maid for My Billionaire Boss
“Oh, is that so?” I stated matter-of-factly while waiting for them to catch up to us. In a way, her timing was perfect, because although, I felt ready for this. . .thisthing happening with Atalie. I sort of felt like I needed someone to do the talking for me for a while.
Talking was hard.
Kissing would be better.
Twenty-Two
Atalie
Thenextmorning,Iarrived at Trey’s house steeped in apprehension over what had happened between us. Timidly I walked to Trey’s office, feeling ready to talk about the kiss and how I had been feeling. It was the only way forward. My hands trembled as I peeked inside the room, but I could already tell by how dark it was that he wasn’t there. Relieved—maybe disappointed—I turned on my heel to look upstairs, but I bumped into Mrs. Michael in the hall.
“Morning, Atalie, how are you?” She smiled at me fondly.
“I’m okay.” I motioned to the dark room behind me. “Is Trey out for the day?”
“Oh no.” She shook her head, adamantly. “He’ll be right back. He ran out to meet Tonya for a—” Her voice dropped off so abruptly, the look on her face told me I wasn’t the only one alarmed by her words. “It was a breakfast thing.” She waved her hand in a dismissing way, almost like she was trying to take back her words, but it was too late. She rushed to add, “He had some stuff to give her.”
I didn’t need to hear an explanation. That was the second time this week Trey had seen Tonya. His actions were speaking loud and clear. They slammed the door to my heart, instantly shutting down all current and future feelings for Trey. It made sense. Deep down I knew Trey had always been Tonya’s.They’d been together since he was fifteen!Of course, he’d go back to her. I was a distraction while he waited for her.
A stupid distraction.
He probably bought me my car to make her jealous.
I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.
“Oh.” I swallowed hard, passing a giant pile of shame with my breath. I backed up a few steps, shifting my direction to aim towards the kitchen. “I’ll get to work in the kitchen then.”
She nodded, without saying anything, but the look on her face told me she was sorry.
I sped to the kitchen with one single goal in mind:quit my job. I had no idea what I was going to say, but I had a growing list of reasons. I didn’t want to leave Trey in a bind, but the thing was,this was an emergency.Never more determined, I walked over to Josiah, who was sitting in his usual spot at the table, and asked, “Can I have a sheet of your notebook paper?”
“Sure.” He flipped to the back of his spiral-bound book, tore out the first blank sheet, and slid it across the table. “Are you making a shopping list?”
“No.” Pulling out the chair next to his, I plopped down next to him. “I’m writing a letter of resignation.”
“What?” he said with a smile, anticipating a joke.
I kept my eyes low on the paper as I started to collect my thoughts. “It’s hard to explain, but it will work out.”
“Are we going home?” His voice was soft now, hinting of hope.
“Not yet. But I think we’re getting close. I talked to the lawyers last night and they explained I’m going to have to cut my losses and move on. It doesn’t make sense to not move forward. However”—I dropped my voice even more— “it’s not for you to worry about.”
“What are we going to do for money?”
“I’ll figure something out. Summer is starting in a week. Maybe I’ll open a smoothie stand on the beach.”
His eyes rounded like he couldn’t have heard anything more frightening. “Great, now we’re for sure going to starve to death.”
Biting my lip to avoid laughing at his pretty on-point joke, I picked up his pencil and wrote.
Mr. Michael,
This is my official letter of resignation. I’m sorry I can’t offer you a two-week notice and my official last day is today. I won’t be returning. Thank you for the job opportunity and good luck in all you do.
-Atalie
Without rereading it, I walked the letter down the hall and placed it in the center of his desk. Unshed tears pooled in my eyes, telling me to slow down. I didn’t understand why I was crying. I certainly didn’t love cleaning toilets. I also knew I wasn’t scared about money. I had mostly got over the whole swamp encounter thing as well and wasn’t holding a grudge about that. Now I was left with the memory of Trey kissing me like I had meant something—no, everything—to him.
