Undersold(42)

“Hello there, Boss’s favorite.”

I turned around. Linda’s face was absolutely beaming. “Hi Linda.”

“I saw the blog. You are the luckiest person in this building.”

“I don’t feel that lucky right now.” I felt paranoid and angry. I felt exposed.

She waved her hand in the general direction of the office. “Forget those vultures. It’ll blow over soon enough.” She scooted her chair around and moved closer. “You have to tell me. What’s he like?”

“I can’t talk about it, Linda. I’m sorry.”

“Come on, just a little detail. Solid bod? Gentle lover?” Her eyes were full of humor.

“I really can’t talk about it.” Fantastic lover, more like, I wanted to say.

She pouted. “Fine, I get it. But look, if anyone gives you a hard time, tell me about it. I’ll take care of them.”

“Thanks Linda, I appreciate it.”

“No problem. Mr. Green! Lucky girl.” She shook her head and slid back to her side.

I was lucky, but I didn’t know what this sudden outing would mean for us. I knew that Techie Rumors didn’t have a huge readership because of how specific its audience was, but everyone we worked with would now know. As I logged into my computer, I found an email from Shane. It said, Amy, when you get this, come to my office. We have to talk.

That was what I had been dreading since I got into the car yesterday. I knew what he was going to say: he was a private man, and his privacy had been taken from him because of me, and now we couldn’t see each other. I almost couldn’t face it. I wanted to go home, curl up on my couch, and pretend like none of this had happened. I felt violated when the paparazzi took the photos, but I feel it even worse now that everyone knows about Shane and me.

As I got up from my chair and started walking back toward his office, I suddenly understood him in a way I didn’t before. People’s eyes followed me, and I could feel their whispers. Each step felt like a slight burn, as if I were walking further into a fire. Suddenly, my privacy had been violated in a way I hadn’t thought possible. I always took my anonymity for granted. I was never a person worth caring much about; I wrote a decent app, but other than that, I was normal girl working at a coffee shop. Now though, I was dating billionaire CEO Shane Green, which meant that I was someone people wanted to talk about and take pictures of. Worse yet, we worked together. What sort of ethical issues would be brought up in the coming days?

I understood why Shane craved privacy. I understood why he was so obsessed and reclusive, why he stayed away from personal relationships. It was hard to be in the spotlight, but it was harder when you dragged someone else into it. I had done exactly that, I had dragged him into the spotlight again, and I was breaking inside because of it. I could handle the whispers, but I couldn’t handle the whispers about him. Everything we had gone through together up to this point clicked, and I understood why he’d want to go on a dating app and pretend to be someone else. At this moment, the only thing I wanted was to be invisible, but when you’re a person like Shane Green, or a part of his life, then you can never be invisible again. It’s like a permanent spotlight at all times. I had only been in this spotlight for less than an hour now, and already it was exhausting.

I moved down the hallways back toward Shane’s office. Janice was sitting at her desk, and she smiled up at me as I approached. I had forgotten all about what she had seen, and suddenly I turned bright red as the memory came back.

“Hi Amy,” she said.

“Hi Janice. He told me to come see him when I got in.”

“Yep, go on in, he’s expecting you.”

“Thanks.” I was grateful that she didn’t tell people about what she saw, and I wished I could thank her for that, too.

She smiled and nodded, then went back to her work. Of everyone involved, she had the right to ask questions after what she had seen, maybe even the right to act uncomfortable. Instead, she was professional and kind. I found myself liking her even more, and my awkwardness melted away as I pushed open Shane’s office door.

I was surprised at what I found. Inside, sitting at the table I usually worked from, were Royal Brown and Shane, talking amiably. I didn’t expect to see Royal in here, and I stopped near the doorway, unsure why we would need a lawyer. Was Shane going to sue me because I had broken his privacy? I was suddenly afraid. I couldn’t imagine Shane would do that, but I did promise to follow his rules. Maybe this was because I had violated our agreement.

When the door clicked shut behind me, they both noticed my presence and stopping talking. Royal stood, a big smile breaking out across his face.