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27. She Saw Him Crumble

💔 CONTENT WARNING 💔
On-page discussion that alludes to suicidal thoughts.

GWEN

The pale lemon walls of my study were a sunshine prison. I was never leaving my desk. Ever.

Ping.

Another email.

I sank back in the leather chair, the old, worn wheels not groaning quite as loud as me, and I rubbed the ache already pinching my temple. Was I questioning my sanity for agreeing to work for a man who proudly declared himself an unforgiving perfectionist? Maybe. A little.

The recruiter warned me.

Liam was particular.

Staring at the flood of emails drowning my inbox made me want to throw my head back and laugh. The recruiter was way off. Particular? Nope. That man was flirting a line somewhere between being sweetly unhinged and a complete sociopath.

My phone started ringing.

Oh, great. I wonder who that could be.

With a grimace pinched on my face, I tipped forward in my chair and slid my phone along the desk. I craned my neck to see the name on the screen. Oh. Elias. I snatched up my phone and accepted his call.

Before I could even say hello, Elias blurted out, "Please don't quit."

I laughed. "Good morning to you, too."

"Oh. Yes." His laugh sounded more strained than mine. "Good morning. I got held up in meetings and only just logged on. I see our illustrious leader has been..." He paused as he carefully chose the right word. "Busy."

I smirked and scooted back in my chair, tucking my knees and getting comfy. "Busy, huh?" That was an understatement. "Does Liam ever sleep?"

It was a valid question. It was officially only day two of working at Cumberland, but some facts were evident. I was already convinced Liam didn't have an off button. He sent snappy emails—'Note' this or 'Action' that—at all hours of the night. Ten PM. Midnight. One AM. Four AM. It never stopped.

Elias dodged the question with a sigh. "Please don't quit."

"Don't worry," I reassured him. Liam was a cakewalk compared to my old boss. "It'll take more than a late-night email frenzy to scare me off. And based on some of the—ah—colorfully worded emails I saw zipping around at midnight, I think Liam might actually be going easy on me... It's like you said... His nagging comes from a place of caring, right?"

"Right. That's what I tell myself, anyway." Elias laughed. "So—um—" He paused again. He didn't seem quite used to talking on the phone, but was anyone these days? "How'd your little man settle into his first day?"

"Oh." A knot formed in my throat. "Yeah. Great."

Not a lie. The uncertainty sloshing around in my stomach wasn't logical.

Noah's first drop-off at daycare was easy. No idea how Toby pulled it off—brownie briberies probably—but the center he found across town was incredible. Everyone working there was all smiles. The head carer took Noah and cooed and coddled him just the way he loved. I could check the center app for updates and photos whenever I wanted. I knew Noah was safe.

So why did I cry the whole drive home after dropping him off? Why did I still feel so shit?

I scrubbed away the fresh tears prickling at my eyes and took a breath to lose any emotion from my voice. "Thanks for letting me work flexible hours," I said. "Dodging rush hour traffic to drop Noah off was a huge stress reliever this morning."