Chapter Forty Two

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I force a smile onto my face as I scurry into work

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I force a smile onto my face as I scurry into work.

I'm the first one in the marketing office today—aside from Michael—though that has to do with the fact I planned to get here early so I could do something important.

I need to give Anderson his belated Christmas present.

I dug it out of my bag earlier in the week. My heart sank when I rubbed my thumb across the engraved tankard. I kept meaning to give it to Anderson, but it was never the right time. I didn't see him at Christmas, and the only other time was New Years Eve. And that definitely wasn't the right time. Besides, I couldn't have carried a gift to a New Years Eve party and have expected Anderson to carry it around with him all night.

Sucking a breath, I take the box from my bag, wish Michael a happy new year and drag myself to the IT department.

My heart tremors as my eyes search the area for Anderson's desk. When I find it, I'm grateful that he's not here yet. I still don't know what to say to him after that night. Plus, I don't know what the hell he thinks of me now. When I saw his face that night, it was enough to tell me that he'd had enough of what he was witnessing.

Sighing, I place the box onto his desk and rip a post-it note from a pad. Quickly, I write:

Merry Christmas Anderson. Sorry it's late. Sorry for everything else, too. Mia x

I don't want to go on and on with everything that I could say. If that was the case, I could write a whole essay. I pop the note on the box, and hurry back to my own desk.

Danny is already here when I return, his warm smile reminding me how much I love being at work. At work, I can temporarily forget about everything else that's happening outside of it.

Danny twists in his chair, powers up his computer and says, "Happy New Year Mia. Did you have a good one?"

I nod, flopping into my own chair and sighing. A good one? I'm not sure if that's what you can call it, but I smile anyway, saying, "Yeah. It was busy. And eventful. You?"

Danny laughs. "It was nice thanks. Ewan and I spent it with my family. Games, drinks, you know?"

"Sounds great," I say, flustering about my desk and wondering what to get started with first.

I don't know why I feel so nervous, so unorganised. I like work. I like being in my own space and doing my own thing with no judgement from outside. But so much has gone on recently. So much so that my brain doesn't know what to focus on first.

I click into my emails, then trawl through my notebook, then go back to my emails.

At the side of my desk, my phone sits motionless. I keep looking to it every five minutes, hoping that it'll notify me of a message from Grayson.

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