22 First Kisses

8 ~ First Tea Spilled

I walk into my first day back at work after the extremely long weekend. So much has happened in the span of three days, and I'm struggling to keep up with it all.

One thing I know for sure is that I like Josh. Another thing I know for sure is he doesn't like me. Not like that at least.

I take a seat at the desk and clock into work. Today is full of meetings so there will be people in and out to speak with my boss, David Baxton. He calls all the shots. He decides whether or not he'll cut you a book deal, or if he'll send you off to the next publisher.

The thing is, Baxton Publishing gets a lot of hype. Every book published has made the New York Times Bestseller list. This company is no joke. Angela and I have our fun at the desk, but the second his assistant comes downstairs it's back to work immediately. She's got fangs.

"Good morning!" exclaims Angela. I look over at her smiling face, and I can't seem to return it today.

"Girl I've got a lot to tell you." I say as I turn towards her and her smile drops almost immediately.

I explain to Angela all of the events with Josh. Starting right from him reading my work. I go into detail telling her about him waking me up at 9 o'clock in the morning for coffee and all the things we talked about during all of this. I even tell her about the baseball game and the dinner afterwards, but I leave one specific thing for the end.

"He friendzoned me." I finally say, and Angela's jaw practically hits the floor.

"He did what?" she says, disgust laced in her voice. Angela is a spit fire of a human being. It doesn't take much to set her off, and when she's off, she is off.

"He called me his friend... twice." I clarify and her eyes roll to the back of her head.

"What an idiot." she says with a laugh, and I wait for her to blow her top. "You are so hot and so good for him too. He literally needs someone like you in his life." She rants on. I listen patiently as she continues. "Maddie was a terrible human being. They got together our last year of high school and everyone knew they were an awful couple. Always fighting. There's a special match for her, but it's not Josh. He needs to stop holding onto hope that they're going to get back together-"

"You think he wants to get back together with her?" I ask, completely cutting her off. I'm afraid if I didn't, she would have never stopped. My heart would continue to break.

She waits for a moment, contemplating what to say next. Her face drops as she sighs at me. She rubs her perfectly groomed eyebrows before speaking.

"Yes, Violet. He even said so."

My heart breaks in my chest. How could I have been so stupid? For once in my life I let myself fall for a guy, and look at the way it's turning out.

"When did he say that?" I ask her, but I get the feeling I don't want to know the answer.

"When I talked to him at the garden party. He's still pretty broken up about it all, even though he shouldn't be. Breaking it off with her was the best thing he could've done for himself. Let him grow up a little."

"But he didn't break it off with her. She broke it off with him." With these words, Angela goes quiet for a moment.

"That explains why he's upset about it then." She says, and there's a long pause between us. I decide the quiet is too much for me to handle.