Turning to Stone (Heart of Stone: Book 2)

Chapter 16: History

"Did someone take photos?" I asked.

"Even better. A video."

Fuck. My initial shame grew into mortification, a ball of knots twisting in my gut.

"There's a fine line, Sophia. Obviously your private life is your business—not mine. But when that spills into your day job..."

"I completely understand."

"And this..." She slid a printed copy of my press release towards me. "This is far too emotional. It reads like an obsessed fan has written it."

My heart sank. In other circumstances, I might have joked that I wasn't even a fan, never mind an obsessed one, but Zola was justifiably not in the mood for humour.

"I went overboard, then," I said. "I can re-do it so it's less biased. Sorry. I made the wrong call on tone."

"The wrong call?" She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. "Or did you let whatever personal feelings you have for him seep into it?"

I shifted in my seat, my cheeks heating. How the fuck was I supposed to answer that?

"Not knowingly," I said quietly, because at least that was the truth. "I'm so sorry, Zola. I was trying to redeem myself by making it as good as it could be. I didn't intend for the piece to come across as emotional—just positive."

Sighing, the hard expression in her eyes softened. "I've had to let Helen know. She'll want to speak to you."

I nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"In the meantime, have another shot at it." She tipped her chin towards the paper between us. "I can put it down to inexperience if you're able to get the tone right on the second attempt."

My heavy heart lightened just a fraction at the lifeline. But really, how many lifelines could I be offered before they cut me loose?

*

They say bad things come in threes, but after the suspension and then being caught kissing Ed, I thought I was due a break, despite being very much aware that I'd brought those two misfortunes upon myself.

But still, I had to face the music with Helen, and I wanted to be proactive about it rather than risk her thinking I was avoiding it. So, after lunch, I took a deep breath and knocked on her office door.

My heart thumped against my ribcage as I waited. Instead of the lack of answer easing my nerves, it shredded them. I wanted this over and done with.

"Looking for Helen?"

I spun around at the sound of Ed's voice coming from the kitchen across the corridor.

"Yeah," I said, crossing over and sticking my head through the door. "Know where she is?"

After tapping a teaspoon against the side of a mug, Ed glanced up at me. His blue eyes were calm and neutral. If he'd already had a bollocking this morning, he didn't appear fazed by it.

"Conference room. We've got that meeting with both legal teams in ten minutes."

"Oh." I racked my brain but came up short. Although Helen had promised to sort out Ed's Bathroom Blowjob via lawyers, I couldn't recall anything concrete being arranged. "Sorry. Must have slipped my mind."

He tossed me a sympathetic smile. "It didn't. You were left out of the loop due to your suspension."

Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair. "Fair enough. Doubt they want me in there anyway given that I contributed towards the situation getting to this point."