The New Classic

Chapter Thirty Two

"True."

"I'll see you in Mac's office, then?" At my nod, he gave me a light tap on my butt before walking towards his cabin, whistling.

I pressed a palm into my stomach as I powered on my computer. I opened my email as I sat down in my chair, going through them before one particular email caught my eye. OFFICE SCANDAL? was the subject. It was written in all caps as I opened it, my heart thudding unevenly.

My vision grew blurry as I scrolled through the contents, the pictures that I saw making me nauseous. They were of Neil and I, captured over the past few months. Most of them were innocent - just us strolling somewhere or going into a cafe together. But that wasn't what made me almost want to cry, no. It was the photos of me this past weekend at the retreat, naked near the pool, that made me want to retch. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was bad. How the hell had anyone gotten access to this? And why would they email it to the entire office?

A whimper tore out of me as I held my head in my hands, rocking back and forth as I fought against the waves of anxiety that were taking over me.

"Aaliya?" I heard a voice through the fog. "Where -" Footsteps shuffled over to me as a pair of leather shoes entered my line of sight. "Shit. Mon soleil, talk to me. What's happening?"

Knowing that Neil was near me calmed me, but I was still struggling to breathe. Still struggling to understand how and why this had happened. Suddenly it made a lot of sense - why Lea had been acting absurd with me.

Neil kept rubbing my back in circular motions as minutes passed. He stayed on the floor in front of me - I honestly didn't even know how I'd gotten there - holding me as I broke down in his arms. "Shh. I got you, baby. I got you." He murmured as I soaked his shirt with snot and tears.

Once I finally felt like I'd cried all the tears I could, I lifted my head to look at him.

"Talk to me please, Aaliya." He stressed, his eyes so full of concern and love. "I-I don't know what's going on. Please help me fix it. Let me make it better, mon soleil." He pleaded as his brows creased. I pressed a finger in the crease, before blankly pointing behind me at the screen.

I got a front row seat to Neil's reaction as I watched his face change from shock to horror and then to fury.

As if on autopilot, he pulled himself off the ground, and read the entire email, top to bottom as I tried to compose myself in the meantime.

"How the hell -

"Exactly." I cut in. "You know what this means right? Someone was watching us." I stated, staring at a blank spot on the wall ahead of me. "Look at the angle of the pictures. It looks like whoever took the photos was hiding in the perfect spot where they wouldn't be seen."

"Fuck." He cursed. And then louder. "Fuck!" Neil's hand thumped down hard on my desk before swiping off the papers from it.

"I knew something was going to go wrong. I knew it was too good to be true." I confessed quietly, getting up. I was exhausted and felt like all the fight had been drained out of me. To know that such intimate pictures of me were out on the company's server made me feel sick. It made me feel like giving up. And all of a sudden, I was that little girl again. Scared, confused and lonely. I didn't know what to do. For the first time in a very long time, I felt helpless. Hopeless. "It's like all those years ago again, Neil." I whispered, voice breaking with emotion. The agony was unbearable. "I can't do this anymore. I just want it to end."

"Hey." Neil's voice was soft as he came into my line of sight, comprehension dawning on his face. "Hey, look at me, Aaliya." When I didn't listen to him, he made a small sound before grasping my chin and turning me towards him. Looking straight into my eyes, he said, "Don't say that, baby. You've made it through so much, Aaliya. Don't give up now. Don't shut me out, mon soleil. We're in this together, okay? We'll figure it out."