Chapter 3 - Gossip

In my excitement over Elena getting the immediate boot, I had almost forgotten about the shit storm that was my life. But Elena’s questions made it all come rushing back to me. “My personal life is not up for discussion,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’re so damn preoccupied with men and gossip, no wonder your professional skills haven’t improved.” I turned on my heels and quickly left the room before she could spout off anything else to me. I walked down the hallway and straight to Maria’s desk. “Snacks,” I said when I reached her. “I need ‘em.” Without a word she got up and walked with me to the pantry. She knew when I said I needed snacks that I was not in the mood for conversation. When we walked through the pantry door, I let out a surprised gasp. The normally empty pantry was all abuzz. Several women stood around, talking to each other, flipping ferociously through magazines, scrolling quickly on their phones. “What is happening?” I said to Maria, who shrugged. I pushed my way through the crowd of women to the shelf that held the chocolate bars. As I did, I caught snippets of conversations: “…I heard he’s really into blondes…” “…I bet he only dates socialites, there’s no way he would ever date anyone from this company…” “…he has his own private jet? I’d kill for a man with a jet…” “…oh, if only I could find a man half as rich and sexy as he is!” I grabbed my favorite caramel-filled bar off the shelf and snuck a glance at the nearest open magazine. It was an article all about the lavish lifestyle of our new CEO. I couldn’t help but laugh. These women were dying for a shot with Logan. They were going to be devastated to learn that he was married. Maria and I slipped back out of the pantry. As soon as its occupants were out of earshot, I shook my head at her. “Did you hear all that? Everyone’s going crazy over this new CEO.” Maria shrugged, a grin forming over her lips. “I mean…can you blame them?” “Oh Maria, not you too!” She laughed. “Are you telling me you don’t find him attractive?” “No, I’m not saying that. I mean sure, he is handsome but…” I looked around to make sure the coast was clear. I lowered my voice. “He’s married. And quite happily, it seems.” “Oh,” Maria frowned. “He’s so young, isn’t he? I’m surprised someone as young and wealthy as him got married so soon in his life.” I shrugged. “I wonder what she’s like? She must be pretty amazing to make him give up the bachelor lifestyle I hear he’s so well-known for. And speaking of surprising things…” As we started walking back towards my desk, I told Maria all about Elena’s immediate elimination as candidate for Logan’s assistant. By the time we reached my desk, Maria was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face. “Add ‘expert at spotting gold diggers’ to Logan’s resume,” she laughed. “I was surprised he could spot anything past the amount of cleavage she brought in with her,” I said as I sat at my desk. I pulled my purse from the bottom drawer and took out my phone to check for messages. I frowned when I saw the only one was a missed call from my mother. “What’s wrong?” Maria asked. I showed her the phone. She frowned. “Oof. That’s a mood killer. Good luck.” She gave me a sympathetic smile, then turned and walked back towards her desk. I sighed and pushed the button to return her call. Might as well get it over with. “Hazel, where have you been?” “Well gee mom, I have this little thing I like to do every day called work.” As usual, she ignored my sarcasm. “I need you to go to the airport and pick up Natalie. She’s getting in at 6:00 from her guest role in that TV series you love so much.” I inwardly groaned. “Yeah, mom, I know where she’s been.” Mom just loved throwing in digs whenever she could, to remind me that Natalie was successful in all the ways I wanted to, but couldn’t, be. “So you’ll pick her up?” “I don’t think I really have a choice.” “Thank you dear, see you at home.” She hung up without waiting for a good-bye. I rubbed my temples. God I wanted a place of my own. Ever since I had to move back in with my parents and Natalie they all treated me like their personal assistant. But rent was so damn high, I didn’t really have any other options. I opened the top drawer of my desk to grab a pen and sticky note. I froze when I saw the mystery ring that I had thrown in there after my Vegas trip. In the roller coaster that today had been, I had forgotten all about it. It had to be a toy…but where did I get it from? “I guess what happens in Vegas really does stay in Vegas,” I muttered to myself, sneaking the ring into my purse. The last thing I needed was for someone in the office to find it and start more rumors about me. My irritation grew as I sat waiting for Natalie at arrivals. I’d been waiting for nearly an hour at this point. I already didn’t want to be there, and now I was giving up my entire night off waiting for the last person on earth I wanted to see. The flash of the fake ring in my purse caught my eye. I pulled it out and popped it into my glove compartment. I wasn’t quite sure why I wanted to keep something that came from the Vegas trip from hell, but I was weirdly attached to it. It did come from my one night of rebellion, sleeping with a mystery man. Maybe I kind of liked that I had that in me. Natalie finally burst through the doors of the airport. I hated how amazing she looked after such a long flight. She looked around, her hair falling perfectly in place with every turn of her head. I honked my horn to get her attention. I popped my trunk as she came closer with her cart full of luggage. I could see her standing at the back of my car, waiting for me to get out and help her with it, but I certainly would not be doing that. Finally some guys spotted her and ran over to help, because of course they would. She got into the passenger’s seat, and I pulled out without a word to her. We hadn’t spoken since the Vegas trip. I both had too much and nothing to say to her. It was ten very awkward minutes before either of us spoke. “Well, aren’t you going to ask me about my trip?” She asked. I shook my head and laughed. The audacity of this woman. “Oh, forgive me for being so rude. How was your trip? Steal any more men from anyone?” She smirked. “Oh, this again.” “Yeah, sorry that I’m not over what you did to me in Vegas. You stole my boyfriend, Natalie. You are always taking things from me. Why do you do that? Do you like torturing me?” My irritation turned to fury. Natalie rolled her eyes at me. “You should have been more accommodating to me on that trip. You are my sister after all.” She picked at her nails, seemingly annoyed that we were even having this conversation. “Besides. This is an issue with you. You should ask yourself what’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you more deserving of your boyfriend proposing to you? I get proposals all the time. It is not that hard.” My eyes almost popped out of my head. Did she really just say those words to me? “I need a tissue,” Natalie said and popped open my glove box. Both of our eyes went straight to the ring I had just put in there. She gasped. “This must be at least ten carets!” She pulled it out. “Where did this come from?” My heart sank. Looked like Natalie just found the next thing she was going to take from me.