didn’t want her last night here to be spent fighting, so I
reluctantly went back out to the sofa. I wasn’t sure why I was worried about
her taking over the search. She’d always been honest with me. I crawled under
the covers and tried to do what she said—stop worrying about it.
Chapter 6
Once my mother had gone back home, life as I knew it
resumed as if I’d never missed that week at work. I went back to the crazy
schedule and demands as new products or clients were presented to us. I dreaded
coming back, thinking I would have piles of ideas to sketch out from meetings I
didn’t attend. To my surprise, I had sketches waiting for me to work from and
not just scribbled notes or doodles as I had received in the past. No one would
confess to the sketches, and I wondered why anyone would hide that talent.
The one thing I did look forward to when coming back was the
workouts I would meet Ryan for. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them until
my mom had come and I couldn’t get up to go. I could have, but she would have
read way more into it than just two friends working out. When my alarm went off
the first day back, I groaned. Sleeping in was nice that week, but once I was fully
awake and realized what I was getting up so early for, I couldn’t get out of
bed fast enough.
Besides, I needed to get caught up on the changes at work. I had
Stacy to catch me up on the office gossip, but Ryan helped catch me up on the actual
facts that I had missed. Plus, we’d gotten to know each other better, and I
loved hearing his stories about the kids at the group home.
I had gotten up extra early today to try to beat Ryan to the gym.
He always got there before me and wouldn’t tell me when he started. What I
didn’t expect when I walked in early was to see the office lined with copies of
my sketch of Ryan. It was the sketch I did in that boring meeting that I
wouldn’t show Wade and had set him off. I finished it that day to help calm my
nerves after the argument with Wade and the awkward way I met Vicki. There
wasn’t any way I could concentrate on work after what Matt had said about how grief
stricken Vicki was. I never showed anyone that sketch, and I put it away in my
office.
Copies of the sketch wallpapered every inch of the hallway
leading to my department. It looked as if he were running for office or
something. I couldn’t believe that someone had done that. Someone had gone through
my things and made hundreds if not thousands of copies.
How much time would it have taken someone to tape all this up?
Oh, God. Please let it be tape. How much time would it take for me to get it
all down? I dropped my bag and started ripping the papers off the wall. I
couldn’t reach the top two rows and started crying when jumping to grab them
failed.
I dropped the torn papers I had in my hands and covered my face
in defeat. I would never get this cleared before everyone came in. What would they
think? They would all know it was one of my sketches. What would Ryan think? I
shook my head. “It’s just a sketch. It doesn’t mean anything.”
I felt someone come up behind me, and I stilled as I felt hands
on my waist. I was lifted in the air, and I was about to protest until I
realized I could reach the top two rows. I looked down as I was set on his
shoulder and saw Ryan looking up at me. “Don’t cry. We’ll clean it up.” Unable
to form words, I just nodded and looked back up at the task at hand.
It took all of our workout time, but we managed to clean it up
before anyone else came in. With Ryan removing the papers on the lower level, I
took care of the upper level from his shoulders. I wanted to just throw them
away and get as far away from the sketches as possible, but Ryan thought it
would be better to shred them so no one would ever find them. He also suggested
I take the original home if it was still in my office. I felt embarrassed and
violated that someone would go through my things. I tried to
reluctantly went back out to the sofa. I wasn’t sure why I was worried about
her taking over the search. She’d always been honest with me. I crawled under
the covers and tried to do what she said—stop worrying about it.
Chapter 6
Once my mother had gone back home, life as I knew it
resumed as if I’d never missed that week at work. I went back to the crazy
schedule and demands as new products or clients were presented to us. I dreaded
coming back, thinking I would have piles of ideas to sketch out from meetings I
didn’t attend. To my surprise, I had sketches waiting for me to work from and
not just scribbled notes or doodles as I had received in the past. No one would
confess to the sketches, and I wondered why anyone would hide that talent.
The one thing I did look forward to when coming back was the
workouts I would meet Ryan for. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them until
my mom had come and I couldn’t get up to go. I could have, but she would have
read way more into it than just two friends working out. When my alarm went off
the first day back, I groaned. Sleeping in was nice that week, but once I was fully
awake and realized what I was getting up so early for, I couldn’t get out of
bed fast enough.
Besides, I needed to get caught up on the changes at work. I had
Stacy to catch me up on the office gossip, but Ryan helped catch me up on the actual
facts that I had missed. Plus, we’d gotten to know each other better, and I
loved hearing his stories about the kids at the group home.
I had gotten up extra early today to try to beat Ryan to the gym.
He always got there before me and wouldn’t tell me when he started. What I
didn’t expect when I walked in early was to see the office lined with copies of
my sketch of Ryan. It was the sketch I did in that boring meeting that I
wouldn’t show Wade and had set him off. I finished it that day to help calm my
nerves after the argument with Wade and the awkward way I met Vicki. There
wasn’t any way I could concentrate on work after what Matt had said about how grief
stricken Vicki was. I never showed anyone that sketch, and I put it away in my
office.
Copies of the sketch wallpapered every inch of the hallway
leading to my department. It looked as if he were running for office or
something. I couldn’t believe that someone had done that. Someone had gone through
my things and made hundreds if not thousands of copies.
How much time would it have taken someone to tape all this up?
Oh, God. Please let it be tape. How much time would it take for me to get it
all down? I dropped my bag and started ripping the papers off the wall. I
couldn’t reach the top two rows and started crying when jumping to grab them
failed.
I dropped the torn papers I had in my hands and covered my face
in defeat. I would never get this cleared before everyone came in. What would they
think? They would all know it was one of my sketches. What would Ryan think? I
shook my head. “It’s just a sketch. It doesn’t mean anything.”
I felt someone come up behind me, and I stilled as I felt hands
on my waist. I was lifted in the air, and I was about to protest until I
realized I could reach the top two rows. I looked down as I was set on his
shoulder and saw Ryan looking up at me. “Don’t cry. We’ll clean it up.” Unable
to form words, I just nodded and looked back up at the task at hand.
It took all of our workout time, but we managed to clean it up
before anyone else came in. With Ryan removing the papers on the lower level, I
took care of the upper level from his shoulders. I wanted to just throw them
away and get as far away from the sketches as possible, but Ryan thought it
would be better to shred them so no one would ever find them. He also suggested
I take the original home if it was still in my office. I felt embarrassed and
violated that someone would go through my things. I tried to
Similar Books
