The Hurting Kind

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Taking out the small box from his desk drawer, Rick thumbed the ring box in his hands.

He purposely avoided seeing any photos of Maya since she left weeks ago, but the one Caroline sent to him was too hard to not stare at. Seeing her, away from the cameras and not on a runaway felt so intimate. As she stood next to the window at Forrester Creations International, looking ahead, Rick could convince himself that maybe she was missing him as much as he was missing her.

"Rick! Shipping is having issues with an order for one of the boutiques."

Looking up from his desk, Rick watches as Pam marches into his office and he quickly slips the ring back into the front drawer.

"Will you go down and sort it out now, or not?" she asks while frowning at his lack of concern.

He then narrows his eyes at her. "Shipping can sort out a simple ordering issue. And I have asked you to not enter my office without knocking Pam."

The older woman's frown remained in place as Rick continued. "Since there are no real emergencies at the moment, I will leave. Field any urgent calls to me."

Not bothering to wait for Pam's answer, Rick stands from his desk and strolls past her, leaving FC for the day.

_______

Once home, Rick takes off his blazer and tosses it on the sofa.

A memory flashes through his mind of him and Maya cuddling together on the same sofa and he shakes the thought away while walking towards the terrace. Before he reaches the entrance, his phone pings. Thinking that it may be a message from someone at Forrester, Rick takes his phone out of his pocket to check.

The images of Maya, standing next to Thomas Forrester, under the caption, 'Just Friends?' leaves Rick's hand shaking.

You know how the tabloids are, don't feed into them. He tells himself before reading the gossip article.

Maya Avant, now a free agent, spotted at Forrester Creations International with none other than the talented fashion designer/playboy, Thomas Forrester. Could there be another campaign in the works for Avant with Forrester? Or are these two an item?

Rick's eyes blurred as he looked at the photos again. And unlike the one that Caroline sent him earlier, he couldn't picture Maya missing him in any of them. There were photos of her with the FCI staff, as well as her little sister Nicole, but his eyes kept going back to the main two pictures on center display of Maya and Thomas.

Rick squinted to take in every detail - the way Thomas towered over Maya and how she smiled up at him. And how the two locked hands and eyes at one another while leaving FCI, Rick found himself staggering towards the bar in the living room as he scrolled down to read the comments.

Guess one Forrester wasn't enough for him/her, uh?

They are so cute!

I bet that's the REAL reason she left FC!

The International Playboy wastes no time - lol

Try as he may, the little green monster was ever present on his shoulder, along with its friend - a very expensive bottle of whiskey - which was now in Rick's hand.

How could they?! Did she love me at all?

Not bothering with the ice cubes, Rick downs the drink and almost immediately starts to pour more into his glass. His mind wanders more as he tries to conjure up the photo that Caroline sent him of Maya earlier. Unable to do so and desperate to get rid of the thoughts that were taking up space in his head, Rick looks at his phone again to find that photo.

As he does, he sees another update in the comments section. A photo of Thomas escorting Maya to what looked like a hotel now had over five hundred likes. Rick sees in the photo that the two are holding hands and laughing before he whirls towards the fireplace and launches his phone towards it.