Miss Pen

Chapter Twenty-six

I missed it. I’d been waiting for the moment for a while, and I missed it. What was even worse is that I didn’t care.

It was the beginning of the new work week and I sat in my cubicle with Rhode right next to me, a confident smile plastered on my face. Had I gone crazy? Probably not, but it felt damn good to not worry for once. When I thought about how I’d skipped the dinner on Saturday night to show Monty how I was beneficial to the magazine, I couldn’t find it in me to feel guilty. Not showing up hadn’t been intentional, and as time passed after my mini panic attack, I settled on starting something that was better than working at some crappy company with a psycho for an owner. Plus, my mind – and body – had been occupied by other things.

“Is that the last of them?” Rhode asked, rubbing my neck with his long fingers. I nodded slowly, breathing out a sigh of relief as my computer mouse hovered over the submit button. “I’m proud of you.”

Before my finger clicked down onto the rectangular box, I turned sideways to face Rhode, leaning more into his touch. He pulled our chairs even closer together, laying his arm over my shoulders and pressing a kiss to my temple. Everything about the simple gestures of affection between us just felt right, like it was how we were supposed to be.

“Thank you.” I murmured, burying my face into his shoulder and inhaling his pine and spice scent. If it weren’t for him, I would’ve had a breakdown on Saturday night and never started the applications for me to go back to school to get my second degree.

“For what?”

He grinned when I lifted my head to press a lingering kiss to his neck, peering down into my eyes with those captivating green ones of his own. For a moment, I was distracted, imagining what it would be like to stare at them all day, but I couldn’t do anything more than just look. I would’ve pulled him up to the tenth floor with me, but the lower half of my body had a visitor in town for the next few days. That didn’t stop us from sneaking burning kisses, though.

“For helping me this weekend. Honestly, Rhode, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t calmed me down.”

When I’d woken up from our nap after a large meal delivered by room service, which, Rhode so graciously paid for, and more R-rated activities, it was close to midnight – past the time when the team was supposed to meet for dinner, and when the hotel’s restaurant had closed. No food or man had ever worn me out that much, and if it was under other circumstances, I would’ve been impressed.

“You don’t need to thank me, Aubrey.” He briefly frowned, his features showing nothing but sincerity. “I will always be here to do that. Now, click that button before you try to change your mind like what you did with all the other apps.”

He laughed, but he was right. There was always that nagging in the back of my mind that made me wonder if I was making the right decision. I already had a job, but with another degree, better opportunities would open for me.

“Oh, shut up. There’s nothing wrong with thinking about whether or not I should go through with this.”

“No, there’s not, but have you met you? You tend to overthink things.” For effect, Rhode paused, motioning around the office with a wave of his hand. “And c’mon, look at this place. What’s there to be unsure about?”

I shrugged, looking around at the gray cubicles and bland white walls of the office with people milling around and scrambling to get things together for the upcoming issue, knowing he was right. It was time to go.

“Okay,” I shakily exhaled. “What’s the worst that can happen? All I have to do is stick it out here for a bit longer until I get some admissions letters.” Leaning back toward the mouse pad of my laptop, I mumbled more to myself than to Rhode, but he’d still heard me, giving me an encouraging smile as he nodded.