My turn to give her a funny look.

“It’s complicated,” she says with a sigh. “Charlotte can be… imperial.”

“Charlotte’s your mother?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you call her by her first name?”

“It’s a very long story.” It’s clear she doesn’t want to tell it to me. “Ryan, really? You’re really leaving us? You’re so good with clients. They absolutely adore you. And frankly, you’re one of the best employees on the spa side.”

“I am?”

“You don’t have an ego, you’re fundamentally kind, and you don’t create drama.”

“I’ve never seen any of that on my performance review, Chloe.”

We share a smile. “It’s a softer skill set, Ryan. The kind employers love to find in workers. The kind that makes your life better, too.”

I drop the smile. I don’t know what to say.

“What are your plans?” she asks, biting her lip, looking at the envelope with such sadness.

“I’m moving back to California. To be closer to my family.”

Her slow nod makes it clear she gets it as she opens the letter, scanning it. “January?”

“Yeah. I know how crazy it gets here with the holidays. I’ll stay through New Year’s.”

“Oh, bless you!” She lets out a whoosh of held breath. “Finding a replacement for you is going to be damn near impossible.”

I don’t know what to say so I just grin.

“And… Carrie? Does she know?”

Grin disappears. “What?”

“Carrie. I know you two are really close.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“No. We’re not close.”

“Ryan.” She sounds so much like Ellen when she says my name like that. “You two… what happened? You’ve been friends since you came here. Then there was Jenny’s wedding. And now you’re avoiding each other like the plague.”

“I’m not avoiding her. She just – we just – it was all, you know.”

“None of that was a complete sentence. Or even a complete thought.”

“She put out my burning penis with a cream donut the last time I saw her, Chloe.”

“Is that a positive or a negative observation, Ryan?”

I can’t help but laugh. It’s a sad sound. “Why are you digging into my personal life?” My fingers grip the edge of the chair to the point of pain.

“I shouldn’t.” She sets the letter down on her desk and leans forward, threading her fingers together in a clasp. “But I am. You and Carrie both look like someone shot your dog.”

“Maybe we both have sad things going on in our lives.”

“Or maybe you are the sad thing in each other’s lives.”

“I didn’t come in here expecting to have you interrogate me about my personal life, Chloe. You’re my boss.”

“You’re right. But I’m also not going to watch people I care about make stupid mistakes and not say a word. Tell me, Ryan – were you pretending at the wedding?”

“Sure.” Shrug.

“Were you really? Because Carrie wasn’t.”

Anger surges through me. “Bullshit, Chloe. What’s your game here? Are you and Carrie fucking with me? I heard you two at the reception. Heard you both laughing about how it was all pretend.” I stand up, flexing my fingers. My shoulders feel like marble. Hot marble with lead poured on top.

“You heard what?”

“You were coming out of the bathroom and Carrie told you we weren’t compatible. Loud and clear. That it was all pretend.”

“That’s what made you leave? Carrie said you disappeared during the reception.” Her eyes narrow, calculating. “Instead of asking Carrie what she meant, you just ghosted on her?”

“What? No! I didn’t – that’s not how it went. She asked for a fake boyfriend. She told you it was all pretend. Told you we weren’t compatible, that I’m too young for her. So once she was done needing me to be the hot, young piece of meat she could parade around to save her ego, I left. Mission accomplished. Job done.”

“You don’t believe a word of that, Ryan.” She’s on her feet, walking smoothly around the giant glass desk. Her eyes are so earnest, I almost fall for it. “That’s not the conversation I actually had with Carrie.”

“Don’t gaslight me. Jesus. I heard it.” Rage makes my vision swim. I turn around to leave. I need to get the hell out of here. Working for the next two months was going to be hard enough.

Now it’ll be a living hell. Maybe I should just quit on the spot.

“You heard part of it. Part. After she said you weren’t compatible, she also added that it just looked that way. That you really did have something deeper beneath the surface. That she assumed you were just pretending. I told her not to assume.”

I’m in the hallway, about to pivot right, when what Chloe says sinks in. “Carrie said that?”

“Yes.”

My palm goes flat against the wall. I need it for support. “Say all of that again, Chloe.”

“Carrie wasn’t pretending. She assumed you were. But she said everything had gotten deeper than she expected, and needed to talk about it with you. Needed to see if you felt the same way. I told her no man looks at a woman the way you look at her without being very, very real.”

All I can do is blink. Blink and let this wall hold me up.

“I don’t normally meddle in employee affairs, Ryan, but Carrie is more than an employee to me. She’s a friend. And she’s hurting. She’d be very upset if she knew I was telling you all of this, but too late. Cat’s out of the bag. You two need to talk.”

“She wasn’t pretending.” I’m muttering to myself more than anything now.

“No. She wasn’t.”

“Oh, God. I just… oh, shit.”

“You need to fix this, Ryan. Are you quitting because of Carrie?”

“What? No. I would quit no matter what. But it was easier when I thought she didn’t – when I thought she was pretending.”

“And now that you know she’s not?”

“I need to go see her. Now. Is she in her office?” I look at my phone. It’s just after six p.m. Maybe she’s still here.