9. Genevieve

Genevieve couldn’t believe this. She was torn between screaming in rage and melting into a puddle of despair on the ground.

She had thought that last night had been a turning point. When she’d comforted and held Mia last night, it had felt so right. She had been sure Mia had felt it too. Apparently, she had been wrong.

Perhaps it would be easier if she could focus on anger, but mostly, Genevieve felt hurt and heartbroken all over again. She had been there for Mia when Mia had really needed her, and her thanks was to be kicked out the next day like it was nothing. So much for hoping for a new start.

Maybe this whole thing with Mia was a mistake. Genevieve understood Mia’s reasons for leaving initially, but now she just felt used. If Mia was the kind of person who could take advantage of someone like that, then perhaps she wasn’t the person Genevieve had thought she was.

Well, she wasn’t going to wait for Mia anymore. There would be no more staring at the phone, hoping Mia would call with the news that she was on the road to being healed and wanted to try again. Genevieve had already assigned someone else to work with Mia on their painting arrangement.

She had hoped that would be a temporary thing, but now, it would have to become permanent.

She would simply have to move on with her life, just like she had lived before Mia. How hard could that be?

“Genevieve, can we talk?”

“Of course. Come in, Penelope.”

Penelope looked uncharacteristically nervous, which made Genevieve nervous in turn. She didn’t particularly want to deal with any bad news in her business, not when things in her personal life were such a mess.

Penelope perched on the edge of one of the chairs in front of Genevieve’s desk. “I need to talk to you.”

“What is it?”

“I’m worried about you—we all are. The whole office.”

This was not the direction Genevieve had expected the conversation to go in, and it most certainly wasn’t a welcome surprise.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said stiffly.

“Ever since you assigned Archer to work with Mia, we feel like things have gone downhill.”

That made Genevieve sit up and pay attention. “You’re unhappy? Is there trouble between Archer and Mia?”

This was something Genevieve could deal with. She frequently had to problem solve in her business, and if her employees were unhappy for some reason, she could tackle that problem head-on and solve it—unlike her personal problems, which were much less easily solvable.

“No, no, it’s nothing like that. Archer and Mia work well together. None of us are unhappy, don’t worry. We’re just concerned for you—about you being unhappy.”

Oh. Well, now they were back in territory Genevieve wanted nothing to do with.

“Thank you for your concern, Penelope, but please relay to everyone that I’m fine.”

“I don’t think you are. You’ve become more and more withdrawn ever since you and Mia split up. We were finally getting to know the real you, and now, we’re losing you again.”

“Maybe this is who I’ve always been. Perhaps I was just fighting to be someone I wasn’t, and this is who I was always meant to be.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Yes,” Genevieve lied through gritted teeth, trying to convince herself. “The thing with Mia was a mistake. I was better off before we ever met.”

Genevieve half-expected Penelope to call bullshit. She could tell that she wanted to. However, Genevieve was still Penelope’s boss, and Penelope must have decided not to push this personal stuff.

“Alright, Genevieve. Just know that if you ever want to talk, I’m available—so are most of the people here. We know you care about us—even if you don’t say it—you show it to us in your actions, and we care about you too.”

Genevieve’s throat was suddenly unusually tight. She nodded and forced a smile. “Thank you, Penelope. I appreciate that.”

Penelope hesitated, as though she had more to say, but thankfully, she seemed to think better of it. “I’ll get back to work, then.”

Genevieve nodded. She hadn’t been doing as good of a job as she’d thought holding things together in front of others. Clearly, she needed to redouble her efforts.

Mia wasn’t an option anymore. She had made sure to disabuse any notions Genevieve had of ever trying again. Genevieve would simply have to continue with her life, even if it felt like she was dying inside.

Her work still fulfilled her, as it always had, even before Mia. That was enough for her. It had to be enough.