The days drifted by like a bright, fluffy cloud. Every time I caught Alec's eye during the following week, I burst into a smile which he readily returned. Not that I saw him too often. He spent a lot of the week working with the execs, but it only made those few moments we had more exciting. I found myself both desiring his company and invigorated by the lack thereof. We were taking part in an enthralling new dance, one whose steps I still needed to learn. And with each passing day, the image of him as my boss shifted and something deeper than friendship emerged. I felt like a schoolgirl prancing through the halls of my high school and as such, people were bound to notice.

"Who is it?" Jean elbowed me, pulling my attention away from my pita. I turned to see her with eyebrows raised and her head nodding with eager interest.

"Who is what?" asked Theo as he slurped his instant ramen.

"I wasn't talking to you Theo," said Jean with a sigh. "I'm trying to have girl talk over here. Keep to yourself and don't talk with your mouth full."

"Not my fault I've got good ears," he said after swallowing his noodles. He then used his spork to gesture towards his acclaimed appendages. "Helps me to better listen to our customers. That's why they hired me."

"That...that doesn't make any sense," mumbled Theo's fellow community manager. "We read social media posts all day. If anything, it's your eyes you should be..."

"I've got good eyes too," said Theo as he took another slurp of his noodles.

"What do you mean girl talk?" I mumbled to Jean as Theo distracted himself with mopping up some broth that spilled onto his shirt. "What are you asking about?"

It was Thursday and I had enough on my mind already with the impending live interview with Mariska the following morning. As taken as I was with this new image of Alec, it had been placed in the back of my mind that day. All I could think about was how I still had nothing on the charity to give Mariska. Even my attempts to eat lunch out in the Pit could not help my mind detach from my public death sentence in the morning. Had I not been so swept away by my blooming romance, I may have had enough foresight to actually talk to Alec about the charity instead of giggling like an idiot whenever he said something clever.

"I, well..." Jean's face went a bit red and she looked across the coffee table to the opposite sofa where Cynthia sat in amused silence. "I just..."

"You okay Jean?" asked Ryan, who sat at an armchair near Cynthia. "You look like you might have swallowed wrong."

"I think it's because we weren't supposed to hear her question to Lex," said Theo with an air of profound wisdom.

"Yes, I do believe that was the point, I was just trying to give her an out." Ryan gave Theo a look that I assumed resembled the glare he often shared with his children back at home. And just as it probably was with them, Theo remained completely oblivious to the scrutiny.

"What do you think Cynthia?" asked Theo, who bothered to put his spork down to ask the question. "Shouldn't she share with the rest of us?"

I looked to Cynthia, hoping that perhaps some sort of feminine wisdom would help her see the pleading in my eyes, even if it meant losing a bit of gossip fodder. What I saw was not the hungry look I expected, but instead a deep concern that bent her brow and twisted the corners of her lips.

"It's none of my business," said Cynthia with a shrug before she turned back to her salad.

"What?!" shouted Theo, rising up from his side of our sofa. "You can't be serious."

As Theo called Cynthia out for her betrayal, Jean turned back towards me and with a quieter voice, made her apologies.

"I'm sorry Lex, I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I've just noticed how happy you've been recently and well, you sort of hum to yourself when you think no one is around."

"I, what?"

"I've heard you at the kitchenette a couple times," she said with a sympathetic nod.

"Oh..."

"I just thought, well, you know..." She didn't finish the thought, instead she just nodded at me with some sort of girlish encouragement.

"What?"

"That you're seeing someone." Again, she tried to coax it out of me, but I knew that even a little hint of the source of my happiness may lead down a road I couldn't turnaround on. Yet, I didn't know how to pull Jean from it.

"Mr. Radcliffe!"

I jumped at Theo's exclamation, my skin blazing with guilt as if I'd just been caught by the police with my hands on the crown jewels.

"Won't you join us for lunch?" asked our perky, young coworker with aspirations of climbing up the ladder. "I can clear off a seat for you, warm up a cup of coffee..."

"No need Theo," said Alec from somewhere just behind me. I couldn't bear to turn around, I knew the game may be given completely away at that point. So I stared forward and that's when I caught Cynthia's judgmental eyes, scanning over me and surveying the flush of my skin.

"Well, if you need anything, sir, you know I'm your man," said Theo with unbridled dedication to his career plan. I thought of my own plan and wondered if I could ever revive it from the shambles it was currently in. "Certainly there must be something I can help with since you've been so busy up on the top floor this week."

"No, I've got everything under control. Now what I would like is everyone on your team to gather in the conference room so you can debrief me on what you all have been up to this week."

"Right," said Ryan, who rose up from his armchair.

"Cynthia, Jean, Lex?" asked Alec. I felt the cushion behind me bend as a hand gripped the back of the sofa. I looked up and found Alec leaning over and staring down at me. My heart raced, my lips grew dry as I drew long, shuddering breaths over them, my eyes ached as I looked back at him unblinkingly. "Lex, are you ready to make a presentation about your interview?"

"Yes," I said with a gulp that pushed my giddy heart back into my chest. "Yes," I said again, turning back around and rising up from the sofa.

"Good. I hope the rest of you are prepared too."

He gave our other team members a nod and then went to find Dennis who had just gotten back from having lunch with his wife. With Alec gone I felt a weight release from my chest and a calming sigh lowered my shoulders. We all parted to go drop off our lunches at our desks and grab our materials for our presentations. However, as I was leaving for my office, I caught a glimpse of Cynthia.

Her green eyes looked on with a knowing gaze. She saw right through me and I knew in that instant that my little secret of frozen yogurt and starry rendezvouses may not be so secret anymore. In fact, it couldn't be left in worse hands. Yet, I felt no fear, because pity continued to taint her gaze. Perhaps even she was unwilling to share a secret if it meant ruining someone's career. I didn't have long to contemplate it though, she turned to head off to her own desk and I had a presentation to worry about.

After the meeting, I went back to my office, where Emily looked grateful to have a distraction from her own work.

"So tomorrow's the big day?"

"Yeah, I can't wait," I said, putting my tablet down on my desk and plopping into my chair. "I'm done with all this planning. I'm ready to get it over with."

"So you've found some time to concentrate while your head has been so stuck in the clouds?"

"Is it really that noticeable?" I asked with a groan.

"Yes. Yes it is. But don't worry no one has figured out why yet."

"I'm not so sure about that," I said, looking to where Cynthia sat at her cubicle. "I think Cynthia might be connecting the dots."

"Oh," said Emily with a grimace. "I guess it was inevitable..."

"Well, at least it distracts her from catching on to you and Theo," I said, offering Emily a smirk as her face bloomed with color. Apparently they had met up over the weekend. Not that Saturday night though. She did, in fact, go home and binge watch her prime time soap opera, but after building up some courage she asked him out for some coffee the next day. A little less formal and a little more comfortable than jumping into a dinner. And though she admitted he made her belly laugh for the first time in what felt like years, she still didn't know what to do with the eager Theo. And she wasn't going to figure that out with the pressure of rumors floating about.

"Well," she said with an uncomfortable laugh in her voice, "given how exuberant Theo is, I'm not sure how long he'll keep our meeting a secret. I mean ever since I took him to the Dough Divas for coffee and pastries, he's been going there every morning to grab me some, well, coffee and donuts."

"Really?" I asked, taking a seat next to her. "I didn't know about that."

"Well, we both get here so early," she said with a little smile. "He's been trying to figure out my favorite donut since I refused to get one on Sunday. It was after lunch and I didn't feel like a donut so late in the day. I offered to tell him what my favorite was, but he stopped me and said it would be more fun to figure it out on his own." Now her smile wasn't so small and she bit her lip as she reflected on her memories. "This morning he tried a Bavarian cream."

"That's not even close," I said with a laugh.

"Well, he started to get close when he showed up with a powdered jelly filled donut, but since then he's headed in the completely opposite direction." A twinkling laugh brightened her smile. "I think he doesn't want to find my favorite."

"I don't think you do either," I replied, happy to see my friend happy. "In fact I think..."

"Lex."

Both Emily and I nearly jumped through the ceiling when Colin Travers called my name from our office door.

"What's up Colin?" I asked, swiveling my chair around to face our manager as he stepped into our office.

"Well, Ms. Jeffries," he said, emphasizing my name as if being formal with me would somehow convince me I should have spoken formally with him. Emily, in turn, tried to repress her laughter by faking a cough and covering her mouth with her hand. Colin glared at her, but eventually turned away and continued on speaking to me. "I need to discuss something with you before your interview tomorrow."

"Oh, all right," I said, my words stumbling slightly as I tried to grasp why exactly Colin was here and not Alec.

"And," he added pointedly, "I'd like to talk to you alone."

At that he cast his gaze back to Emily, who had managed to compose herself.

"Right," she said, clearing her throat in an effort to shake away the last of her amusement over Colin's failed power trip. "I've got to talk to some of my teammates anyway, so I'll go do that now then." She got up, grabbed her tablet and headed out the door. Colin's eyes trailed after her, watching her back until the door swung shut and we were closed off from the rest of the floor.

"Ms. Jeffries," he said, turning back to face me, "it's time we talked about the charity."

***

If you're enjoying this book, please consider supporting the author by purchasing it on sylviangould.com or Amazon. You'll also get an exclusive extended epilogue!

ePub and PDF version: sylviangould.com/store/a-charitable-scandal-epub-amp-pdf

Kindle version: amazon.com/dp/B07THGHVGT/

Paperback version: amazon.com/dp/1076027660/