Haze - By Andrea Wolfe Page 0,18

suspicion that wound up proving to be correct.

I rushed into the office, hoping to see another gift, not because I wanted another gift, but because it confirmed that I had figured it out. Yep, I was right. Sam wasn't standing there today—I'm not so sure I would have been able to handle more of his snooping, so that was a good thing—but there was a gift, a small, black box. The potential gravity of the situation had me worried. I plucked the card as if it were an eyebrow and ripped it open.

meet for

-J

I cursed under my breath again. Sam noticed my frustration and immediately walked toward me. He seemed troubled instead of nosy. "Effie, should I be calling the police or something?" He wasn't smiling today.

"No," I said with finality. "It's not bad. I'm just frustrated. Who keeps bringing these here?"

"Delivery services. I obviously would have figured it out if the guy kept showing up here."

"What makes you so certain it's a guy?" I asked, distracting myself by making a joke. "J could be a woman, right?"

"Oh, come on," he said. "You're sure you don't have any ideas? You've got everybody talking about you in the break room."

Of course they were, Sam. They were a bunch of gossips in the break room.

"It could be my ex, I guess. But that's not his first initial." I cleared my throat. "I don't know." I opened up the box mechanically, my hands more curious than my brain. And then I choked on my coffee.

It was a diamond-encrusted bottle of lotion, one that appeared to reflect light like a mirror. Carita Diamant De Beaute Diamond Cream it said. I covered my face with my hands, shielding myself from this ridiculous luxury gift as if it were a venomous snake.

This shit couldn't be cheap! I almost blacked out.

"You're such a terrible liar, Effie." Sam turned around and left me there to wallow in my own confusion. "Let me know when you figure out the billionaire that likes you."

I couldn't take it anymore. It was day three now, and Jack still hadn't completed his second sentence, his request for me. More gifts were on their way, but based on how nice today's was, I didn't think I couldn't handle another without fainting.

Oh yeah, and I was nearly out of desk space.

This was a beautiful disaster, a thing that usually only happened in the movies. I was being lavished with extravagant gifts, a victim of the most pleasant crime in the world. I suddenly understood how someone could love a guy like Al Capone.

This had to stop. I had to give in and put an end to this. I looked up Jack online until I found the office phone number for his company. After viciously punching it into my phone, I ran over to Sam's office door. "I'll be right back," I said.

"Sure. Take your time." He gave me a wan smile.

I ran out into the hallway, my hands shaking as I held the phone. It rang multiple times and then a woman answered, immediately filling me with dread—until I remembered I had called his office.

"Is Jack there?" I asked frantically.

"Mr. Teller doesn't take calls without appointments. May I ask who is calling?"

"Effie Jacobs!" I was leaned against the tall, plate-glass windows that looked out into the city. The pause after I said my name seemed like an eternity.

"He's not here right now. I'll let him know you called, Ms. Jacobs. Have a nice day." The line clicked off before I could say anything else. My heart was racing out of control as I stood there, staring at my phone in disbelief. No, I couldn't make it through the whole day like this. I was a train that had derailed, one that was about to explode into a huge fireball—and there might be casualties.

I regained my sanity with a huge, deep breath and stared out at the city, the hustle and bustle that wouldn't end, no matter the time of day. I was living some sort of fantasy, trapped in a world where people seemed to be exclusively on their best behavior. Everything about this situation was different from what I knew about NYC and famous people, night and day. I didn't deserve any of this. I was a nobody from the Midwest, a college graduate who just got lucky and wound up a (very small) part of this very big machine.

There would be no conclusion right now. Jack wasn't there, so I'd just have to