The Man Who Has No Love - Victoria Quinn Page 0,54

was already a huge hit to the entire staff. “Yeah, I’ll be there.” It wasn’t like I had to worry about seeing Deacon…since he didn’t want to see me.

“Alright. Get better.”

I spent my day on the couch, watching TV, trying to keep my mind occupied with something stupid on cable. But my mind flicked to Deacon all the time…the love of my life.

Did I just lose him?

What did space mean, exactly?

Did he dump me?

It seemed like it since he didn’t want me to take care of him anymore.

Yesterday, my life had been perfect. I woke up with Deacon beside me, a dream hunk, a gentle soul, my other half.

Now, I was alone.

I kept looking at the phone, hoping he would text me and check on me, but he never did.

I wanted to text him, but I knew I wouldn’t get a response.

There was nothing I could do right now.

And doing nothing…was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.

I went to work the next day, getting there later than I had been since I didn’t sneak out of Deacon’s residence at the crack of dawn. I walked up to my desk, seeing Matt and Anna sitting there. “Morning.”

They both stared at me nervously, exchanging glances with each other before looking at me again. And they never said a word.

Oh fuck.

I stopped at my desk, seeing the box of my things. The picture of my parents and me was thrown on top like it had been tossed inside. My notepads, office supplies, everything I bought was there too. I’d bought my own keyboard because it reduced the pain in my wrists, and it was there too. I stared for several seconds, my hands touching the edges of the box, realizing this was the moment of my demise.

Not only had I lost Deacon, but the only other thing I cared about.

Now I really had lost everything.

I didn’t think about how this came to pass. Maybe Valerie decided to rat me out anyway. Maybe Jake found out I was seeing Deacon and tattled on me to be petty. Maybe Deacon got so pissed off that he threw me under the bus.

Did it really matter?

It didn’t change anything.

My ass was fired.

Matt got out of his chair and came to my side. “Cleo?”

My hands shook as I gripped at the box and looked at my stuff. I didn’t have a husband or kids waiting for me at home. I didn’t have a lot of friends. All I had was my job, my passion, and now that was gone. I had some in savings, but that would only get me by for a couple months because I’d run out of cash since my rent was so high. With my experience, I could get hired immediately, but since I couldn’t ask for a recommendation…I was screwed. I had no other professional experience, so I had no idea how I was going to survive in the most expensive city in the world.

I’d have to move.

“Cleo?”

‘I turned to Matt, forgetting that he’d just spoken. “Yes?”

“I want you to know that we weren’t the ones who ratted you out to Mr. Kline.”

I gave him a smile, appreciating their loyalty. “Thanks.”

“They went over us,” he said. “Otherwise, we would have buried it.”

It was sweet…so sweet.

“Let’s get a drink after work.” He placed his hand on my back, knowing I was on the verge of having a breakdown.

“Maybe in a few days,” I whispered. “I just…need some time.”

“Of course.” He dropped his hand. “You’re the reason this place is the best, and it’s not going to be the same without you. This is a mistake…a big mistake.”

I grabbed the box and held it to my chest. “I’ll see you later, Matt. Bye, Anna.” I turned to leave, so I could cry on the walk home in peace. New Yorkers would pass me but pretend they didn’t notice. It was one of the nice things about this city…no one cared.

“Cleo?” Matt said.

I turned back to him.

“Mr. Kline is in his car outside, wants you to join him.”

I sighed loudly, already emotionally exhausted. Now I had to sit there and listen to my boss fire me. I didn’t see why we needed to have a conversation at all. My job was gone. Why did we need to talk about it? But I couldn’t just walk away. He’d taken a chance on me when I started. I was so young at the time, but he’d hired me anyway. “Alright.” I made my way out of