A Heart to Trust A.L. Brooks (romantic story to read .txt) 📖

didn’t,” she repeated, lowering her voice. “This was not me.”

Olivia’s mouth fixed into a thin line. Then she huffed out a loud breath, muttered something about “bloody amateurs” under her breath, and swung back around to her screen.

Jenny seethed. Who the hell did this woman think she was? “Hey, whatever happened to your document, it wasn’t done by me. The SharePoint info must be wrong. I’m sorry you’ve lost work, but calling me a ‘bloody amateur’ doesn’t help the situation.”

Olivia blinked, flicked a glance in Chrissy’s direction, then looked back at Jenny. “Fine. It won’t happen again.”

It wasn’t an apology, not by a long shot, but it was something. “Good.” Jenny’s heart pounded and her foot tapped out an erratic rhythm on the floor beneath her desk. She’d never met anyone who riled her up as fast as Olivia Sinclair.

“Coffee?” a voice asked quietly.

Jenny looked up to see Chrissy by her desk, her coffee mug in her hand.

Blowing out a breath, Jenny stood. “Yes, please.”

They strode over to the coffee station.

“You need to watch her,” Chrissy said once the machine was noisily doing its work. She leaned closer to Jenny. “I don’t know what she’s up to, but you’re not the only one she’s accused of messing things up.”

Jenny’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Chrissy nodded. “Apparently she told Derek that Maxwell was the one who was supposed to set up that meeting with the city. You know, the one about the permits for the Catwalk broadcast trucks? Derek was furious because it got booked into the wrong day. But that was her task, not Maxwell’s. I heard Derek nearly tore him a new one over that. Poor guy.”

“Oh my God!” Jenny turned to look at Maxwell across the floor. “I’d better check he’s okay.”

Chrissy flinched but then laid a hand on Jenny’s arm. “Don’t, it’s okay. I had a little word with him this morning. He’s fine. Doesn’t want to talk about it, you know?”

“That bitch,” Jenny hissed.

Olivia had gone too far. Maxwell was a sweet guy, and he didn’t deserve to be dropped in it like that. No matter what Chrissy said, Jenny would find time to check in with him later.

“I know.” Chrissy’s mouth drooped. “I’m not sure I can stand working with her until the end of the year.”

“You wouldn’t quit, would you?” Please don’t go, don’t leave me to deal with her on my own. Chrissy was the nearest thing she’d got to a work friend out of all the C&V staff, and although she sometimes annoyed Jenny with her sugary nature, she was at least an ally against whatever Olivia was doing.

Chrissy shrugged. “I don’t want to, no. I guess…” She looked away.

“What?”

When Chrissy looked back, her eyes were sad. “I guess I’d rather she left. But I bet she’s sticking around. She thinks she’s so great, she’s probably got her eye on a promotion at some point and with the new structure, who knows what’s possible?”

Jenny rolled her eyes.

“I know,” Chrissy said.

“Hey, thanks for pulling me away from her back then.” Jenny thumbed in the direction of their desks. “I was ready to explode.”

Chrissy chuckled. “I could tell. And hey, anytime. I think it would be great if we could watch each other’s backs, you know?”

Jenny nodded vigorously. “Totally.”

“Cool.” Chrissy’s smile was wide.

Chapter 11

Olivia watched Jenny out of the corner of her eye. She had her own work to do, but she was enthralled at the way Jenny handled whoever was on the other end of her phone line. As far as Olivia understood, Jenny needed something delivered to a site uptown far earlier than the supplier had originally agreed to. She was equal parts friendly, firm, cajoling, and a little flirty as she negotiated with them. It was a masterclass in persuasion, and Olivia was in awe.

Aside from the document mess-up earlier, Jenny had impressed her so much in the last couple of weeks. Olivia didn’t know why it took so much to admit that to herself and was uncomfortable with how it felt. She’s good at her job. Just because she dresses differently from you, and yes, acts a tad unprofessional at times, cut her some slack. And stop being so hard on her.

Olivia knew why she was doing it, deep down, but that didn’t make it any easier to stop. She could see herself in Jenny, thinking the world was easy and everything was hers for the taking. Thinking she didn’t need to worry about looking a certain way to impress people. And, certainly, thinking she didn’t have to be concerned someone she called a friend would turn around and stab her in the back. Did Jenny have any idea how much she could lose if she didn’t up her game?

At that thought, Olivia’s attention was drawn to Chrissy, and she almost snarled. There was a Sally in the making, if ever she’d seen one. Should she warn Jenny of her suspicions? Oh yes, as if Jenny would believe anything you said after you ripped her to pieces earlier this morning.

Jenny said multiple “thank yous” into the phone, hung up, and punched the air.

“Well done,” Olivia said before she could censor herself.

Jenny stared at her.

Olivia’s cheeks burned. Oh well, you’ve started now, so you may as well finish. “I mean it. I would have delivered whatever that was by hand if I was them, and probably not have charged you for it, either. You might be wasted in this kind of work with negotiating skills like that.”

“Th-thank you.” Jenny cleared her throat; her eyebrows were so high it was difficult to differentiate them from her spiky fringe.

They looked at each other a moment longer.

“Well.” Olivia pushed her chair back. “I need another coffee. Can I get you one?” She picked up her mug, held out her free hand, and gestured at Jenny’s mug.

Wordlessly, Jenny picked it up and handed it over.

“It’s straight up black, yes?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah. That’s…that’s great, thanks.”

Olivia’s knees wobbled as she made her way over to the coffee