Tongue Tied

Chapter 36

Monday came all too quickly, bringing with it anticipation and dread. I'd been rehearsing my speech to the girls in the car while I weaved my way through rush hour traffic. There seemed to be no right way to break the news. The longer I thought about it, the more my head hurt.

I rode the elevator up to Corbin and Hilliard's floor. A hush fell over the office when I walked in and I immediately felt like I'd been put under a microscope.

"Good morning," I said awkwardly, feeling about a dozen eyes on me.

"Morning," a few of my now ex-coworkers muttered. They quickly turned their attention back to packing up what little was left of our old office space.

I didn't even recognize the place now. It looked nothing like the office I'd called home for so long. I almost felt like I was graduating high school again, sad to part ways with all my friends.

"You're here!" Michelle's chipper voice caught my attention.

She smiled, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Hey." I managed a halfhearted smile, patting her back. "I missed you. Are Renee and Shelby here, too?"

"Renee took Henry to the doctor. I told her I'd finish packing up her desk for her. She's been taking all of this so hard while you've been gone," Michelle sighed. "Shelby just got here a little bit ago. I think she's just grabbing a few last minute things. We've pretty much got the whole office torn down now, as you can see."

I took another glance around and felt a sliver of my heart shatter at the remains of what had been Corbin and Hilliard.

"Yeah," I breathed. "I've still got to pack up my office. I was-"

"The girls and I already took care of it," she interrupted. "We didn't want you to have to deal with that on top of everything else. Shelby and I finished moving all the boxes to your place yesterday."

I'd forgotten I'd given Michelle a spare key some time ago.

"You didn't have to."

"We wanted to," she smiled. "Now tell me about your vacation. I was planning on calling you a million times at some point to ask how and what you were doing, but Carlie filled me in when I stopped by your apartment the other day. I figured I'd stop by with some ice cream and we could just hang out. You didn't tell me you were going out of town."

I pinched the bridge of my nose at the oncoming throb of a headache. What were those lines I'd practiced? I didn't have the first clue how to explain everything to the girls.

"Well, I want to talk to you about that, but I want to do it with Renee and Shelby here too," I told her.

"Why don't we all get together for a girls' night at your place tonight? Say around eight o'clock?" Michelle suggested. "You can make us all jealous with tales of your relaxing vacation."

She thought I'd gone out of town on vacation? What exactly had Carlie told her?

"Um... sure," I finally shrugged.

It was becoming blatantly obvious to Michelle that my mind was a whirlwind at the moment.

I decided to double-check that the girls cleared everything out of my old office and head home to pack, possibly recruiting Carlie to help.

◆

"How was Seattle?" Carlie's excited voice boomed through my apartment as she glided through the entryway with a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

I'd started packing as soon as I got out of the shower, waiting a couple hours for Carlie to get off work so she could swing by. I continuously had to remind myself not to pack up all the glasses in the kitchen, knowing we'd definitely be using them tonight.