First You Fall

Chapter 20

Janina was sitting in her office when she heard what sounded like a pack of German officers marching down the hallway. She looked up to see Kyle walk into her office looking slightly frantic and very serious. He closed her door and turned around,

"We have to figure this out."

"Figure what out?" She raised her eyebrows, "Us? Because we've been on one-"

"Not us." Kyle interrupted, waving his hand, "Jesus Janina."

Janina was a bit taken back by his tone but clapped her mouth shut while Kyle sat down in one of her chairs,

"Maisie had a code red meltdown last night."

Janina rolled her eyes,

"Finally realize she said yes to marrying an asshole?"

Kyle stared back at Janina, realizing right then that Maisie had never even told her best friend about what was going on with Niall. He leaned forward,

"I'm gonna tell you something and I need you not to freak out about it." He started to tell her and then stopped, "Or get angry."

Janina pulled her eyebrows together in confusion,

"Alright."

Kyle cleared his throat,

"Maisie and Niall have been...sleeping together."

Janina shot up out of her chair, opening her mouth to scream out every word that entered her brain when she remembered her agreement with Kyle. She sat back down and scooted back under her desk, folding her hands on top of the dark wood,

"What?" She asked calmly.

Kyle nodded,

"For a few weeks now. And I think...I know it sounds all sordid and like a bad soap opera but...I think there's real feelings there. On both ends."

Janina took a deep breath. She pushed some hair out of her face while she processed what Kyle was telling her. She looked up at him,

"Ok, I'm going to need you to start from the beginning. Because I don't understand any of what's happening right now."

Kyle took a breath,

"The night of Clarice's funeral...I guess things just got a little more heated between them and they ended up sleeping together. And have been ever since. And Niall fell for her."

"And you think Maisie fell for him?" Janina asked, a touch of disbelief in her question.

"I know she did." Kyle responded.

"How do you know that?"

Kyle took another deep breath,

"Last night after they got home from the party, Steven left her and Niall showed up. He wanted to explain about the video. He wanted to convince her he didn't sleep with that prostitute. He also wanted to talk to her about their relationship. He was gonna tell her he'd fallen for her. He was gonna ask her to choose him...but that damn video."

Janina was finally understanding,

"Lemme guess...Maisie turned into Maisie."

Kyle nodded,

"They had a huge argument. Niall tried to force the issue. He told her he loved her and that he knew she loved him."

"Dammit..." Janina swore. She'd known Maisie long enough to know how Maisie reacted to that. And it was not well.

Kyle nodded,

"She destroyed him Janina. When he left, he told her about Steven and Mere trying to poach him from her."