Chasing Mr. Carlton ( The story of a Shrew's Son)

Part 58

"You wanted to see me?" Eddie asked nervously when he finally entered Bobby's office. She was typing away furiously, not bothering to look up at him.

"Close the door." She said, continuing with the email. Bobby had so many thoughts racing through her mind that the only thing she could do to feel normal was work.

"What's going on?" He asked, taking a seat across from her. She continued to type for a few more minutes before hitting send, then finally turning to face him.

"I need you to tell me everything, EVERYTHING about what's been going on." She said. Eddie raised a brow.

"What do you mean?" He asked and Bobby shook her head.

"No, we're not playing dumb. You know exactly what I mean." She said.

"This is probably not the best place, we can talk after work." He said but again she shook her head.

"Matt says you're the reason Nick left Ryan. As you can imagine, this is becoming problematic or I wouldn't bring it up." She said, noting how he turned dead white as she spoke. "The truth."

Eddie looked down at his hands, clasping them together tightly before letting out a sigh.

"Is Nick the guy?" Bobby asked, making Eddie shake his head. Bobby nodded.

"Then it's Ryan." She said but he again shook his head.

"No." Eddie said, "It's not but... But Nick is convinced that we're involved."

"And what makes him think that?" Bobby asked, raising her brow.

"It's so stupid, Bobby." Eddie said and Bobby sighed.

"Start at the beginning, okay?" She said.

"I met Ryan at the holiday party through Nick, of course." Eddie said, "And it turns out that Ryan is a very smart guy, we got along great and after the party, I went with them to have a drink with some friends of theirs."

"Go on." Bobby said.

"Of course, Ryan and Nick are a couple of homebodies- they went home early and I stayed behind with some of their friends... one in particular who I hit it off with." Eddie continued.

"That's the guy?" Bobby asked with a raised brow. "and Ryan didn't warn you he was taken?"

"Ryan wasn't there when he showed up, neither was Nick. The rest is simple, we started going out and one day we ran into Ryan." Eddie said. "When Ryan realized who I was going out with, he told me and that's when I ended it, I swear."

"Okay, Eddie. I get that but I still don't understand how this put Nick and Ryan's relationship in jeopardy." Bobby said.

"I was depressed and upset, Ryan is such a fucking nice guy. He invited me over for dinner thinking he and Nick could cheer me up." Eddie said.

"But..." Bobby said.

"But Nick was running late and Ryan and were talking. When I realized how late it was getting and how long it would take me to get out of Manhattan I decided it was time to leave. I got up, leaned in to hug Ryan and Nick walked in." Eddie said.

"That's it?" Bobby asked.

"Well Nick swears up and down he saw us kissing which is absolutely impossible because we weren't." Eddie said.

"This doesn't make sense- Nick is a lot more sensible than that." Bobby said, "I can't imagine Nick being so insecure... I mean, look at him!" Eddie sighed.

"I know but... look at Ryan." Eddie said, "We're all insecure sometimes."

"So why doesn't Ryan just explain?" Bobby asked.