The Risk of Falling

Chapter Nineteen: Heartsick

A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for patiently waiting for another update about Luke and Max. To those who hadn't noticed yet, this is a slow-burn story so they wouldn't be eloping to Las Vegas for a quickie wedding quite yet. LOL! 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. 

Let me know!

***

As an olive branch, I came to work the next day with a cup of coffee for Luke and a bag of freshly baked pastries for Peggy who left it at her desk for everyone to sample.

I didn’t leave a note for him—just scribbled on the cup sleeve: Even burritos need coffee.

I didn’t get a chance to check if he got it because first thing that morning, Bryce called a departmental meeting and announced the lineup of the new brand loyalty committee. 

Moi, along with two other junior staffers, was named part of the group which, to my utter secret thrill, excluded Theodora. Heading the committee was Phil—on his seventeenth year with the company and a really nice guy—someone I had a lot of respect for and actually liked as a person. 

I didn’t miss Theodora’s evil eye when we filed out of the meeting room but I was too happy to care and the giant smile on my face probably told her that all too clearly.

I was on my way back from hunting down Jillian who spent about five minutes jumping up and down with me in the ladies’ room as we tried to squeal quietly (because that really works, right?), when Theodora oh so conveniently stepped into my path after moving away from the water cooler in a discreet alcove down the hall.

She smiled, one of her fake ones, of course, and in a low, conspiratorial tone, said, “I don’t know how you put out, Max, but he must like it enough to kick you up a step in the ladder.”

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. “I don’t know how you do it, Theodora, but you mustn’t do it very well if the best you can come up with is a lame accusation that I slept my way through to this opportunity.”

She opened her mouth to respond but I took a step toward her, making her squirm just a little bit as I ate up that comfortable distance between us enough to let her know that I wasn’t going to cower away. 

“Rain on my parade all you like—I’ll just dance in it.”

“While I hold up her umbrella.”

Theodora and I were too busy staring each other down that we didn’t notice the tall figure that had loomed over us. Luke stood there with his arms crossed, holding the cup of coffee I gave him. I could just spy from where I stood the not-so-discreet note I scribbled on it.

Theodora gasped and I pressed my lips together but mostly to keep myself from grinning wide as Luke did his superb best of looking every inch like the powerful and intimidating executive that he was in real life. 

“I can hold my own umbrella just fine, sir,” I said very formally, secretly biting the inside of my cheek, while Luke just arched a brow at me. “Thank you for the offer.”

“Glad to be of assistance, Ms. Moss,” Luke said, playing along. “Anything else that might require my attention? Perhaps, a little weather issue?”

Color was fast leeching out of Theodora’s face that she would soon resemble the cream color of the wall so I thought I’d take pity. 

“Nothing that I can think of,” I said lightly. “Ms. Graves and I were just having a little water cooler talk about the weather. Nothing unusual in a typical office day.”