"He said it had something to do with work."
"That's all he said?"
"That's all he told me. You could call him and ask."
"Yeah, okay." I head up the stairs.
"Are you joining us for dinner?" he calls after me.
"No," I call back. "I'm not hungry."
I was, until I found out Aiden left. What if work wasn't the real reason he went back? What if Bess is right and Aiden's still with Celine but telling me he's not?
I'm starting to doubt Aiden and everything he's told me. I don't know if it's because of what Bess said or because I know Aiden's keeping something from me. He keeps saying he can't tell me what's going on, but what does that mean? And why can't he tell me? If he can't be honest with me, how can I trust him?
Chapter Twenty-One
Sophie
It's been three days since I saw Aiden. He's called me several times but I let it go to voicemail. When he texts me, I text him back that I'm busy at work. I know I can't keep avoiding him, which is why I've decided to call him tonight. I'm not sure what I'm going to say. I've thought about telling him we should take a break until he's ready to be with me here in New York, but that would mean not having weekends with him and my heart just won't let me do that.
Despite my doubts about him, I've fallen in love with Aiden. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it did, and now I don't know what to do. I don't think it's fair for him to expect me to keep hiding our relationship for months, but I'm not ready to end this.
"What did you want to talk about?" Bianca asks as she comes in her office. I've been in here waiting for her because I need to know about my promotion.
"I know I've asked you this a million times but I really need an answer. When am I getting the promotion? When is it going to be finalized?"
"Oh, that," she says, like it's no big deal. "It's done." She sits down behind her desk and types something on her laptop.
"Done, meaning the paperwork is signed?"
"Yes. Beverly signed it this morning," Bianca says, keeping her eyes on the laptop.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She shrugs. "Guess I forgot."
I get up, standing in front of her desk. "Bianca, are you not happy about this?"
"About your promotion? Of course I'm happy. I took you out for drinks to celebrate." She glances at a file on her desk, then types something on the laptop. "Did you celebrate with your boyfriend?"
I pause, wondering who she's talking about. I never told her about Aiden.
She looks up at me. "Why aren't you saying anything? Did you break up with him?"
"Who?"
"That environmental guy. The lawyer. The one who's friends with Celine's boyfriend." She goes back to typing.
"Tanner? We stopped seeing each other weeks ago."
"Really? I don't remember you telling me that."
She called Aiden Celine's boyfriend, which means she doesn't know they broke up. How could she not know? She's had drinks with Celine twice this week.
"I didn't know Celine was still dating that guy," I casually say, taking out my phone and pretending to check it.
"Are you kidding? She talks about him all the time. It's so annoying, but then again, a lot of my friends do that when they're in love. They can't talk about anything else."
"Who's her boyfriend? I can't remember."
She looks at me, almost in a suspicious way. "Aiden? The reason you're cleaning up trash on weekends?"
"Oh. Yeah. I assumed that. I just wasn't sure they were still together."
"Why wouldn't they be?" she asks, the suspicion now in her voice.
"I don't know," I say with a nervous laugh. "Anyway, back to my promotion. Does it start today?"
"It'll start with the next pay period, so a week from Monday."
"Which means I won't see the increase in my paycheck for a month."
"Yeah, I guess," she says like she's not even listening, her attention on whatever's on her computer.
"Bianca, I hate to ask you this but is there any way I could get an advance on my pay? I owe my landlord the rest of this month's rent, and then next month's rent will be due."
"Sorry, but we don't do that. Maybe ask your parents for a loan. Isn't that what parents are for?" She glances at me. "I need to get this spreadsheet done. Can we talk later?"
"Yeah." I leave her office and close the door. It's after six. I'd usually be stuck here working, but now that I'm no longer working for Bianca, I can leave. She didn't say what events I'd be assigned to in my new role but I don't want to ask her. I'll wait until tomorrow.
On the subway ride home, I can't stop thinking about what Bianca said. She made it sound like Celine is still with Aiden. Maybe Celine's just telling people they're still together. That has to be it. I can't imagine Aiden lying to me. It just doesn't seem possible.
When I'm back at my apartment, I call up Macie. We haven't talked in over a week so she doesn't know everything that's going on.
"Hey, I was just about to call you," she says when she answers. "How was your romantic weekend with Aiden?"
"It was okay."
"You don't sound too excited about it. Did something happen?"
I tell her about last weekend, about Aiden insisting we keep hiding our relationship, and how he took off on Saturday. Then I tell her what's happened since, how I've avoided him and how I'd planned to call him tonight until Bianca made that comment about him still dating Celine.
"I don't know what to do," I say. "I think I can trust him but then I have doubts. I know Celine lies, but I can't imagine Aiden doing it."
"Because you have feelings for him. You don't believe it because you don't want to."
"Are you saying it's true? That Aiden's still with
