She struggled the catch her breath as she ran the full length of the hallway, shouting out his name in vain before he disappeared into the elevator. She was too late. Slamming her hand on the closed doors, she let out a horrible sound, crumpling to the ground in a crumpled mess. She could hear them behind her, their snide remarks about her getting just what she deserved. She hated them all.
Gathering herself together, she glared at them through the hazy tear filled eyes and took note of the detractors. They would be greeted with pink slips in their mailboxes, she told herself as she smoothed the peach colored linen of her suit. She had no need or room for such gossips in her empire.
"Mr. Black asked that you not contact him," Marie told her snidely, barely masking her glee. "He said that he would be moving out of the mansion." She waved the thick document in front of her boss with alarming insensitivity.
"You're enjoying this," Nicole hissed, glaring at the other woman. "You think my love life is something to be mocked and pitied."
"I'm not the one who just chased after a man who doesn't want anything to do with me," the receptionist reminded her boss.
"You can go to hell," Nicole sniped as she marched into her office. Slamming the door behind her, she let out a final sob that had been trapped in her chest. The walls that she had carefully constructed were now crumbling down around her, suffocating her with their brutal strength. She had never felt this way before, this hopeless or distraught. Broken hearts were what she caused, not suffered from.
She drew a shaky breath and hobbled over toward the large windows, watching for him to emerge from the tall building. He was easy to spot with his blonde hair glinting in the late summer sun. Undoubtedly, he was running to her now, licking his wounds in preparation. The thought of him in her bed made her ill with the thought of everything she had lost. He did not see her or understand her as he had claimed. Instead, he was just like all the others, accusatory and judgmental in a self-righteous way. If the tables had been turned, he would have done the same thing. He would lie and manipulate for the woman he loved.
Her hand grasped the locket that he had given her, feeling the gold chain in her palm. It was his mother's, he had claimed and by giving it to her he was accepting her for who she was. Certainly, he could not turn off his emotions so quickly as to forget that she ever meant something to him. There had to be a bit of that still lingering inside of him. She shut the blinds quickly to block out the sight of him, not wanting to know where he went.
With a heady resolve, she grabbed the newspaper that had started this whole spiral and slammed it down on the glass top of the desk. Chloe Lane may have found the nerve to show her face again, but she would be sorry for that. Nicole was certain that the little songbird had secrets of her own, ones that would shock and disappoint the morality policeman, Brady Black.
With a quick phone call to a friend, Nicole squared her shoulders and headed out of her office with the paper in hand. Brady Black and Chloe Lane might be blissful now, but Nicole always won. She would make sure that the happy couple was anything but happy. And if her instincts were right, she had just the bit of news that would swing things back in her direction.
As the doors closed on the elevator again, Nicole's pout was replaced by a triumphant smile. Chloe Lane was not going to know what hit her.