Handoff
The door swung open and— "Nadine?"
She smiled.
His forehead wrinkled. "I thought you were flying out to California today."
"I am," she said as she rolled her suitcase into view. "I'm headed to the airport." She had been halfway to Dulles when she'd told her cab driver to turn around. She stared into his eyes. "May I come in?"
He moved out of the doorway and motioned her inside.
"No Chloe tonight?" She left her bag in the corner near the door and took a seat on the sofa.
"Abby has her."
She nodded as she looked around the living room. She hadn't been up to his apartment in ages.
"I heard you've been promoted."
She watched as he came into view, taking the chair across from the couch.
"I have." Jay leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "I doubt that I'll be able to fill the shoes you've left behind."
She laughed. "You'll make a fine chief of staff, Jay."
She stared at him, wanting to bite her lip, but she knew it would make him nervous and that wasn't what she needed.
He rubbed his hands down the front of his jeans. "So? I have a feeling you didn't just come here to congratulate me."
She let out a breath as she nodded. "You're right," she admitted.
She'd been torn for days over what she was about to do. As she'd packed her suitcase this morning, she'd decided that it wasn't hers to tell, but in the back of the cab she'd thought about her friend Jay, and she felt, after everything he'd done for her over the years, that he deserved to know… Or at least deserved to hear it from her first.
She looked him in the eye, took in a breath, and said, "Elizabeth and Blake are having an affair. I thought it would be best that you knew given the role you're stepping into."
His lips had parted, and his face read as downright shock.
"You really had no idea?"
She has to be impressed at how well they'd hidden it.
"No!"
She had to admit that she was a bit surprised. After witnessing firsthand the relationship that blossomed between her and Vincent, she thought that he of all people would pick up on the subtle signs that Elizabeth and Blake were more than just a boss and an employee… And more than two friends.
He nervously ran a hand through his hair, and she hoped he wasn't already regretting accepting this position.
"How long?"
Her hands clasped together in her lap. "Just over a year now."
His eyes looked as if they want to bug out of his head. "A year?"
She nodded. "Though, their relationship moved past professional long before that. But yes, that's when they officially began to sleep together."
Jay shook his head as he stood from the chair. He cupped his chin in his hand as he moved over to the cabinet where he kept the liquor.
"Does Henry know?" He asked as he poured himself two fingers worth of scotch.
"No."
A fact that she still hated.
"Does anyone?"
Her eyes followed him as he returned to the chair, but this time he didn't sit. He hovered behind, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he sipped at his drink.
"Russell Jackson."
He threw back the last bit of alcohol left in his glass. "And you've what? Just tolerated this for a year now?"
She knew what he was thinking. You of all people. Yes, she of all people should know of the consequences that could come about from a love affair such as theirs. She of all people should have put her foot down.
"I came to my own conclusion that Elizabeth was better with him than without." It had taken her about the two days that she'd ordered Blake home to figure that one out. "Henry doesn't seem able to keep up with her. At least certain sides of her. And the McCord marriage had been struggling, and she'd turned to Blake."
"It's not right."
Her palms smoothed down her pants before she stood. "That may be, but I'm refusing to let myself worry about that relationship anymore." She clapped her hands together. "You can quash it." She raised one shoulder before letting it drop. "Leave them be." She shook her head. "I'm done pulling the strings."
She crossed the living room, opening her arms to him as he still tried to wrap his head around the metaphoric bomb she'd just dropped into his lap.
"You know I love you," she said as her arms looped around his waist. And she stayed there, hugging him for another moment or two before she stepped back. "But they're your problem now."
