“Sure,” Sarah stopped what she was doing and searched his eyes. “Something wrong?”

“Not really. I was just wondering…” Annoyed, he brushed his sweaty palm on his pants. “How serious is Valerie about this guy she’s seeing?”

Sarah’s expression changed and her eyebrow went up. “Why, Alex?”

Alex lifted a shoulder. “I’m curious.”

“I hope you’re not planning on toying with her again.” She went back to filling the saltshakers.

“Toying? I never toyed with her.”

Sarah stopped and looked at him. “Are you kidding me?

“I know what it looked like, but believe it or not, I cared about Valerie. I still do.” Saying he cared about her didn’t even begin to cover all the emotions he felt for her now.

Sarah’s expression softened. “I’ve always known you did. That’s why I could never figure out the things you did. Why would you hurt her like that?”

“It was never my intention.” He glanced away. “I just… it was complicated.”

He turned back to her and just like that, Sarah’s expression was rigid again.

“It’s a long story, Sarah. But you have to believe me when I say I do care about her. I need to know if there’s even a chance of us working things out.” He reached over and placed his hand on hers. “Can you help me out here?”

Sarah pressed her lips together. “I’m not sure she’d be okay with me divulging that kind of information, especially to you.”

Alex frowned. “I’m not asking for any secrets, just your opinion. Do you think she’s really into him?”

With a sigh, Sarah gave in. “It’s only been a few weeks that I know of. But she’s known him for quite some time. She works with him, so, I can only assume she got to know him pretty well, before getting… involved.”

The emphasis on that final word was like sandpaper to an open wound. Alex stared at her hard, not wanting to speak for fear he would explode. As much as he had wanted details earlier, he didn’t want to hear another word. Never in his life had he felt so damn tormented.

Luke wasn’t someone Valerie had just met a few weeks ago. She’d known the guy for quite some time. They had an established relationship and were now involved. This was so much worst than he thought.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He began to walk away. As much as it hurt to admit it, he was probably too late.

“Alex,” she said. He couldn’t stomach the sympathy in her eyes any longer. “Look at me.”

Grudgingly, he turned to face her. The sympathy replaced by a determined glare.

“You promise you’re not just looking to just play with her?”

“What do you mean? I never—”

“Promise.” Sarah raised her voice. If he hadn’t been so enraged still about the thought of Valerie and Luke’s involvement, he might’ve been amused by sweet Sarah’s sudden hard-nosed demeanor. “Of course I promise.”

She said nothing for a moment, just stared at him. As if she still wasn’t completely persuaded. “Don’t you dare tell her I told you this, Alex Moreno.”

He nodded but said nothing, wondering where this was going.

“She puts up a good act sometimes, like she’s really moving on with this guy.” She paused giving Alex time to grind his teeth. Hearing about Valerie moving on wasn’t exactly what he was expecting when she made him promise. “I can tell she’s trying really hard to get over you. But I think if you try hard enough, she’d be more than willing to give it another shot.” She took one resolute foot forward. “But I swear, Alex, if you hurt her again, I will never forgive you.”

The tiniest sliver of light escaped through the storm cloud that had loomed over his head for weeks. He walked back toward Sarah and hugged tightly. “Don’t worry. I don’t break my promises. Ask anyone.”

That’s all the encouragement he needed. He’d get Valerie to hear him out one way or another.

*

That week, the office received a couple of calls from someone saying that Valerie was getting special treatment because she was doing the manager. Two different people had taken the calls, and brought it to Luke’s attention.

There was no doubt about who made the calls. Valerie wanted to kill him. She was definitely going to look into getting a restraining order on Bruce, possibly even sue for defamation. She started getting a definite feeling she was being followed, but she was more angry about it than creeped out.

Of course, Luke denied the accusations made on the calls, but some people in the office were beginning to look at her differently. Valerie wanted to believe that she imagined it. She was so mad at herself for getting involved with either Bruce or Luke in the first place. She’d worked too hard to have people believe she was sleeping her way to success.

Twice, she got into it with Luke for things she thought he was doing to save face. He sided with another agent in the morning meeting about something she knew she was right about, then later he claimed he misunderstood.

“Why are you here so late?” Luke startled Valerie. She was deep in thought when he stuck his head in her cubicle.

She looked up at him. “I was just finishing up writing up a counter offer.”

“Another one? That’s great.”

She smiled but wasn’t feeling it. She hadn’t talked to Luke in a couple of days and thought maybe he was still angry about her calling him out about the meeting incident. She hadn’t been very nice about it.