Chapter 132

Aria’s POV

“This is a closet,” I said, looking at the cramped space. I wasn’t sure how they even managed to fit this desk in here. Did they have to disassemble it in the hallway and then reassemble it here?

“I’m sure I could find you a smaller, even more cramped space if you would prefer it?” Joanna asked. The edge in her voice told me she was not kidding. Perhaps this was a test of loyalty, since she doubted my commitment to the company.

It was hard to see this an anything but a personal attack, however. Could Joanna truly hate me this much, just for missing a day to spend with my children? It seemed unlikely, and I suspected more was going on here, though I had no way to prove it.

“I thought not,” Joanna said, smirking at my silence. “Well, if that’s all. You really need to get started with your day.”

“Right,” I said. Through clenched teeth, I added, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, seemingly undisturbed that my gratitude had not been genuine. With that, she walked away, leaving me alone in the hallway. I pushed into the boiler room, then shuffled around the boiler to my desk.

The room was much warmer than the hallway had been. Sweat already began to cling to my brow.

I arranged my things with quickness, and then hurried back out into the hallway. With a temperature, I was going to be spending as little time as possible in that room. That was fine, since most of my work took place out on the track anyway. Wherever the drivers were, that was where I needed to be.

When I arrived at the track, despite the early hour, the drivers were already out running practice laps around the loop.

“Starting early today,” I said, taking place near Jackson’s manager. “No one told me.”

“I was told we didn’t have to anymore,” the manager said. “All of the drivers are under different leadership now.

My demotion struck again. “Whose?”

“Orders come from upstairs,” the manager said, refusing to answer my question.

“What about my dietary plans?”

“Those are out too,” the manager replied. “All the new orders came in through email.”

Email?! A trainer needed to be present with their drivers, to fine-tune their training to each particular person. This was an art as much as a science. It wasn’t something someone could dictate from behind a computer screen.

If they even hired a person to do the job. I really hoped they hadn’t purchased an artificial intelligence to make the decisions. That technology wasn’t fully developed or tested in this field.

I really needed to talk to Liam, now more than ever.

Not sure what else to do, I stand to the side during practice, offering assistance where I could. My demotion had never felt more apt as it did in that moment, as I was relegated to the sidelines.

One by one, as the drivers finished their practice, I tried to approach them to ask them about their new training regiment, but each one couldn’t give me a straight answer.

They at least seemed apologetic as they blew me off. I’d had a good rapport with them up until now, so I was relieved they at least felt bad about this.

I understood they didn’t have a choice. As drivers, their contracts explicitly stated that they had to do what they were told. They couldn’t go against that without suffering consequences, including fines and potentially being benched.

As much as they liked me, they wouldn’t risk those consequences to help me. I understood that, and respected it. I didn’t hold any hard feelings for that choice. It wasn’t one they should have had to make to begin with.

Finally Jackson parked and was pulled out of his car. When he spotted me, his eyes went wide, as if jolted with fear. Then, he turned and dashed away – flat-out running away from me.

My heart sank. Of all the drivers, he was the one I considered closest to a friend. That was wrong of me. I needed to keep my co-workers at arm’s length; this proved that.

It still hurt though.

I was starting to feel like I had a big target on my back. Between the demotion, the office reassignment, and now being unclear about what it was I was actually supposed to be doing for my work, I couldn’t help but feel like I was on the outs with team.

Worse, I had no idea what caused any of this. All of these challenges couldn’t have been the result of me missing one day, and I knew for a fact that my training exercises and diets were working.

With a heavy heart, I continued working until break time, then I excused myself to go to one of the breakrooms and refill my coffee. I had no intention of returning to my ‘work space.’

While in the break room, two of my co-workers were sitting at the round table in the room, chatting with each other. We all nodded to each other as I entered the room. Then they returned to talking.

“I’m telling you,” said one to the other. “Liam and Joanna are definitely engaged. I even heard her mention him. They used to know each other a long time ago, I guess.”

“Back when Liam was a driver?” the other asked.

“Yes!” said the first.

My heart began to race, thundering in my chest. Even so, I lifted the coffee pot very slowly, not wanting to give myself away.

Here I had thought Sophia was the one I had to worry about all those years. How foolishly naïve of me. Of course a man as handsome and famous as Liam, particularly back then, would have other suitors and interested parties.

I trusted Liam didn’t entertain Liam’s advances, but he must have still known her. She was likely still interested.

“They’re in love. I’m sure of it,” said the first co-worker to her friend.

“That’s enough,” I snapped. Turning away from the coffee pot, I glared at them. I hadn’t meant to lose my temper, but it had been a very long day. The last thing I wanted to deal with was the foolhardy idea that the man I was still married too might be in love with someone else.

Liam had been so busy lately, I had no way of confirming things with him. This was all starting to be too much to carry. It weighed heavily on my shoulders, carrying the house and home, raising the children, and now with this unnecessary stress at work…

I was at my breaking point.

Both of my co-workers stopped talking and gawked at me, first with surprise, then with suspicion.

I couldn’t just leave things as they were. I’d stuck my foot in my mouth, the only thing I could do was push forward even more.

“You shouldn’t spread such ridiculous nonsense,” I said. “Don’t talk about our bosses like that. People will get the wrong idea.”

“It’s just a little harmless fun,” said one of the co-workers. “I know Joanna heard us talking about it early, and she didn’t seem to mind. You are being too sensitive, Aria.”

Embarrassed, I turned back to the coffee pot, grabbed my coffee, and walked out of the break room.

Behind me, I heard the co-workers talking.

“Joanna was right about her…” one of them said.

My face burned, humiliated.