I Stopped Chasing Him, and My New Boss Was His Brother novel · Chapter 1 of 32
Chapter 1: The Red Shoes
On their fifth anniversary Joelle puts on red heels, dodges Hugh's kiss, and sees him give her crocheted Spider-Man to Tansy. She accepts a transfer to Lakeview and stops waiting.
Hugh overslept on our fifth anniversary.
When he finally woke up, I was at the mirror, curling my lashes.
"Jet lag," he said, rubbing his face. "I'm still on North Isles time. Try to understand, okay?"
He had been home four days.
For a month he had been traveling with his junior labmate, collecting seawater samples across three oceans.
I capped my mascara. "It's fine. I'm having dinner with a friend tonight. It would be a waste of good makeup."
He relaxed, and then he frowned.
The old me would have cried until noon.
He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Look at you, so grown up. I saw the photos you posted. Where were you?"
"Seaview City," I said. "Last month, while you were in the North Isles."
His arms stopped moving.
For the whole first year we were together, I had begged him to take me to Seaview City to see the ocean.
He always said he would, when he had time.
Year two, three and four, he told me to be more understanding, and then he left with Tansy for the next place on their list.
This year I booked a flight and went by myself.
It turned out the ocean looked the same without him.
Hugh laughed. "You? Alone? Stop teasing me, sweetheart."
On his desk behind us stood the framed photo of his college graduation, with his father's arm around his shoulders.
The right edge of the picture was cut off, so only a stranger's sleeve showed.
I had never asked who the sleeve belonged to. Hugh didn't like questions about his family.
"We'll go together when this busy stretch is over," he said, and leaned in to kiss me.
I turned my cheek. "I just put on lipstick."
He looked me up and down and did what he always did. "The white shoes were better. Those red ones are too flashy for you."
I sat on the bed and changed into the red stilettos.
"I like these," I said. "Didn't you tell me I should have a mind of my own?"
He opened his mouth, closed it, and said he would pick me up at eight.
At eight-forty I was still on the sidewalk outside the restaurant.
My friend had gone home. I was about to call a ride when a familiar black car pulled up.
I opened the passenger door and found his labmate, Tansy, in the seat.
"Joelle, I'm so sorry!" She slid halfway out, her hands up. "I didn't know it was your anniversary. I asked Hugh to help me pick a gift, and we lost track of time. Please, take the front."
"She gets carsick," Hugh said, and glanced at me, tense. "Let her stay up front."
I didn't argue. I got in the back.
His eyebrows went up. I could see it in the rearview mirror.
They talked about water temperatures and tide data for twenty minutes, and laughed at things I couldn't follow.
The road was bumpy. Tansy knocked over her drink and dug through the glove compartment for napkins.
She pulled out a small crocheted Spider-Man.
"Oh, this is adorable!" she said. "Hugh, you like Spider-Man?"
"Yeah," Hugh said. "Keep it if you want."
I leaned forward. "Tansy."
I had made that doll for his birthday last year. I had pricked my fingertips raw on the crochet hook to finish it in time.
"Joelle, don't be petty," Hugh said, in his tired voice. "I'll take you to the Spider-Man exhibit this weekend."
I didn't answer him. I reached between the seats and unpinned the little red hair clip I had sewn onto the doll's head, the one for MJ.
Tansy held the doll up, delighted. "Is this yours? You can have it back!"
"Keep the doll," I said. "I'll take the clip."
Hugh's hand lifted to stop her.
Tansy looked at him with wide, clear eyes, and he put his hand back on the wheel.
She tucked the doll into her bag.
"Remember the seafood place in Seaview City?" she said to him. "Never again. The reviews lied."
"You and your restaurant picks," Hugh said, and laughed.
I looked out the window.
She said it so lightly. She had no idea what that sentence cost me.
I had found the spreadsheet two months ago, in the shared drive.
It was a list of places, with notes from the two of them side by side in each row.
Seaview City was on it three times.
I closed my eyes for the rest of the drive. Hugh kept checking me in the mirror, and I kept my eyes shut.
He dropped Tansy off first, then me. "Go to bed. I have to go back to the lab."
"Okay," I said, and got out.
He sat there with his window down, waiting for me to ask him to stay.
I walked inside and shut the door.
At the kitchen table, I opened my laptop. A new email sat at the top of my inbox from the HR director at Tidewell Outfitters.
Your transfer to the Lakeview City office is approved. Please report on Monday to your new team lead, Ivo Sandberg.
I read it twice.
Then I set the red hair clip on the table next to the laptop, and typed: Accepted.
My phone lit up with a message from Hugh. You're not mad at me, are you?
I turned the phone over.
I had spent five years waiting for a man who never came.
So I stopped waiting.
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