Chapter 24. A Message

Thinking it was too invasive to wait for Mia to return in her own office, Beau waited outside in the hall that led to her office, listening intently for any noise from the other side of the door. It seemed to take an awfully long time for her to return to her desk, and he wondered if that meant the worse, that Sam had claimed her.

This was all his fault—even more so than it had been before. Not only would she have never gotten the job if it hadn’t been for him, the reason she was late delivering Sam’s lunch, the reason she was punished in the first place, was because of him.

He knocked on the door. This time, he decided to wait for her to say he could come in. “Yes?” Mia called.

Opening it just a crack, he stuck his head in. “Hi. Can I come in?”

Mia nodded, and he walked in. “Are you okay?” He could tell by her expression that she wasn’t.

“I’m fine.”

“What happened?” he asked before he thought about what he was asking. She couldn’t tell him that.