Love.com by Karolyn Cairns Page A

crashing to the floor. The waiter exclaimed in dismay . She uttered a stuttering apology, backing away to the door. She turned and ran then, too embarrassed to see if she was pursued.
    Emily didn’t stop running until she got to her car. She left the eatery as quickly as she could, fuming over her own stupidity. She should have demanded he send her a picture message, something current, before meeting him. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. His cruel words made her lower lip jut out. She knew she was a disappointment to him too. He didn’t have to make such a scene.
    So much for happily ever after , Emily thought in anguish. She could scratch Bachelor #1 from her list.
    ~ ~ ~
    The gossip about Ian and Tabitha was all over the office in the weeks that followed, whispered about behind the pair’s backs when they would disappear at the same time during the day. Evan was too busy trying to get the ad for Ambidor moving to realize his mistress was straying. Nobody wanted to be the bearer of bad news. Emily told herself she didn’t care. Every time she saw them return separately from their hour-long rendezvous, she burned with jealousy and misery.
    She found the discarded matchbook from the Carlton Hotel in the ladies room. It fell out of Tabitha’s handbag while she was fixing her face. Tabitha hadn’t spoken to her since she vented on her outside the elevator. Emily held the matchbook in her palm now, frowning slightly. The Carlton was only blocks from their office building. For some reason, she had some doormat-like need to know if the rumors were true and the pair was sleeping together.
    Emily knew she should mind her own business and continue corresponding with the men on Love.com and forget about Ian. She knew she should leave well enough alone. Still, the attraction burned strongly within her.
    Emily smiled at him in the same cheerful manner these days, careful not to let him see the wounded pain in her expression. When she spoke to him, it was always in the same professional manner, her tone not betraying her inner torment. She was careful to not let on how much it hurt to know he didn’t see her at all.
    Emily clutched the matchbook, determined she’d follow the pair the next time they disappeared. She would find out the truth. That would be enough to end these feelings for him. She hated herself for continuing to worship him from afar. She was convinced if she learned the office rumors were true, the feelings she had for Ian would vanish in an instant. Maybe if she rubbed her own nose in the matter, she could move on?
    She tried to forget about her disastrous first date, but she dwelled on it with disappointment.
    Emily was desperate to forget about Ian. He was destroying her social life. She knew how sick and unhealthy this obsession with him was becoming. She was killing herself just to get a man to notice her. On a good day she only thought about Ian a half-dozen times. On a bad day; she conjured a whole made-up life with him, complete with a house across the street from Joan, three adorable kids, and a dog named Sparky. It wasn’t real. It would never be real.
    It had to stop. Whatever caused Ian to become manifested in her brain wasn’t good for her. She hated herself more than she had the first day she met him. The failure she felt to get him to notice her was evident each time he passed by her in the office, inclining his head in greeting, but nothing more.
    She approved the artwork submitted by Ian. The photos were the best of the lot and Evan loved them. Ian appeared stunned when she passed the hard copies around the table during a conference that day. Stu looked confused as he looked them over.
    “Where did these come from? I never saw any of these? Where are the submission releases for these?”
    Emily frowned and glanced at Ian, shrugging. “I don’t know where the submission releases are right now, but I think these photos are our strongest so far.”
    “We need th ose releases, Em,” Evan