“It’s fine.” Sherry smiled at her. “I don’t want to cause you any trouble. If you tell me where I can find Madison, I’ll be on my way.”

The woman, who had come out of the office, stopped in front of her. “I’m Olivia Tate, Ms. Fielding’s assistant. Please follow me.”

Her stomach cramped as if a huge stone were lying in it. Why was Madison’s assistant looking like that, and why was she so breathless? Working in an office shouldn’t make you look that flustered. Had Madison been fooling around with her? This thought transformed the stone in her stomach into a ball of fire. Madison seemed to be incapable of keeping her hands to herself. How could Sherry have thought for even a second that Madison had changed?

They stepped into the office, but Madison was nowhere in sight.

Ms. Tate walked to an adjacent double door and knocked. At a muffled “Come in,” the assistant opened the doors.

Sherry walked past Ms. Tate toward Madison, whose hair was slightly tousled. Her wrinkled blouse gave the impression she had just finished a romp in the hay with her assistant.

Madison smiled at Sherry with a warm expression. How dare she looking as if nothing was wrong? Did she think Sherry was blind?

“Can I bring you something to drink?” the assistant asked.

Without breaking eye contact with Madison, Sherry shook her head.

“Should you change your mind, please let me know.”

Sherry ignored her and her disheveled appearance.

“Hi, Sherry,” Madison said as soon as they were alone. “I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up in the lobby, but I—”

Sherry crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I have a pretty good idea why you couldn’t.”

The smile turned into a frown. “And why exactly do you think that is?”

“If you can’t keep your hands away from your assistant, you should at least try to be more discreet or your grandmother will hear about it.” Her words were more growled than spoken. She couldn’t remember ever being so angry.

“What—?” Madison stared to the door, then back to her. A wide grin formed on her lips. “You think me and Olivia are—?” She cracked up.

Her hands balled into fists while she stomped to Madison’s desk.

Madison sobered. “Sherry, there’s nothing going on between me and Olivia. She’s happily married. To a man. Besides—”

With a bang, both of her palms smashed onto Madison’s desk. She could barely form a coherent thought. Why was Madison lying? She had never lied to her before. At least not that she knew of. So why now? “You must think I’m stupid. You both look like you…like you—”