“Hey,” he says, his confidence completely unwavering. “Hey, you wanted to talk to me?”

Vance finally shuts up and looks at me, confused. I simply raise my eyebrows and jab the phone in his direction so he knows Nas is talking to him. Vance swallows hard steps closer.

“Wh … I … yeah. Who is this?” he stammers, his hands still glued to his hips.

“My name is Nas,” Nas answers. Juliana, Shay, and DeShaun all frown at the name, but I look at them and shake my head to let them know I’ll explain later. Everyone else in the office stops moving and gives my phone their undivided attention like students watching the teacher.

“Well, Nas,” Vance says, emphasizing the name. “My name is Vance Whiteman. I’m a sports columnist at Dover News Journal. I won an award for my writing last year, given to me by my editor-in-chief, and I’m the highest paid writer in this office. I love Alina, and I have more to offer her than you, so why don’t you do yourself a favor, and just bow out now. You can’t compete, and don’t think for a second that I won’t fight for what’s mine. You got that, bud?”

The phone is silent for a moment, and everyone is immediately put on pins and needles waiting for Nas’s response. My heart thuds beneath my shirt, and I swallow hard. After the pregnant pause, Nas finally speaks, commanding everyone’s attention.

“Congratulations on your accomplishments, Vance,” he says coolly. “This isn’t about who’s more accomplished. If it were, you wouldn’t even be worth talking to, even with your in-house award from your editor-in-chief. This is about Alina. The woman you claim to love, yet blew your chance with by being close-minded. She tried to be the perfect girlfriend for you, and you couldn’t handle it. You couldn’t live up to the task she gave you, and yes, she told me all about it while we were at dinner at Janae Michelle’s last night. She tried to open up to you, and instead of meeting the challenge head on, you cowered in the corner. You weren’t willing to do what she asked, were you?”

The phone goes silent again as Nas waits for Vance’s answer, and I literally see Vance swallow the lump in his throat. He doesn’t want everyone in this room to know why he broke up with me. He knows how ridiculous he’d look, especially to every man in the building who’d kill to have a woman ask for the things I asked for. That’s why he didn’t want me talking about it in the office. He knew he’d look like a clown.

“Vance, I asked you a question,” Nas says, with a little bit of spice on each word. Vance bites his lip before answering.

“No,” he says weakly.