"You didn't have to lie to me, you know? " Charlotte says, her voice tight. "If you'd just been honest, I wouldn't have found out the way I did."

It's been three weeks, and she's still fixated on the opinion that I lied to her about my position at work. But if anyone should be having an issue about this, it should be me. Like I said when she barged into my office uninvited—I never told her anything about my job in the first place. I thought we'd already established that. But clearly, she still isn't willing to let go.

"I still can't get over the embarrassment, Jake." She paces...