After twilight fades, it’s Alex’s favorite time of day.
When we take the time to talk about our day.
And by talk, I mean gossip like it is our job.
“Please, Dylan.” Her voice goes up an octave. “I have got to tell you who I found in the supply closet.”
Sipping my own rosé through my extended straw, I face her. “I want to hear everything, and then I need to tell you what happened to Sidney.”
“Oh my God, Sidney with an i or Sydney with a y?”
“Definitely Sidney with an i.” I sip the wine, letting the warmth drive away the chill of the January night. “It smells like snow. Do you smell snow?”
Her nose twitches. Like a rabbit. It’s weird, and I love it. “I smell snow.” She pauses, and something flickers across her face. Fear? No. Not fear. Something else. Then it’s gone.
“What?” I ask.
She shakes her head, already bouncing back. “Nothing. Okay, so I went to get paper—” She pauses, snaps her fingers. “Remind me to tell you about Sydney with a y then.”
“Mental note made.” Sydney with a y, and Sidney with an i.
“Okay, so I went to get paper, because I had to print out the fourth-quarter reports, right? And there is never any paper because, of course, Janet from reception gets bored and prints out all those crochet patterns.”
“Seriously, she makes the cutest little gargoyles with the yarn.”
“Right?” Alex adds. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad at all the gargoyles. We all have our coping mechanisms, but this is the third time I’m changing paper this month.”
“Your anger is valid. It’s seriously only the ninth. Of January. It’s a little aggressive at this point.”
“That is what I said.” She blows a raspberry. “Okay, so there I was heading to get more paper, then I open the supply door and—” She pauses for dramatic effect, eyes sparkling. “—guess who I found getting railed against the wall?”
“You’re lying.” My straw drops into the bottle. I don’t even care that I have to fish it out. “Who?”
Alex nods, excitement humming in her eyes. When she’s this excited, it’s good for her and bad for them.
“Byron and Amber.”
“Get out.”
“I can’t lie.” She sips. “I saw his bare ass and all.”
“What did you do?” This isn’t the first time this has happened at Draven & Associates, but it is the first time Alex has witnessed it.
And knowing Alex, she has plans for that information.
I don’t even know what I would have done.
Shut the door, more likely. But not Alex.
“I took a fucking picture.”
My mouth opens. “Alex, no.”
“Of course I did.” She snorts.
Alex documents everything—receipts, patterns, leverage. She calls it insurance. I call it future legal complications.
We’re both right.
