I miss living with her, but it is nice that Emma and I have our own bedrooms. And Erika deserves some privacy and a life without a toddler underfoot.
I bring her up on the elevator, Rachel waving when she sees Erika. “Hey, Girl.”
No wonder Rachel has been watching out for me.
Erika winks back. “How is it up on the big floor?”
“Another day in paradise,” Rachel wrinkles her nose, with a sigh, her eyes moving wistfully to Gris’s closed office door.
“Want to join us for lunch?” I ask.
“Definitely.” She grabs her lunch from her desk and leads us to the conference room.
I hesitate before I enter, feeling like I’m invading a space I shouldn’t be in. There was nothing in the handbook, I’ve read it from cover to cover, about not using the conference room for eating, but still…
Erika and Rachel don’t hesitate, seating themselves at one end of the table. I enter more slowly, gingerly taking a seat as I pull out my salad.
We eat and chat, the conversation getting increasingly friendly, until Rachel leans forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, “I’m thinking about starting an account on one of those dating apps.”
I smile, standing. Before Vigo, I remember wishing that I had a man of my own. Now…
Crossing to the bank of cabinets, I pull out a trash bag. I know there are meetings in this room later, and I don’t want the room to smell like our food.
I also grab some Windex and paper towels.
“That’s a good idea,” Erika nods, giving me a sidelong glance. “I actually…” She pauses, and I stop throwing our trash in the bag, waiting for what she might say. “I…um…have a date.”
My mouth drops open. Erika’s been divorced for longer than me and she doesn’t have a child. Still, she winces when her gaze meets mine, like she feels guilty. She shouldn’t. “That’s wonderful!”
Relief pulls at her features. “Are you sure? It isn’t weird?”
“Why would it be weird?” Rachel asks, looking between us.
“It’s not weird at all,” I assure both Rachel and Erika. “When Erika and I met, we were both getting out of relationships.”
Rachel’s eyes light with understanding. “Break-up sisters. Got it.”
I laugh at the term. I like it. I finish picking up the trash and knot the bag. I’ll toss it down the shoot before I return to mydesk. Then I spray down the tabletop, bending over to wipe the surface.
“Who’s your date with?” Rachel asks Erika.
“One of the guys on the legal team. He’s always hanging around my desk and yesterday…” She blushes.
Erika is a gorgeous, a real blonde, unlike me. I’m sure guys are falling all over themselves to go out with her. And she deserves a really great guy who will treat her right.
“Work crush,” Rachel sighs. “I hear sometimes those work out.”
It’s completely obvious that Rachel has a crush on Gris Smith, but three times in the last two days, I’ve heard him on the phone with his wife. The man is smitten and completely unavailable. My sympathies go to Rachel, but I’m glad she’s looking elsewhere.
Erika turns to me. “You read the handbook. What’s the policy?”
“It isn’t strictly forbidden, but highly discouraged,” I answer, leaning out even further to wipe some crumbs.
“What about you?” Rachel asks. “Any man in your life?”
My movements slow. “Definitely not.”
“The breakup was that bad?” Rachel asks even as Erika looks down at her lap. We have an unofficial rule that we don’t talk about our exes other than with each other.
