I stifle a giggle as I dart my eyes between the both of them.
“Something funny?”
“Umm, no. Of course not. Can I just read the NDA and let you both know?”
They both nod and slide the paperwork down the mahogany table.
“I think once you sign on the dotted line, I was thinking of giving you the enclosed office next to Eric. Maybe even that title change…”
And just like that, they leave me to read. A binding agreement that means one of two things…
If I don’t sign, I don’t keep my job.
If I sign, I move up in the company.
Skye and I are left in the room to stare at the stack of papers lying in front of me.
They repay me for stealing my ideas with another binding agreement. Another attempt to shut me up and serve me on a platter.
My top teeth bite down on my lower, feeling the slow grind that I can’t prevent myself from doing.
“Are you really going to put up with this?”
Her words sound sincere as her tone softens for the first time since I’ve met her.
“I shouldn’t…” My voice trails off. I shift my focus to the empty white wall that I lose myself in. When I look up from the trance, she is gone.
My feet drag out of the room. The cloud over my head is much heavier, harder to ignore. The time between my impromptu proposition and my scheduled lunch break feels endless.
At twelve forty-five, I rush out the door. One quick outfit change in the lobby bathroom and a fifteen-minute rideshare before I arrive at Crumbs and Coffee, a coffee shop on the south side of town that Aidan and I prefer over any place near us.
Patting my blue dress, removing any hairs on it, I grab the handle of the shop, locking eyes on Aidan, who is already at a circular table in the middle of the joint. Two coffees and muffins sit there untouched, waiting for me. I take a few deep breaths, knowing he hasn’t looked up quite yet.
“You got this,” I whisper to myself. The words come out more unsure than anything.
An unstable “Hi” escapes me.
“Hey, Charlotte.”
He says my name with warmth and confidence. This could be good?
He puffs out his chest and pushes the coffee closer to me so I drink what he just bought me. I read the word on the cup: “Sunshine.”
“Don’t worry—it has oat milk with hazelnut syrup. Your usual,” he mutters, watching me take the first sip. I try to swallow it fast, since hazelnut always leaves a weird aftertaste in my mouth.
“Ugh—no,” I choke out.
“What? I got your usual” he says, scanning the label on the cup.
“Um, it has hazelnut. I usually get Vanilla.”
“I’ll have them re-make it for you.”
“No, no—it’s fine.”
I tear off a piece of my muffin and slowly chew, washing the taste out of my mouth. Aidan and I just… watch each other. Scanning and assessing one another while we fumble through small talk.
How was the drive here?
