“I know!” Autumn coughed, looking as though she chastised herself inwardly as she did. “I mean, I know. Of course. But it’s a part of my job description to attend work functions with you, and I’d like to honor that.”
Charlotte wasn’t going to push or point out that while Autumndidattend events with her in official work capacity; usually she attended meetings, not work brunches where work was all unofficially being discussed. Autumn had a flawless memory and kept meticulous note of who said what, then followed up with them without Charlotte needing to remind her. If she wanted to attend the brunch with Charlotte, she wouldn’t argue.
“No, I didn’t feel obligated,” Autumn confirmed as she typed out something on her tablet.
“Well, now that I officially have time off for the next week, so do you.” Charlotte paused, frowning. “Have you heard from Maya? I meant to confirm she arrived safely back to…”
She knew it was somewhere in Pennsylvania, but they didn’t speak about their personal lives very much.
“Philadelphia,” Autumn quickly supplied before she cleared her throat and resolutely stared down at the tablet. “Yes. She made it back. She’s fine.”
Charlotte found herself grinning ever so slightly—just enough that she couldn’t hold it back—at Autumn’s answer.
Honestly, she found Autumn and Maya endearing. Perhaps their relationship wasn’t necessarily something she should encourage, not that she actively was; she had a strictno commentpolicy that she had been operating on regarding this development in her junior staff. Which was fine, given that Autumn and Maya never did anything remotely inappropriate in her presence.
As far as Charlotte had seen with her own eyes, they’d never even touched. They didn’t even sit next to each other when Maya joined them in the car.
The way they circled one another, though, the way they bantered, the way they one-upped one another while working together was, well, Charlotte might even be tempted to label itsweet.
Then again, she was fairly convinced she only felt that way because of her own love life.
Charlotte was self-reflective enough to be able to acknowledge that she might not feel this way if she wasn’t doing… whatever she was doing with Sutton. She didn’t think she would have any feelings or thoughts, positive or negative, regarding her assistant’s love lives otherwise.
As it was, she did have Sutton.
She wasn’t positive in what capacity she had Sutton, admittedly. She’d never been this person before. She thought they were… dating?
Then again, Charlotte had never truly dated.
The time they spent together felt like dating or what she imagined it would feel like. Wouldbelike.
They had meals together, they laughed, they talked about life, they occasionally did other activities together, and they often ended their time together by having sex. Thatfeltlike dating to her.
It was also how Caleb had taken to referring to her time spent with Sutton. “Another date?” he’d ask, wiggling his eyebrows.
The thing was, Charlotte didn’t hate that.
If anything, she hated the idea that dating might beit.
“The Senate will convene January third. Will you be needing anything from me before then?” Autumn asked, bringing Charlotte back to the moment.
“No, that’s your time off. You should enjoy it,” Charlotte advised. “Next year will be a busy one.”
Autumn merely nodded, still looking down at the tablet, and Charlotte studied her.
She had spent more time with Autumn in the last couple of years than anyone else. Since Charlotte had hired her, Autumn had essentially become, in a very professionally complimentary way, her shadow.
That said, Charlotte knew very little about Autumn’s actual life.
She knew about Maya—the existence of her multiple siblings, parents, and many nieces and nephews; a little about her favorite television shows and movies; that she enjoyed crime novels; and that she had a cat. These were all bits and pieces Maya had casually offered about herself in conversation over the last few years.
Autumn was far more similar to Charlotte herself. Maybe evenmorereserved.
This had come to Charlotte’s attention because of, unsurprisingly, Sutton, who had asked questions about Autumn after Charlotte had arranged for Autumn to bring them the procured keys for the toy store.
It had only been after Charlotte admitted to knowing very little about her professional shadow and had seen the bafflement in Sutton’s eyes that she had questioned herself.
It wasn’t as if she was rude to or overly demanding of her assistants, and she knew that. She treated them well and made sure to allocate her funds competitively.
