ELODIE
Behind my desk, I listen as Blair complains. “Please, Elodie.” She brings her hands together in prayer as she sits across from me. “I’m going to lose my mind.”
I smile, and while I understand her frustration, there is no way around it. “Sorry, every intern needs someone to shadow. You have Katie shadowing you, and I’m not going to switch around. She’s only here for a few weeks as part of her college course.”
Blair stares at me blankly. “She told everyone in the breakroom that Hayes is really hot until someone pointed out your connection, then she mentioned ‘hashtag cute couple’ as part of an actual sentence. Even I don’t do that.”
Having to hide a chuckle wouldn’t have been me six weeks ago. I would’ve been mortified by this situation, but I’m not concerned by a 20-year-old intern or what people think.
“You must be desperate if you just brought that up.”Because, as much as I’m sure people gossip, nobody actually says anything to my face.
She slumps in her chair, then leans forward as she pleads. “I’m sorry. I’m just dying here.” She looks genuinely desperate.
I pick up a pen with no intent to use it. “Besides, ‘hashtag cute couple’ is all speculative in her head. But please do get her back on focus.”
Her eyes widen slightly. “Sure,” she replies dryly, then pushes herself up from the chair, her shoulders drooping as she turns to go.
I watch her walk away, only for Sutton to appear at my door, and my smile turns big. “Hey! What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow?”
Sutton is neatly dressed in a fitted knee-length dress with a matching charcoal-gray blazer. “HR asked if I could change days to go over their job offer and sign, but it works out better because of the long weekend we just had and visiting Everhope.”
She enters the room and takes the vacant seat. Savannah and I have spent the past week trying to persuade Sutton to accept the job offer. HR even contacted me to ask for suggestions on how to convince Sutton to join the legal department, since they are eager to have her do so.
I drop my pen onto the desk. “So, did you sign?”I wonder about her final decision.
She has a warm, honest smile. “I did.”
I beam. “Yay!”
“I came borderline and calm, partly because I have two offers from other companies. I don’t need the job, you know. But I had the tour, and everyone said the right things.”
I wiggle my brows at her. “It was also, of course, ‘I’ll join my bestie, Elodie, at her place of work.’ Although we will rarely cross paths unless it’s for coffee. I don’t work with legal much. Foster deals with that stuff.”
“Having you here is still a bonus. Anyhow, give me the gossip on Thanksgiving and your family?”
“Fine. Everyone has met, and we can just focus on moving forward. Hayes’s mom went back last night. Hayes has to leave later tonight for a business trip. But that’s not unusual, we puzzle the schedule to ensure Lola stays with him some evenings.”
“But not you?”She smirks as she glances at her heeled shoe hanging half off her foot as she sits with one leg crossed over her knee.
I swivel on my chair. “Sometimes, maybe. It’s hard, to be honest. At first, I thought we should be very cautious around Lola, and her parents spending the night together might put ideas in her head. Now, I just think that she’s two and has no idea what any of it means, especially as I believe we would be doing things all three of us together even if Hayes and I were not involved.”
“That’s true. Not to put pressure on you, but as a friend,” Sutton brings her hand to her chest, indicating herself, “I need to ask the trigger question of at what point do you believe you both will work out and begin to take the step to something else? I mean, living together, marriage, I don’t know. You guys still kind of sneak around, no?”
“Not enough if I have an intern deciding I’m gossip material. But anyhow, we’re private people, which means it isn’t sneaking around.”
My phone goes off, and I see that it’s my apartment building management. They had called earlier to ask if they could check inside my apartment because the apartment upstairs had a water pipe issue.
I hold my finger up to ask Sutton to hold on a second. “Hi, it’s Elodie.”I listen to him explain the situation, and dread fills me to the brim. Nothing about the story is reassuring. “Thanks. Yeah, I will probably think of… I will stop by in an hour or so to check.”Cringing as I hang up, I guess this isn’t going to be a great day.
“What’s up? You look like you just sank to the bottom of the sea.”
Growling, I rub my forehead and temples as I mentally adjust. “Well, my apartment just might. The apartment upstairs had a burst pipe while they were away for the weekend. Guess who apparently has water seeping through her ceiling?” I raise my hand. “Yep, yours truly.”
“Oh no, what does that mean?”
“Well, they have to get drywallers in to fix my ceiling, but it has to dry first before they can come. I can’t have Lola in the apartment while they do this. It’s going to take at least a week or two, maybe more. The building takes care of this stuff.”
Sutton pretends to check her nails. “Oh my, look what fate just threw at you.Hmm, I wonder where you could stay?”
