“Randy, I love you. I want to help you. But you have to see that this is hurting me more than you. I’m the one that keeps making the sacrifices to bail you out. And then you went and lied to me about it all. This has to stop.”

He pouted and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I know.”

I sighed and gave him another hug, then pushed him out of the kitchen. I knew he felt bad for what happened, but I also knew it wasn’t bad enough to make him stop. I worried about what would have to happen before he woke up to reality. I didn’t tell him how I paid off his “interest” because there was no point. Besides, that was as much my fault as it was Dillan’s.

Randy was kind enough to drive me home that night - it would at least get me closer to home - and smart enough not to ask when I was going to buy my own car. He’d asked that once before, and I told him I was saving up for one. He had to know that was the money I used to pay off his debt.

The next morning, I arrived at work at the same time as Chris. He held out a Styrofoam cup to me. 

“This is new.” I greeted him, a little surprised when he kissed my cheek again. “What brought this on?”

He shrugged. “I was getting some for me, and I remembered how you always came in earlier on Mondays. I had a feeling that hadn’t changed.” 

I smiled as I followed him toward the elevators. “Thank you. This is very sweet of you.”

We didn’t talk on the way up, as there were too many people. Nor did we talk as he walked me to my office. He kissed my cheek quickly and then half ran to his own. I stared at my secretary (how cool was it that I had one now?) who was just as shocked as I was.

“What was that all about?” Linda was a few years older than me and had been with the firm since college.

“I haven’t a single clue. He was waiting for me downstairs with coffee when I got here.”

She tried to hide her smile by rubbing her lips. I walked into my office, moving this conversation to a more private area. She followed, carrying her tablet. 

“Maybe he likes you.”

I shook my head and sat in my chair as I put my things away for the day. “No, I don’t think so. He came by on Friday to ask me to lunch because he wanted to celebrate the promotion with me. Chris was my boss before this. He is just being nice.”

She sat across the desk from me, crossing her legs. “Or he always liked you and thought now that you are equals he can finally do something about it. The celebrating thing could have just been an excuse to get you to go out with him.”

“No…” I started to argue, then remembered the odd looks he kept giving me, and how he kept kissing my cheek. “You think?”

She giggled and played with her wedding ring. “My Bruce did that. He made up an excuse about failing a class we had together and begged for my help. I found out later that he was at the top of the class. But by then, I had already been falling in love with him. He confessed it all when I approached him about it, angry that he lied to get me alone.” Linda shrugged. “That was the first time he kissed me, to shut me up.” She giggled. “I couldn’t stay mad at him after that.”

Instead of picturing Chris lying to get me alone, I saw Dillan lying to get me up to his studio. I shook it off.

“This could all just be hearsay. I’m not making any judgments until he is open about it, if that is even what this is.”

“M'kay.” She totally was on that romantic train that happy couples got on. 

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “What’s on today’s schedule?”

Thankfully, it was a busy one. Mondays always were, which was why I liked getting there early.

My first meeting was with Lawerence, one of the Senior Partners, and a long-time client, Bill White. They had been trying to convince Bill that he needed to upgrade his mobile security. He owned a biotech plant. They needed all the upgrades in my opinion, but this guy had to be spoon-fed. According to the file Linda had given me this morning, that was how they had always handled Bill. 

The moment Lawerence looked at me, after many denials from Bill, I knew what he wanted. Apparently someone was gossiping on their floor. My bets were on Kurt. Big mouth. 

With a small smile, not upset in the least that they were talking about me in a positive way, I pulled out my phone and hacked into Bill’s phone, which was in his front coat pocket. I pulled up all of his social media accounts, and the pictures he had on his phone, then slid it across the table for him to see.