“Don’t hate me when I come back with a bag full of goodies that only cost me half the price,” she teases before doing a mock salute and heading out the door.

“Over there?” I point to a bench in one of the corners in the giant lobby.

She nods, and I follow her over and sit down with her.

“What’s up? You’re kind of freaking me out.”

“I think we should get a pet.”

“You think we should get a pet,” I repeat, making sure I heard her right.

“Maybe a dog.”

“Maybe a dog,” I repeat again, unable to stop myself, because this isn’t adding up.

“Stop that.”

“What? I’m making sure I’m hearing you right. You know, the person who said they’d never get an animal because they’re a pain in the ass.”

“Maybe you’re right. Never mind.” She stands up. “Glad we got that worked out.”

She walks off, leaving me sitting on the bench. What the hell was that? “You coming?” she says when she reaches the elevators.

I stand up, pulling my badge out and flashing it to the front desk. They probably know who I am by now, but I’m still pretty new.

“You’re acting weird,” I tell her as we wait for the elevator to arrive.

“We meeting in the lobby to go out for drinks?” she asks, ignoring my comment.

“No. Come to my floor. We have a nice bathroom, and I want to change and touch up my makeup.”

“Sounds good.”

The elevator dings, and we both get on. I hit the floor for the cafeteria since I have some time to eat now. I might as well get a little something.

“I’ll be at your desk a little after five,” Paige says as she gets off on her floor. I shake my head at her. She’s acting like a weirdo. Maybe this crush is messing with her head or something. I can relate.

When I get to the cafeteria, I get a salad and take a seat at one of the tables.

“Did you hear there’s some big meeting on Monday? I wonder what’s going on. We hardly ever have those. Wonder if the big boss will be there,” I hear a girl from a table behind me say with a dreamy sigh in her voice. Wondering what she’s talking about, I pull out my phone and check my work emails.

In my in-box is indeed an email about a meeting that everyone is required to attend. It’s going to be on the first floor early Monday morning.

“He never comes to any of the meetings. I’ve maybe seen him around four times in the year I’ve worked here. He stays holed up in his office. I hear he’s a giant asshole, which I’m guessing is true because the times I did see him, he was pissed off, so...”

I shrug off her words. I’ve been here a week, so I should be in the clear if there’s any backlash about anything in the last-minute meeting.

“Even when he’s all pissed off, he’s still crazy hot. I hear he’s single.” The women continue chatting. “Maybe if he got laid he wouldn’t be such an asshole.”

“I think he is single, because he’s always on his own at big events. I check online for him sometimes, but all the red carpet shots are solo. Either that, or he has that secretary of his with him who guards his door like a pit bull. Maybe he’s sticking it to her.” They both laugh, and I roll my eyes at the cliché gossip.

“I think she’s married though.”

“Like that ever stops them.” They both laugh again.

I take a few more bites of my lunch before picking up my tray and dumping it. I head to my desk, but when I get back, I see neither Skyler nor Eric have returned.

I decide to jump right back into my reports, still a little sad about not hearing from Oz today. It’s like it’s put a damper on my day.

Twenty minutes later, Skyler comes strolling in with three bags in her hands.

“Everything cool with your friend?” she asks.

“Yeah. She was having a weird moment.” I eye her bags.

“Three shirts, two pairs of pants and a pair of shoes.”

“Damn, you made out.”

“Yeah, but the shoes are for my girl.”

“She still coming tonight?” I ask, wanting to meet her. Skyler brings her up all the time, and every time she talks about her, her face lights up. I wonder if I look like that when I talk to Paige about Oz.

“Yep. She’s meeting me in the lobby.”

“Nice. Paige is going to meet me up here so I can change first.”

“Your man coming tonight?” She smiles, but her tone seems a little wary.

“Nope, he’s out of town. But I did invite an old college professor who’s new to the city, too, but I’m not sure if he’s going to make it.”

“This professor a man?” She raises her eyebrows as she asks, making me think back to Paige’s reaction about it, too.

“Yes, why is that weird? Paige acted like it was weird, too.”

“Just curious,” she says, putting her bags next to her desk. Now I’m second-guessing myself. It’s not like I have a crush on Joel. In fact, he wrote me a crazy good letter of recommendation when I applied for internships. If anything I’m thankful.

“I got you a cookie.” I pick it up from my desk and hand it over the partition. “Thought you might be hungry after all that shopping. It’s an I’m-sorry-for-the-last-minute-ditch cookie, but maybe not after seeing your bags. I’m not sure I should give it to you.”