Gentler still, she kept going: “If not for the boy you loved… maybe consider being there for the woman who’ll always love you like a daughter.”
I whacked down whatever tried to rise with that sentence.
“That sounds a lot like emotional manipulation,” I scolded.
“I never said I was perfect. I said I was determined.”She extended her hand across the table and brushed mine, settling there.“Aren’t you curious about who he actually is now?”
She gave me a minute to process that while she signaled for the bill.
“And besides,” she added, “I’m the fucking guest of honor. If I say I want you there, then they’ll make that work.”
Now, the scent in the break room is sweeter, mango and coconut swirling thick in the air. I can almost feel Rebecca’s warm hand settling over mine again, her blue eyes steady as she declares that she wants me at her retirement homage.
I blink hard once, and the door opens without as much as a knock. I refocus on stainless-steel counters, on the slow blink of instrument lights, on the faint, familiar chemical bite underneath the tropical sweetness clinging to the air.
“Jesus, what is that?” Serena’s voice cuts in, amused and curious.
I glance up. She and Ellie are stepping into the room with their lunch bags, eyes wide, zeroed in on my container. Serena is already hovering over the table; Ellie hangs back like she’s waiting for permission she absolutely isn’t going to ask for out loud.
“Mango coconut bars,” I say, sliding the lid just slightly closer to me. Too carefully. “Homemade.”
“Girl…” Ellie laughs. “Do you even bake?”
“Only disasters,” I say, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. “They’re from… someone I know.”
“From heaven,” Serena corrects, stealing a bar before I can stop her. She closes her eyes as she chews. “Oh my God.”
They settle around the counter with me, the three of us shoulder to shoulder in a way that feels strangely domestic fora lab. Friendly. And I somehow feel a little bit more settled into this scene than I would have before visiting Julian. I don’t feel like an outsider trying to play pretend. I feel… folded back in.
“So…” Serena says, licking crumbs from her thumb, “how about a casual dinner? Zac, my guy, you, and me? We find a date for Ellie, and we all go to the bar? Nachos. Beer.”
“I don’t know…” I reach for a bar before they vanish entirely.
“Come on,” Ellie says. “We’ve seen you having dinner with Zac.”
“Fair.” I take a small bite, the sweetness grounding me. “But we’re just friends.”
“You were more than friends,” Ellie counters.
“Barely.”
“Because of his ex being in town?” Serena leans in, as if she’s letting me in on a secret.
Well, I was more focused on my own ex, but sure, let’s go with that.
Ellie scoffs. “Please, she skipped town the night before they were supposed to get married. I’m pretty sure you lose the right to bitch about who your childhood sweetheart’s fucking if you do that…”
My brows pull together. I knew Zac had some dramatic history—but notthat. Something in my chest twists in distant recognition. Zacreallygets it. How fast a life you planned can collapse.
“Robyn, you’re impossible,” Serena adds, softer now. Her shoulder bumps mine. “You’re not asking Zac to get serious. You’re asking him to grab a drink. Look, I’ll make sure we’re an odd number. Very un-date-like.”
I exhale, the tension sliding down my spine, then nod once. “I’d feel better that way.” I brush a crumb from the counter with the edge of my palm. “Thank you.”
“Dr. Hollis, those samples aren’t going to document themselves.”
Dr. Raymond’s voice’s comes from behind us, calm and precise.
We turn. He hasn’t stepped inside the break room, just stands in the threshold, arms crossed, immovable. His eyes flick over the container, the crumbs, and the imprints on the steel counter from our sugar-coated fingers.
