AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How could she be expected to get anything of note done if all she thought about was sex? Furthermore, how could she expect to be at the top of her game if every time she made eye contact or heard one of their voices her insides melted into a puddle of goo?
The fact was, she couldn’t. Sabrina needed to be on for every detail, focused and ready to take on every challenge she faced head-on and fiercely. She couldn’t suffer endless distractions every day. It would be her undoing.
She never should have allowed them into her office. Hell, her boardroom. As a matter of fact, she should have barred them from the building. The Hargreaves were detrimental to her fiscal and mental health.
But she’d never before felt alive like she did now. There was a buzz inside of her that was cranked all the way up, giving her a sense of walking on clouds. It wasn’t love; of that, she was certain. It was more like a sudden and amazing zest for life that she’d been missing for who knew how long.
It was invigorating, is what it was.
At 5:00 PM, Sabrina found herself sitting behind her desk in her private corner office overlooking the expansive cityscape with the sun pouring in at an angle that highlighted the fine coating of dust on the philodendron’s leaves, propped proudly on its metal stand. She was staring into space, clicking the back end of a black and silver pen that carried a price tag that was downright criminal.
She hadn’t stopped thinking about the day’s events for a single second.
Her preoccupation meant that she wasn’t getting any work done, and that was unacceptable, but for the moment, she’d lost her drive. Her focus. What Sabrina needed was some time away from the office to get her head on straight.
She needed silence and solitude. Maybe a bit of girl talk to get her straight.
She bent to open the bottom drawer and reached into her open purse to pull out her cell phone from a side pocket. Janet’s number was saved in her contacts, and she hit the little call icon, listening to the artificial ringing on the other end.
“Hey, girl! What’s up?”
“Hey.” Sabrina grinned and relaxed back into her comfortable, ergonomic chair, crossing her left leg over her right knee. In her hand, the pen clicked back and forth without purpose beyond keeping her hand busy. “Are you free for dinner?”
There was a pause, and then Janet asked, “This early? I thought you never signed off until everyone else in the free world was in bed asleep for the night.”
“Not always,” Sabrina lied. “I thought I’d try something new tonight.”
“Mm-hmm.” It was clear Janet was disbelieving, and no doubt she would have plenty of questions later. “Are you buying?”
“She who asks, pays.”
That was their rule. Girl code, if you will. It was a way of showing appreciation for their friendship, and mutual give-and-take that always ensured they were on equal footing. Despite Sabrina being the higher earner of the two. Hey, not everyone could be the heir to a multi-million-dollar company. So the arrangement was good for keeping both of them on a level playing field.
“Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”
Sabrina chatted about nothing of consequence for a moment more before hanging up and messaging directions to the restaurant she’d chosen. It wasn’t as fancy as the one she’d attended dinner at for her meeting with Mr. Thomas, but it wasn’t a dive either. They could have their fill of burgers and fries just as easily as they could stuff themselves with steaks and grilled chicken. One thing Sabrina knew she couldn’t get anywhere else, though, was the magnificent mozzarella sticks and the loaded nachos. Fancy restaurants always lacked that certain element of casual and tasty.
Once she’d gathered her belongings, Sabrina clocked out on her computer then shut it down. Her hand reached out to skim the light switches on the way out, casting the office into shadows, and then she was breezing past Shawna and ignoring her look of surprise as she waved good night and climbed onto the elevator.
She held her breath until she reached the lobby downstairs, and then again until she managed to flag down a cab and climbed inside. A part of her had been expecting to cross paths with one of the guys, and then she’d have had to go through the whole song and dance of explaining where she was going and what she was doing to people who really shouldn’t matter. It was her life after all. She was still a free agent, able to come and go as she pleased and dictate her plans to herself and herself alone.
So why did she suddenly feel guilty for not informing them of her evening plans?
In some odd way, she felt like she was making a quick getaway, driving off into the sunset like some kind of escapee…or a teenager taking off in the middle of the night without telling her parents where she was going.
Was it because they’d agreed to be exclusive that she now felt some sense of responsibility toward them? If so, she didn’t like it. Not one bit. Sabrina was used to answering to no one. If this was going to be the new norm, it was going to take some getting used to.
But she was getting ahead of herself. There was nothing saying that she had done anything wrong. She was jumping to conclusions. If they called or asked, she would kindly let them know what she was up to. If not, then she would go on about her business as usual and enjoy her night out with her friend.
The cab arrived outside of the Red Robin just before 6:00 PM and she paid her fare before climbing out. She was a touch overdressed, in her pencil skirt and white blouse with faux tie around the neck, completed by the six-inch black pumps. But Sabrina didn’t much care. She was there for friendship and a good time. With Janet, she was always guaranteed to let down her hair, laugh, and have fun.
After checking in at the hostess station and being pointed in the right direction, Sabrina made her way through the crowd of patrons and work staff bobbing and weaving between tables and through the general, narrow walkway, back to the booth stationed by a large window covered in blinds where her friend sat.
Janet had her head bent, staring into a large, three-fold menu so intensely that she didn’t even notice when Sabrina sat down across from her. She smiled, waiting for the woman to finally look up.
That took a while. So long, in fact, that Sabrina eventually gave up waiting and hooked a single finger on the top of the menu’s edge, pulling it down so she could get a view of Janet’s face.
As always, she couldn’t get over her beauty. Short golden-brown hair cut into a bob that curled around her ears with a single inch-wide chunk of iridescent purple cut in a swath of bangs was tucked to one side, highlighting the soft-green hue of her hazel eyes, which were always outlined by varying widths of black cat-eye liner, dependent on how steady her hand was that day. Today, it was painted on fairly thick, which told Sabrina she’d had a bit of trouble getting the look just right, but no matter how she did up her makeup, there was no arguing that her friend was stunning. She had that whole emo vibe going on, from her hair and makeup, to the multiple silver rings in her ears, all the way down to the black-on-black clothing paired with a pop of color that could come from either a plaid schoolgirl skirt or a pair of Chucks or simply her choice of nail polish. Which happened to be purple today, to match her bangs.
