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“Matcha and a chocolate croissant,” Julia said, not hesitating.
“Just a black coffee for me.”
I folded my paper. “No food?” I asked, eyeing her speculatively. I’d noticed more than once how thin Annie was. While she wasn’t starved, she was definitely underweight, and her lunches tended to consist of peanut butter sandwiches and fruit that looked as though it had seen better days.
“I’m fine.”
I wanted to argue with her, but I worried that if I pressed too hard, she would leave, which was something that I couldn’t afford. Time was of the essence and everything.
“What was this meeting that you had so early in the morning?” Julia asked.
The forwardness of her question caught me off guard, and as I turned my attention towards her, I began to suspect that she wasn’t quite the flirty airhead she’d pretended to be just a few minutes ago. Her dark eyes looked me up and down, and I tried my best not to squirm under her gaze. Something told me that if Julia didn’t like me, Annie would never agree to what I needed from her.
“Just something for work.”
Annie lifted a blonde brow. “I didn’t see anything on your calendar for today. Was I supposed to assist?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “You’ve worked hard enough these past few weeks.” It was the truth. Annie had pulled many long nights in an effort to help me get through all of my caseload. She’d never complained once.
“Yes,” Julia said in agreement. “You have been keeping her awfully late.” There was a suggestion in her voice that explained a lot about Julia. She thought that Annie, and I were fucking. While it was a delightful thought, I could hardly get Annie to spend more than 5 minutes talking to me about anything outside of work. She definitely wasn’t allowing me to press her over my desk. No matter how much I would have been delighted to do so.
“I told you,” Annie said. “I’ve enjoyed the work.” Her voice was firm, and I picked up on the fact that this was a point of contention between the two friends.
“It wasn’t for my work as a prosecutor,” I said, hoping that we could leave it at that. Julia was an unknown quantity, and I wasn’t interested in sharing anything with her since I couldn’t trust that it wouldn’t be another thing splashed across Page Six.
But unlike Annie, who was always content to let things go when she sensed I didn’t wish to talk about them, her friend didn’t have those social skills. “I heard a rumor that you are running for mayor.”
I kept a smile on my face but felt my shoulders tense at the statement. “Not sure where you heard that,” I said. Marcel and I had done a pretty good job at keeping my candidacy under wraps, at least, we thought we had, but it appeared that more and more people were aware of my plans.
“Stop being so nosey,” Annie chided before I could say anything.
Julia laughed and shrugged slightly. “Oh, come on. I want to know.”
Annie shook her head. “Ignore her. She’s never met a gossip article that she hadn’t enjoyed.”
I expected the two women to fight. But instead, Julia laughed even louder, drawing the attention of several of the tables near us. “She’s not wrong.” Her look was sly as she spoke, and I knew that she was about to bring up the article, the one I so badly wanted to ignore.
Luckily, the waitress interceded before Julia could talk about the article, one that I hoped Annie hadn’t read.
“Here y’all are,” she said, as she laid the coffees, tea, and croissant down on the table.
For a moment, the three of us ate and drank in companionable silence. It was surprisingly nice. I’d forgotten what it felt like to just sit with people and enjoy a meal. These days, I spent most of my time in solitude.
“What do you two have planned for the remainder of the day?” I asked. According to my PI, Annie normally got a coffee on Saturday mornings before walking around the city. He’d found it odd that she would walk the city for hours, but I knew it was because she had nowhere else to go.
Julia spoke as she crunched on her croissant, small specks of the pastry flying from her mouth as both Annie, and I cringed. “I have rehearsal all day, but Annie is free as a bird.”
I ignored Julia’s obvious attempts to set Annie and I up. Annie was stubborn, in her own quiet way, and I knew that if she felt as though this were a set-up, she’d run away quicker than I’d be able to stop her.
“Rehearsal for what?” I feigned interested in Julia, hoping that it might make Annie more comfortable.
Julia’s cheeks pinkened. “Julia was given a principal role in the ballet theater’s spring production.” Annie spoke with pride. It was becoming clear to me that even though Julia and Annie were wildly different people, Annie cared about her roommate greatly. I filed that information away.
“Speaking of,” Julia glanced at her watch, “I’ve got to head to catch the train.”
I tried to hide the smile that was threatening to take over my face. This was going much better than I thought. I’d assumed I would have to fight to get Annie alone, but Julia was barely here for five minutes, and she was already leaving.
“I’ll come with you,” Annie said.
