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Luke stood stupidly in front of the chaos. Where was Ashanti? She’d called him up here so he had expected her to be close by when he walked in.
Was he supposed to look for her?
Luke took a step forward when he noticed a small woman with tan skin and straight, dark hair barreling toward him. She had a pair of thick square glasses perched on her nose and her smile was wide and welcoming.
Luke got the sense that he should know her, but he didn’t.
“Hi!” Her voice was sultrier than he’d imagined. Because of her sparkling eyes and small stature, he’d expected a chirpy, child-like sound.
“Hey. I’m looking for Ashanti.”
“Yeah, she’s not here right now.”
Luke balked. “What? But the guy downstairs said…”
“Oh, don’t worry. She’ll be back soon. My name is Tara. We met at the Christmas party last year remember?” When Luke tugged on his ear and didn’t immediately respond, Tara waved. “It’s fine if you don’t. It was a long time ago. Why don’t you wait in Ashanti’s cubicle until she comes back?”
Luke checked his watch. He’d stormed out of the café without thought and needed to get back. “I don’t have a lot of time.”
“She’ll be here any minute,” Tara assured him. “Come on.”
Luke followed her into a small cubicle that housed a cramped desk and a pin board stuffed with pictures. He recognized a photo of him and Ashanti in their primary school talent show. He’d played the piano for her while she sang ‘Welcome To Belize’.
“So…”
Luke startled and turned around. He thought Tara had already left. “Can I… help you with something?”
“No.”
Despite her words, she remained at the door. Luke shuffled his feet. “Are you friends with Ash?”
Tara nodded.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s nice.”
“I’m sorry if I’m being weird. It’s just… seeing you clears a lot of things up.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re more handsome than I remember.”
Luke rubbed his chin. “Thanks?”
“Can I… ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Did you and Ashanti fight recently?” She gestured with her hands as she added, “I don’t mean to pry, but she’s been floating around here, kind of out of it over the past week. She refused to tell me what was going on, but I had a feeling it was something involving you.”
“Why would you assume that?”
“Because last week she came to work hungover after setting you up with some other girl.”
“That’s,” Luke chuckled, “that’s not exactly what happened.”
“What happened then?”
He opened his mouth to tell her when a hand clamped over Tara’s shoulder. She levitated so far off the floor, Luke feared she’d crash her head into the ceiling.
