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Stef:Ur busy. Keanu will keep me company.
Me:I’m not sure if I’m more worried you’ve given your affection to Keanu, or you think Speed is an old movie.
Stef:I’m sick and probably going to die. You should be more understanding.
Me:Please don’t die. I’d miss your beautiful smile.
Stef:Sob emoji. I am not remotely beautiful rn. I’m ugly. Red nose. Puffy eyes. Dying.Child dramatically sobbing gif
Me:How about if I stop over after I finish my last meeting?
Stef:O M G NO! I am wretched! Under no circumstances will you see me looking like this.
Me:Okay
Stef:Blake I mean it
Me:Fine
Stef:Blake!
Me:Stef
Stef:…
There’s a knock on my door, and I glance away from my phone to see Jocelin poking his head in. “Is now okay, and do you want to meet in here or the conference room?”
“Here’s good. Come in. I’m finishing up a text to Stef.”
Me:I have to go. My meeting is starting. I hope you feel better, sweetheart.
I add a red heart emoji and hit send, then turn my phone over on my desk and give my attention to Jocelin. He’s grinning at me, and I brace myself for some teasing. Not that I mind. I’m excited things are going well with Stef and with my work-life balance. “Okay, out with it. I can see you want to say something.”
“No. It’s good. I’m glad things are going well between you.”
“They are. I like them.” It’s more than like, but I haven’t said so to Stef yet. I’m certainly not going to tell Jocelin first.
Jocelin’s smile fades, and he watches me intently. “I haven’t known Stef all that long, only a few years, but they’ve struggled with dating. Too many guys think they’re fun and they enjoy the sass until they don’t.”
“Are you giving me the shovel speech?” I quirk my lips in a wry grin. “I’ve already had that from Tadhg.”
Jocelin laughs. “I can believe that. But, no. I’m just saying be absolutely certain that what you are feeling isn’t a momentary thing. Stef is exactly as I’ve always known them, barring the pronoun changes.” He squints at me. “You’re okay with that, right?”
“With the pronouns?” I hold up my hands in surrender. “I am, I swear. It’s not that difficult. I do mess up now and then, but I correct myself, and we move on. I’ve mostly defaulted to using they, since Stef says they’re always fine with that.”
“Right. That makes sense. Anyway, I’m happy for the two of you, if you’re both happy. It brings the major parts of my world into alignment.”
I snort. “So glad we could accommodate.” I gesture to his manilla folder, then get up and walk to the mini fridge, pulling out two bottles of water and offering him one. “Okay, what does the princeling want from us now?” Jocelin’s scowl doesn’t bode well, and I sigh in anticipation of Gilbert’s latest demands.
He takes the offered water, cracking it open. “Well, in addition to the top-tier royalties we’ve already offered, Gilbert would like a North American Book tour, guaranteed bookings on the morning and late-night talk show circuits, and the actor in the current version of Sherlock Holmes to pose as the cover model.”
I choke on the sip I was taking and drop into my seat. “Excuse me?”
“But wait. There’s more.” His accent mutes the effectiveness of his TV announcer voice, but at least it lightens the mood. Barely. “He wants a seven-figure advance and will only commit to one book.”
I almost spit out my water. “Is he fucking insane?” I’m up and out of my chair again, pacing the floor. “Does he honestly think we’ll go for that?”
Jocelin shrugs. “He knows you will if you truly want him.” I feel his eyes on me. “Do we truly want him that badly?”
