AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sophie laughed as she and Sue walked up to the giant bell on the wall and took turns ringing it. “I’ll never get sick of that sound,” Sue said.
“We should go for a quick after-dinner drink to celebrate,” Caroline said. It was a Monday, and they almost never went out after work on a Monday, but it sounded like a good idea to Sophie.
“Did someone say after work drinks?” Rick grinned. “First round is on me. Let’s go.”
“Sue, can you come for a drink?” Sophie asked.
Sue quickly texted someone, and a moment later answered the question. “I’m in. Probably just for one though.”
“Tessa? You coming?” Caroline asked.
Tessa glanced at Rick. “Come on Tessa, I think you’re going to be next to ring that bell.”
She smiled. “Sure, let’s go.”
They went to the closest bar, the place that Rick loved, and it was quiet. Mondays were quiet just about everywhere. They gathered around two cocktail tables in the bar and had the whole area to themselves. Sophie noticed that Tessa seemed in a better mood than usual. She was laughing and joking. She was also sitting next to Rick and Sophie also noticed a bit later, as they had a second round of drinks, that Tessa kept touching Rick’s arm when she talked to him. Tessa was someone who talked with her hands, but Sophie thought her touching his arm like that was interesting. And Rick didn’t seem to mind the attention. He was laughing and joking with her and the rest of them.
They stayed for a little over two hours. Sophie, Sue, and Caroline were all drinking red wine. Tessa and Rick were both drinking a good bourbon on the rocks. Sophie was starting to feel hungry but didn’t want to stay for another drink. Sue checked the time and took her last sip of wine. “I have to run. Joe is waiting on dinner for me.” She opened her purse to take out some cash, but Rick waved her money away.
“Drinks are on me. Good job today, ladies.”
“Thank you,” Sue said. She smiled as she turned Sophie’s way. “And I hope that’s the first of many deals with you. Congrats to both of us!”
“Yes, hopefully the first of many,” Sophie agreed. “I should probably head home too.”
“I’m ready, too,” Caroline said and looked at Tessa to see if she was going to join them. She still had almost a half a glass of bourbon left. Rick’s glass was empty.
“I’m not in any hurry,” he said. “If you want to take your time with that, I can order another.”
Tessa nodded. “I’ll see you guys later at home.”
It was almost nine by the time Tessa got home. Sophie and Caroline were watching TV in the living room and Caroline raised her eyebrows at Tessa.
“So, is there something going on with you and Rick? I noticed some kind of vibe there.”
Tessa shrugged. “Rick is always flirty like that. Not sure it means anything. Though he is a lot of fun. And I’ve always found him attractive,” she admitted.
Caroline and Sophie exchanged glances. “Rick’s a great guy, a lot of fun. Smart and successful—but he’s also your boss. That might be kind of sticky. Not to mention he and his girlfriend just broke up because he didn’t want to get married. I’d hate to see you expecting something that might not be possible,” Caroline said gently.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I’m just having fun for now and we’ll see where it goes.” Tessa yawned. “I’m off to bed.”
“What do you think of that?” Caroline asked once Tessa was out of the room.
“I’m not sure. Maybe they’d be good for each other. Or like you said maybe it will be a hot mess.”
“I guess time will tell,” Caroline said. It was clear that she didn’t think it was a good match, at all.
Chapter Forty-Five
The rest of the week flew by. Sophie was so busy with new clients and showings from her existing listings. Neither Caroline or Sophie knew exactly what was going on with Tessa and Rick, but Tessa had been out late every day that week. They’d both been up when she came home the night before and she’d admitted that she’d had dinner and drinks with Rick.
“It was kind of a last-minute thing. We were both in the office and it was late. We went to an Italian restaurant that he loved, and it was really good. We split a bottle of wine and then lingered over coffee and dessert.”
“Have you kissed him?” Caroline asked. Sophie loved that Caroline was so blunt as Sophie was dying to know too but never could have asked Tessa that question.
Tessa frowned. “No, not yet. I thought it might happen last night, but it was just a romantic dinner, great conversation and then a goodbye hug. I figure he’s taking it slow because we work together.”
Caroline nodded. “That’s probably it.”
