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"Where are your shoes?"
She stares down at her toes, looking confused. "I'm not sure."
It's work, but I manage to hide my smile. "I thought the new shoes were more comfortable?"
She shrugs. "They are. But I think better with them off. Ready to go? I thought we could head up together."
"Head up?"
"Upstairs, to meet the guys." Right. Because I have a husband now, and he's up there right now, waiting for me.
She grabs my coat, and tucks it under her arm, then waits patiently for me to gather the rest of my stuff. The phone dings again, and I visibly flinch before shoving it to the bottom of my bag. Maya, as forgetful as she is, is also incredibly observant. "What's that? What's going on there? Why do you look like someone peed on your shoes?"
Peed on my shoes? I nod toward the elevator, and she turns to walk with me. "You don't have to tell me anything. It's not my business. But you're like...my sister-in-law, even though I'm not actually married to Zach. Still, though, I think it counts. If you want to talk, I'm here."
The office is empty, everyone gone home for the night. There's no one around to hear. And keeping things to myself is a pretty bad habit. But maybe it is one I should break. The worst that could happen is she judges me...which is terrifying.
"My brother keeps texting me. We don't have a great relationship."
She scowls and glances at me out of the corner of her eye. "Define not great. Be specific."
I crack a smile at that. "You sound just like Jonas."
"I know," she says cheerily, the scowl falling away. "That's my favorite phrase of his. It's just so useful." She veers off and peers into a potted plant near the elevator, then wanders back to me. The woman has absolutely no clue where her shoes are. "So spill. If you want to. If you don't, then we'll just ride quietly upstairs. No speaking. No eye contact. We'll just pretend I never asked."
"He threw a hot cup of coffee at me. And threatened me."
She stops, finger on the elevator button, the up arrow glowing red. "Excuse me? He assaulted you?"
That word assault, is jarring. I've always thought of assault as what those boys did to me that night so long ago. To hear it in the context of my relationship with my brother is weird. "I guess...he did. It's the first time he did something like that. He was upset."
"About?"
Her gaze is warm, supportive, and completely nonjudgmental. So I open my mouth and tell her all of it. By the time we're stepping off the elevator on the executive floor, she's shaking her head. "Wow. That's a lot."
"Yeah, it is." We wander slowly past all the brother's offices, heading toward Ransom's. All the men gather there after work to talk, and...I don't know what else they do, actually. But it's a nice tradition. I can't imagine wanting to be in a room with my brother every day.
We stop at Maya's office. Through her glass wall, I spot Cara sitting in her cubby next door with her bare feet on her desk, a mug in her hand. She waves us over tiredly. Maya dumps my coat on her desk, then takes my purse and drops that on the desk too, then we join Cara.
"Pick a spot and relax," she says with a yawn. She takes another sip of her steaming coffee, and sighs in appreciation.
"Rough day?" I ask, taking the free chair against the wall. Maya climbs up onto Cara's desk and crosses her legs like she's about to start a meditation. She's so at ease here, even though she's only been working here a few months. Me? I can't imagine putting my feet on someone else's desk. I can't imagine sitting here completely comfortable. What does that say about me? Shouldn't I be able to relax with these women, who have been nothing but kind?
Cara yawns again, and nods. "Ransom's determined to get the new headquarters built so we've been going over proposals all day. The man is fixating."
"He wants a new home for all of you...all of us, I guess."
"Yeah," she says with a sigh. "He does. The man is single-minded when he wants something. It's a quality that annoys the hell out of me as much as it impresses me."
"Are you close to hammering things out?" I ask.
"I think so. We've got it narrowed down to two. I have my favorite, but we'll see what way he goes.” Her eyes narrow on me. “What's up with you two? Going to gather your men? Zach's in there," she says, tilting her head to Ransom's office, "but Jonas hasn't —“
She stops as the door down the hall opens, and Jonas rushes out. Cara cackles, drops her feet off her desk, and stands. "Here we go."
Jonas is speed-walking toward us. I stand too, alarmed. Something's wrong.
Cara steps into the hallway to block his path. He growls at her, and tries to sidestep, but she blocks his way. "Hey, Jonas. Nice to see you! How was your day? Did you make us a bunch of money?" He sidesteps again, and so does she. They're locked in an odd dance, and I drop back into my chair. Whatever the problem is, clearly, it's not an emergency.
