Page 97 of The Relationship Clause

I chuckle along with everyone else and watch on my phone as Marlee rolls her eyes and flicks her newly purple-tinted hair over her shoulder.

“Is she smiling, Junie?” Pete asks.

“I plead the fifth.”

“Marlee!”

“Fine, I’m smiling.” Marlee does, in fact, smile, but crosses her eyes at the same time. I snort but try to shove the rest of my laughter away. In truth, I don’t care whether Marlee’s smiling or not. I only care that she’s here. Her and all the rest of these people gathered in front of my little house.

They’re all here on this perfect spring day. All of my friends. Our friends. Mine and Owen’s.

Six months ago, I never would have believed I could keep this many relationships intact for longer than a few months, but here I am. I gaze at the view through my phone at each of their faces individually. Owen, Shane, Pete and his wife and niece, the new friends I’ve made at work, Summer, Indigo, and Averie, and, of course, Kiera. Maybe to some people, this gathering wouldn’t seem like anything to be impressed over, but to me, they are living proof of how much growing I’ve done.

“You better get in this picture too, Juniper,” Owen says.

A tiny shiver races down my spine like it always does whenever he calls me by my full name. It never gets old. I share a look with him. A look that kind of turns into a moment. The kind of moment where I’m envisioning what I want to do with him later after everyone else goes home.

“Whew, is it getting hot in here, or is that Junie and Owen?” Shane says.

“Ew, please stop. My poor ears,” whines Kiera, semi-joking. She makes a face like she’s going to be sick, and everyone laughs while my cheeks erupt with heat.

Summer comes to my rescue. “Come on, let’s take the picture!”

“Yes, before the pastries cool off too much,” Pete’s wife says.

“The sun’s in my eyes; I don’t know how much longer I can smile like this,” Marlee whines.

Shane points at me. “If I don’t get a warm pastry, someone’s getting fired.”

“Yeah, yeah, Boss.”

That’s another change I’ve had to get used to.

After confirming that we would not be breaking up anytime in the near future, Owen and I had a long chat about the situation at work. Company policy wouldn’t allow me to work under him if we were going to be dating, but he didn’t have another opening I was qualified for. The idea of completely quitting and getting an entirely different job made me sick to my stomach though. For a while, we didn’t know what to do, so we ended up talking to HR about the situation, and it was actually Summer who came up with the solution.

I could work under Shane.

Since he runs an entirely different side of Em3rge, it wouldn’t be violating any policy. Owen wasn’t thrilled about the idea at first (due to the whole briefly dating thing), but once I convinced him of all the perks of me staying at Em3rge, he agreed it would work. It didn’t take much convincing to get Shane on board either.

Although he and Owen are completely different bosses, it hasn’t been that big of an adjustment. Owen calls the way Shane works “annoying,” but I find it oddly entertaining.

I used to think Shane was kind of flippant and a little too casual. Where Owen was streamlined and focused at work, Shane was true to his golden-retriever-like personality, bouncing from one thing to the next like a dog chasing a tennis ball. He’s always bobbing his head to music blaring in his office, swiveling around in his office chair, and writing ten new sticky notes before he accomplishes the one sticky note I told him to focus on that day. He’s laid back and easily distracted.

But now, I see that what I mistook for flippancy was actually his highly intelligent brain constantly moving from one thing to the next. He’s constantly thinking of new ideas for the company, and he always has a new string of code he’s working on “for fun.”

I’ve had to learn how to go with the flow, and at the same time, how to help him focus when he needs to. It’s a challenge, but one I’m enjoying. And, whenever I feel a little overwhelmed or I’m having a bad day, I know I can always take the elevator upstairs to pop in on Owen and his new, much older, no-nonsense secretary.

Am I going to be a secretary forever? I’m not sure.

But I’m happy with the stage of life I’m in, so I’m not worried. I’ve even started taking a finance class online. Everything in my life feels like it’s finally settling into place.

“Okay, okay.” I set my phone on the tripod, adjusting its height, and yes, I did buy the tripod for this exact occasion. “Oh, Kiera, you’re too tall. I can barely see Summer. Move over there beside Shane.” Kiera pauses like she might argue, but then moves where I asked, avoiding a couple of puddles left over from a recent spring rain and settling in beside Shane.

After a bit more shuffling, everything looks perfect. I’m about to hit the button and run to my spot, but Pete waves his hand.

“Hold on, hold everything. Almost forgot.” Then, from behind his back, he pulls out a red ribbon and the most enormous pair of gold scissors I’ve ever seen.

My jaw drops. “Pete! You didn’t have to bring those! It’s a housewarming party. I’m not opening a business.”

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