Page 62 of Pretty Little Thing

Fifteen

Clive

“Hey,Clive. Are you finished with those payroll sheets yet?”

Ali speaks to me over the wall between our desk.

I type a little faster, inputting the last line of numbers to complete the task. “As… a… matter… of fact.” I hit save and close it. “I just finished. Syncing with the server now.”

Ali hops up to look at me over the wall. “Really?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Not bad, temp. You’re quick. Quicker than Ira, to be honest…”

“Thanks,” I say.

She stretches her arms over her head. “All right. Just need to finalize, send to the boss lady, and we’re done for the day. Might make it home before my kids for once.”

Ali mumbles a little more to herself before scuttling off down the hall toward the restrooms.

Getting out of here early wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, truth be told.

Tonight, I have a sub to seduce.

My desk phone rings. I reach to answer it, quickly clearing my throat. “Accounting,” I say.

“Hey, it’s me.”

I lean back. “What can I do for you, Ms. Payne? Ali just stepped out…”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve been waiting for her to go pee or something for like three hours.”

“Okay…” I chuckle.

Nora sighs. “Look, I hate to do this, but I have to cancel tonight,” she says.

I twirl my pen in my fingers. “Something come up?” I ask.

“No, not exactly. More like I made plans with you and almost stood up one of my closest friends by accident. She has a book signing tonight. Been planning it for weeks and I promised I’d be there. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.” My gut twists with disappointment. “Book signing? That sounds fun.”

“Yeah. They usually are.”

“Is she a big deal, or…?”

Nora chuckles. “Actually, kind of. She’s Melanie Rose.”

I stop twirling my pen. “Melanie Rose?”

“Have you heard of her?”

I sit forward. “Yeah, I’ve heard of her.”

“She’s the one who recommended Red Brick to me, actually.”

“You don’t say?”

---