Page 43 of Between the Paragraphs

I don’t have time to dwell on this right now, though. Since my work has been interrupted, I decide to head out early for my lunch date with Nikki. Maybe she can help me work through this. I take my time walking to our favorite café. I’m more than ready to leave the office behind for a little while. This isn’t normally the case.

When I enter the café, I see Nikki already sitting. Maybe her day’s going about as well as mine. I make my way to her, and she gives me a huge smile as I lean down and give her a hug before taking my seat.

“You look stressed,” she says in lieu of a greeting. We know each other far too well to ever hold back what we’re feeling or thinking about.

I let out a sigh as I lean back in my chair. “Robert’s keeping something from me, and I have no idea what it is. He’s disturbingly obsessed with Mason, especially with me doing an interview with him. On top of that there have been a lot of closed doors at the office. I can’t help but wonder what in the hell is going on.”

Nikki frowns, concern on her face. I love that even though this has nothing to do with her, just my worry is enough to make her feel fully involved. It’s so nice to have her ear to bend. It’s already making me feel better without any solutions being offered.

“It sounds suspicious to me. Have you heard any rumors?” she asks.

“No. I haven’t heard anything. If something’s going on, Robert’s keeping a tight lid on it. I might be overreacting. Maybe he really is just a super fan of Mason,” I say, though I don’t believe it.

“You aren’t a paranoid person. There’s something going on, but I don’t have a clue what it is, or what in the world it would have to do with Mason. He’s not even in the publishing world. It doesn’t make any sense at all,” Nikki says.

“What if they want me fired?” I’ve never been fired from any job I’ve ever held.

She immediately shakes her head. “You’re the best they have. There’s no chance of that. They know you’d be swept up as soon as you walked out the door. Then you’d be competing against them, which is a lose, lose for the company. Maybe you should march into Robert’s office and demand he tell you what’s going on.”

“I’ve thought about talking to him about it, not exactly being demanding, but what if I’m just being paranoid and he loses confidence in me?”

“There’s a difference in being paranoid and proactive,” she tells me.

I give her a nod. “I guess I need to think more on this. If I’m still feeling this way next week when I come into the office, I’ll talk to him,” I say.

We continue to chat about workplace drama for a moment longer, then push it aside. Our lunches aren’t supposed to be about work. They’re our time to catch up and talk about our personal lives. There are many times my personal life is boring, though, because I love my work so much that it’s all I want to focus on. That’s where the challenge comes in, to find something other than work to enjoy.

By the time our food comes, I feel lighter. I give her a smile. “Enough work drama. Tell me what’s going on with you this week.”

A mischievous smile spreads across her face. I know whatever she’s about to say will be good, a heck of a lot more interesting than my work stress.

“I had an incredibly hot date with Bentz on Saturday,” she says before munching on a fry.

“I want to hear all about it, the more details the better,” I demand.

She leans closer, not wanting to be overheard. This is why we like to walk in the park after our lunches. There’s a far better chance we won’t have anyone listening in. We most likely won’t have time today since I’m already behind on work.

“We went out for an ordinary dinner, but then we went back to his place, and that’s where things got a heck of a lot more interesting.”

Nikki isn’t one to casually sleep with men so this tells me she’s more interested in Bentz than I realized. I lean closer. This is far more interesting than my workplace drama.

“Did you stay all night?”

Nikki shakes her head. She has this strange rule that even if she does sleep with a man she won’t stay the night with him. She says that’s for married people. She’s never broken this rule, not that she’s had that many men she’s slept with.

“No, but I did mostly skinny dip with him in his pool,” she says.

“And . . .” The word trails off. She’s sure taking her time with this.

“After topless swimming in the pool, a whole lot of touching, and a couple of orgasms, I left him while he was begging for me to stay,” she says, licking her lips in satisfaction.

“So, you did have sex.”

She again shakes her head. “We did everything but sex. It was incredible. That man knows how to use his tongue,” she says with a sigh.

I wave my hand in front of my hot cheeks. “Dang, Nikki, you’re torturing the poor man,” I tell her with a laugh.

“Trust me, he wasn’t tortured at all. A couple of those orgasms were on his end. He definitely wanted more, but he also didn’t push me, which I very much appreciated.”

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