Page 48 of The System

“Friends?”

“She’s straight, Dylan.”

“But you like her?”

“Yes.”

“As more than a friend?”

“Yes,” Carina admitted. “I don’t know her well yet, but I like what I know of her so far, and she’s beautiful and so smart. Plus, the way she argues or just knows what I’m about to argue – it’s really hot.” She laughed a little. “Like I’m playing verbal chess with her, and I love that. It’s not like I got that with Tinley or that Jessa provides anything but a good orgasm and a free glass of wine sometimes.”

“You need to be careful here, though,” Dylan told her.

“She’s straight,” she repeated. “So, it’s just an attempt at a friendship that might not even last beyond her, I don’t know, getting information out of me.”

“Do you think that’s what she’s doing?”

“No, I don’t,” Carina said with a smile. “I think she actually likes hanging out with me, too, and that if I called her now to see if she wanted to grab a drink tonight, she’d say yes if she was free.”

“Will you?”

“Will I what?”

“Call and ask her for a drink.”

“Not tonight. I’m slammed,” she replied. “I now have all this new stuff to review that you were so kind enough to bring me.”

“Sorry. I thought I was doing you a favor, bringing it over.”

“Oh, please. Your wife works here. You were just going to grab lunch with her and thought you’d bring this over since you’d already be here.”

“Don’t tell Ada, but on particularly hard days, I miss her, and seeing her midday like this helps.”

“Hard day?”

“I had to tell a mother that while I found the man who kidnapped her son about four years ago, her kid is not coming home, unfortunately.” Dylan looked down and ran her hands over her pants. “I hate days like today. In my line of work, it’s not like I get to deliver good news very often, but watching a parent burst into tears when they realize they’ll never see their child again is one of the hardest parts about it.”

“I know what that’s like,” Carina said.

“Hey, I’m here,” Ada said as she walked into her office. “And look who I ran into in the hallway downstairs.”

Carina looked up, and her eyes went wide when she saw Tinley standing behind Ada, holding two sandwiches in her hands.

“Tinley?”

“Hi. I didn’t know we were doing lunch,” Tinley said. “But Ada told me she and Dylan were joining you, so I thought I’d come up here, too, and we could all eat together like old times.”

“Yes, old times,” Ada said, giving Carina an apologetic look as she sat down next to Dylan. “Hey, babe. I got you your favorite.” She handed Dylan a pre-wrapped sandwich.

“Thanks,” Dylan replied, leaning over and giving Ada a kiss.

“I grabbed you the tuna salad,” Tinley said and placed it on Carina’s desk.

“Tuna salad?”

“I was going to grab you the turkey Swiss,” Ada said. “But–”

“I took the last one.” Tinley held up her own sandwich. “It was the only relatively healthy sandwich down there. Plus, this one doesn’t have mayo. All the rest do.”

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