Page 77 of Embracing Love

Chapter 32

“Hello stranger!”

Nadine breezed into Tanya’s office with her auburn curls flying behind her like wildfire.

Tanya rose to her feet in surprise, and felt Nadine’s arms around her. “I didn’t expect you to come in today!” She exclaimed, “But I am so happy to see you.”

If anything, having Nadine here would lift her spirits. “You’re alone? No Zimmerman in tow to ‘fix’ things for us?” she asked peeking behind Nadine’s shoulder.

Nadine laughed and waived away her concerns. “No, I’ve already told you. I’m not here to fix things. There isn’t anything to fix as far as Flight is concerned. I know you don’t believe me but I did bring my visit forward, as I keep telling you. If there is a surprise it’s that Ethan’s coming over too.”

“Ooooh! Really?” Tanya warmed to the news, but again, it was news to her. “That’s wonderful. When?”

Nadine looked at her and frowned. “Tomorrow. It was a last minute decision. But I thought you knew?”

Tanya shook her head, and Nadine continued. “He’s been working hard with the furniture company and they want more tables! He wants a break, he told me. Paris in the summer seemed the perfect escape.”

“Nice.”

“And Sandra will be here at the end of the week, as you already know and then she’s taking a few weeks off from work. It made sense to come now rather than later.”

Tanya looked puzzled. “What’s going on with Sandra? Is it still the same thing as before?”

Nadine smiled at her. “You’ll have to ask her—you’ll have plenty of time together.”

Tanya rolled her eyes and groaned. “You’ll still be here then, right?” She didn’t relish the idea of spending time alone entertaining Sandra. Even Thierry would be hard pressed to keep the woman happy.

Nadine nodded. “I’ll still be here. But don’t worry about Sandra, it’s all worked out for her. You’ll see. Hey, listen—what’s this thing with Gabriel you conveniently forgot to tell me about?”

Tanya’s ears perked up. “What thing with Gabriel?”

“How long have the two of you been together?” Nadine angled her head, gave her a raised eyebrow.

Tanya frowned. “We’re not together.” She replied truthfully.

“Really?” asked Nadine sarcastically.

“Really.”

“So how come we’re all meeting up sometime—the four of us?”

“Which four?” This was ridiculous, she had no idea what Nadine was talking about. “Has Thierry put you up to this?”

“Thierry? No.” Nadine replied, perplexed. “He hasn’t mentioned this to you at all?”

“Who hasn’t mentioned what to me?” Tanya sat down and tried frantically to remember if she’d completely forgotten an email or a recent phone conversation that clearly was of great importance. “Nadine? What’s going on?”

“Ethan and Gabriel. I thought you knew.”

“What about Ethan and Gabriel?” she asked, as Nadine continued to stare at her in confusion.

Impatient, Tanya asked, “You’re all best friends all of a sudden?”

Startled by the tone of Tanya’s voice, Nadine replied. “Well, we did get to spend a few evenings with him when he was in San Francisco. Luckily that was before the whole legal stuff with Spiral blew up.”

“So, what are you saying about Ethan and Gabriel?”

“Just that when Gabriel found out Ethan was coming over he suggested we could meet up, now that all the problems with Spiral—”

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