Page 24 of Boss with Benefits

"I'm starving," I said to Priya, who was twirling in a circle next to me. Her derby name was Piranha Priya "Flesh Eater."

"There's an Italian deli down the block that has the best dulce de leche."

"That sounds too sweet. And not very Italian."

Priya shoved a few strands of her sweaty brown hair out of her eyes.

"I think one of its owners is Hispanic. There's a variety of stuff."

I shot the rest of my water back, glided out into the steamy night, and followed Priya to the deli.

Priya was right. The food was delicious. I ordered a rice and bean dish and the dulce de leche. The place was cute. Modern, but it still had the nostalgic feel of an old-school deli with a lunch counter and tables sprinkled throughout. We chose a seat outside at one of the sidewalk tables.

"How's your mom?" Priya asked, shoveling another bite of the creamy dessert into her mouth.

Priya and I initially bonded over our Indian heritage. Mainly the food we grew up eating and the many cousins and aunties always in our lives. I’d been the beloved odd girl out in the community up in Syracuse where I grew up since I looked nothing like any of my mom's family and friends.

Not that I’d been ostracized or treated badly. It was the opposite. I was a unique and cool addition to the community. A Chinese-White girl who knew how to wrap a saree and drape a dupatta.

"Exhausted. And she won't take a damn vacation. Which is why I'm saving up to get her ass on that Alaskan cruise she's always wanted to go on."

"Can't she afford it? She's a doctor."

"She'll never make the effort and book it, but if I've already paid and got the okay from her boss, then she'll have to go. It's my evil plan," I said.

"Are you still working at the Pilates place?" Priya put her fork down and sat back, her hand resting on her stomach.

"Yep. The owner is grooming me."

Priya sat up, alarmed. "What?"

"Oh, no," I laughed, realizing my wording. "I mean, she's been teaching me everything about the business, hoping to pass it on to me."

"Is that what you want?" Priya asked.

"I used to think so, but since I started working at Dreamary, I'm not as excited about it now."

"Tell me more." Priya leaned forward. She was a therapist and often asked these open-ended questions. She reminded me of Lexi in that way.

"I used to want to run a place like this.” I looked sideways into the deli. “Not a deli, but a business that felt like a family, you know."

"The guy whose family owns this place is kind of famous," Priya said.

"Really?" I asked, my mind shifting to thoughts of Dreamary and how it had started to feel a little like a family. I already knew many of the employees because of Eva, but now that I'd spent time with Lexi and Peyton, I was feeling more at home there.

Except the whole dropping a grenade between the boss and me. I mean, all families have problems, right?

Priya was still talking, and I was half listening, thinking about the mess I'd made, when Priya said, "...and it's called something likeMissing Girl."

"What did you say?" I asked, my attention fully on her.

"That guy whose family owns this, he solved that cold case about those missing twin sisters. The second season was about a young real estate agent who went missing in the nineties. She went to show a new client a house and she was never seen again. I think the podcast is calledMissing Girls."

I shot my head around, sweeping the inside of the deli for Derrick. This was his parents' place?

"I used to be obsessed with true crime," Priya said. "Now it depresses me."

Priya shoved her trash in the bin near the door and slung her messenger bag over her shoulder.

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