Suze returns with the telltale orange wrapper extended like a security blanket.
“Eat. Chocolate makes all things better.”
I smile at her. “Chocolate won’t make this better. Trust me.”
“Maybe he’s … changed?”
I look at Suze with an expression I’m certain tells her that’s not possible. There is no way. Logan Alexander is who he is, a dominant, perfect overachiever whose silent mission is to relegate me to second place wherever he sheds his radiant light.
“Okay. Okay,” Suze relents. “But still, Barnes is a big place to work. He specializes in another aspect of project work. It’s not like you two will actually be working together.” Suze’s face is soft and pleading. “At least we can hope for that, right?”
“Yes. Right. Sure. Of course. Anyway, I’ve been here longer. Darwin knows me and my work. I’m good.”
“Darn straight you’re good.”
I tear open the Reese's package and hand one to Suze. Then I slowly let my teeth sink into the other cup and close my eyes. Chocolate might not make everything better, but it’s definitely not hurting anything right now.
Chandra walks over. “What’s shakin’?”
Suze lowers her voice, to a conspiratorial level. “That guy? The hot one who Darwin just paraded around like a prize steed? He’s Olivia’s nemesis.”
“Whaaat? Shut the front door. Oh, Liv. Sorry, girl.”
They’ve all heard. Not that I sit around talking about Logan all the time, but he has come up in conversation here and there. And I didn’t hold back in telling my work besties about him. They had their own tales to tell—older siblings who overshadowed them or always let them take the fall for trouble around the house. Chandra has an ex who always compared her to other women. They get it.
“He looks so … harmless,” Chandra says.
“Those arms,wheweee. And that hair,” Suze says. “And he can wear a shirt, am I right?”
“Everyone’s wearing shirts,” I say, waving my hand around the room.
“Not like him,” Chandra adds, unhelpfully. Then she must see my irrepressible grimace, because she adds, “But in a very creepy, ugly, evil way. He’s hot until he opens his mouth, I’m sure.”
“Don’t be deceived,” I warn them.
They both nod in unison.
Thankfully, HR keeps Logan out of the main workspace for the duration of the day. He probably filled out forms and schmoozed Darwin right up until the moment they stepped onto the elevator to head home.
I had bigger things to focus on, like my actual job, so I spent the day working. I even worked through lunch with Suze, calling out for a DoorDash of quinoa bowls mid-day.
I’m halfway way home when I realize I never even told Megan about Logan’s reappearance, like a vampire who just won’t die. And I’m not talking Edward Cullen. If he showed up, I’d actually put some thought into what I wear to work. No. This is more of the Dracula version of vampires.
Maybe I ought to start wearing a garlic necklace to work.
I call Megan.
“Hey.”
“Hey. I’m so excited about your apartment!”
“Me too.” I almost forgot about that windfall after Logan showed up. Leave it to Megan to remind me of the sunny side of my life. “You’ll never guess what happened today at work.”
“You got a raise?”
“No.”
“A promotion?”