Page 124 of Fierce-Hyde

“And Elise and Gabe,” she said. “Have you heard about those two? They couldn’t even be in the same building, let alone the same room, for years. I meanyears. And if they were, everyone kind of stood back so they weren’t burned by the sparks flying. They were tense ones back then, now they are love ones.”

“I don’t think I knew that,” Tori said. “But I know you set them up.”

“We like doing things like that,” Carolyn said. “No harm in it.”

“No,” she said. “No harm. Everyone has their own set of boundaries, so it’s following those lines.”

She looked at Carolyn and the three of them laughed. “Heard loud and clear.”

They watched Tori return to Hyde.

“She’s a tough one to crack,” Carolyn said.

“She is,” she said. “Which makes her perfect for Hyde.”

“How is that?” Carolyn asked.

“Because he needs someone in his life who doesn’t always fall for his looks and charm.”

“From what we’ve heard, that might be the thing that could have caused the most problems with them,” Carolyn said.

“That and him putting his foot in his mouth,” she said, laughing. “He did that as a kid too.”

“Tori seems pretty flexible when it comes to Hyde too. This one has been interesting to at least watch from a distance.”

“That seems like the only thing we’ve been able to do,” Diane said.

38

HAVING REGRETS

Aweek later, Tori was going through her work and figuring out if everything was done since it was her last week here.

“How is everything going?” Brianne asked, walking into her office. Brianne had interviewed for her position. Molly hadn’t decided on whether to promote within or hire out.

It didn’t matter what Tori said, Molly was making the final decision.

“It’s going well,” she said.

“You haven’t heard anything, have you?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Molly isn’t letting me have any say in this. I put in a good word for you. I think it’d be great if she promoted you as she had me. It’s good for morale to promote from within, but there’s not much I can do.”

“I know Molly is bent you’re leaving,” Brianne said. “I heard she just wants to see all her options out there.”

“Which is her decision to do,” she said. “Listen, Brianne. This is horrible of me and don’t take it for anything other than I’m being a friend and think you’re one of my best workers.”

Brianne smiled. “I won’t. I like you and am going to miss you. It was fun when we worked together, but when you became my boss, it didn’t even bother me.”

Brianne had been here a few years and Tori had been shocked she got it over Brianne and that there weren’t any hurt feelings. But she was a few years older and had supervisory experience at a previous job.

“I’m glad,” she said. “But I’ve got your number. You’ve got mine. I want you to let me know if you’re ever looking or need anything.”

Brianne smiled. “Meaning if things don’t work out here, you might have something for me there?”

“I’m not promising anything,” she said. She’d be stupid to do that before she even started her new job. “Just saying, let me know if you need anything. It’s a big area and if I think I have a lot of contacts now, it’s nothing to what I’m going to get.”

“Thanks,” Brianne said. “I won’t bug you anymore.”

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