Page 102 of Friend Me

“Are you okay? You look pale.”

“I’m fine. Thanks.” I stared at Princess Leia. What was she telling me?

“It was weird that he took all his toys.”

“His toys?” The few times I’d been down here, I hadn’t paid attention. I certainly hadn’t cataloged the contents of his cube.

“He has a whole collection—Yoda, Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Boba Fett, Jabba the Hutt. He only left Leia here. Maybe because she’s broken. He was about to throw away Han Solo, but Grant asked for him.” She pointed at a different cube, and I spotted the action figure leaning against a potted succulent.

I walked across the aisle, pulled the tiny piece of plastic out of my pocket, and fitted the blaster into Leia’s hand. She wore the same white gown and braided hair as I had on Halloween. But even tiny Leia looked stronger, surer, clear-eyed. She knew what she wanted, and she went after it. And she was smart enough to want the right things.

“Hey, you fixed her. I’ll email him and let him know. Or maybe you should email him. He might want her back now.”

My belly burned like it’d taken a blaster shot. No, he didn’t want her back. That much was clear. If he had, I wouldn’t have had to find out he’d left from Sam. I sniffed.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. The dust is making my eyes water.” I kept my back to Sam, but my voice was high and strained.

“Oh. Okay. I don’t have any tissues, but there’s some in the bathroom.”

“Thanks.”

I picked up Princess Leia. She’d kissed both Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Fortunately, she’d figured out she and Luke were better as friends before they’d become lovers. Leaving out the he’s-actually-her-brother squick factor, I’d always thought she’d made a mistake. Han Solo didn’t really love her back; not in the way she needed. Luke was the one who was always there for her, honest and true.

Just like Tyler.

Until I’d screwed it all up.

And now he was gone. For how long?

My knees wobbled, and I grasped the back of his chair.Breathe. Marlee Rice, executive assistant to the co-founder, couldn’t lose her shit in the middle of the cube farm.

Even if my heart had just crumbled to dust in my chest.

* * *

On my waydown to the lobby, I texted Alicia.Can you talk?

My phone rang as soon as I stepped off the elevator. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Alicia said. “I guess I was expecting you to want to talk, but I didn’t think you’d find out so soon.”

“You didn’t think I’d find what out?” I pushed open the door to the courtyard, which was cold, damp, and deserted. I shivered.

“Oh. Nothing.”

“No. We’ve been friends too long for that. What do you know?”

She was silent for a moment. “You can’t tell anyone. No one knows yet.”

“No one knowswhat,Alicia? Is Tyler okay?” A tiny droplet of water landed on my cheek. It wasn’t exactly rain; more like the fog had started to liquefy.

“He’s fine. He’s good, I hear. Jamila saw him. They met down in Austin. I wouldn’t know, except she asked me for a reference. She offered him a job, and he accepted.”

“He accepted? You mean he’ll be working at Jamila’s office in San Francisco?” That wouldn’t be so bad. He wouldn’t come up to my desk every day, but we could meet for lunch a few days a week.

“No. The job is in Austin. She’s opening a second office there.”

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