Page 87 of Friend Me

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Monday morning,I carried the weight of the weekend into the office. I hadn’t slept Sunday night, my brain running in exhausted circles and my chest tight with worry. Was I doing the right thing by keeping Dad at home with me? Watching him become someone I didn’t know was breaking my heart. How much longer could I do it before I kissed my own mental health goodbye?

But only an ungrateful daughter would wantto leave her ailing father. My singlefather who’d raised me alone since I was two. Who’d sacrificed everything—a second love, a social life, bigger dreams—for me. Even as I pushed through the revolving door at Synergy, I wanted to turn around and take the train back home just to hold his hand.

I couldn’t, though. Not only did I have work to do and a paycheck to earn, but I had to make things right with Tyler. I’d wanted to call him so many times over the weekend, either to talk about Dad or to take my mind off him; I wasn’t sure which. But I’d stopped, my fingers hovering over the screen. I always laid my problems at his feet. When was the last time I’d asked him about his life, his problems? Was I a terrible friend?

What if he didn’t want friendship or themoreI was ready to explore with him? Thinking about the angry words he’d spat at me outside Alicia’s house made my gut clench the way it had the morning after I’d drunk all the vodka.

I’d just set my bag on my desk when Jackson strode off the elevator. He stopped at my desk. “Marlee, I have a problem.”

“Good morning to you, too.” Despite the clench in my belly, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I loved solving Jackson’s problems.

“I may have forgotten to tell you that Alicia has an obstetrician appointment at two, and I’d promised her we’d go shopping for baby furniture after that. So we have to reschedule all my afternoon meetings.”

I tapped to open his calendar. “I’m on it. Don’t forget that Cooper’s leaving for Europe tonight. I’ll try to find fifteen minutes in your schedule for him; otherwise, I’ll set you a reminder to call him before he gets on the plane.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Marlee.” He grinned.

“I doubt you’ll be saying that at one-thirty when you’ve been back-to-back all morning and I’m pushing you out the door. Plus, you’re holding down the fort for Cooper this week while he’s in Europe.”

His face fell. “Remind me why I let him make me a VP again?”

“Because you love programming, this company, and the people who work here. You’re doing it for yourself, for Cooper, and even for me. Now go do your meditation while I untangle your calendar.”

He saluted me. “Yes, ma’am.”

Just like I’d predicted, he was tired and cranky by the time I shoved a granola bar and a cup of coffee into his hand and put him on the elevator to go meet Alicia.

When I returned to my desk, a new appointment had appeared on Jackson’s calendar for the next day, and the subject line caught my eye.Tyler Young interview for development manager.

I bit my lip to hold in my squee and texted him.

Me: Yay! I’m so glad you applied for the manager position! Want to come up and talk about it?

Tyler: Sure.

That had been almost too easy. A ready-made excuse to talk to him. Though why hadn’t he told me he’d decided to apply? Was he still that angry with me? I wished I hadn’t let so much time slip by. I wished I’d had the courage to talk to him last week.

Usually, I met challenges head-on. Work challenges. But throw in some emotions, and I got all tangled up. Like, it’d taken me three years to initiate Operation Prince Charming. And I still didn’t know what to do about Dad, who, if I was honest, had been declining ever since his accident. But I wasn’t going to let three years or even another week slip by without telling Tyler how I felt about him. He deserved to know that I was ready for more if he still wanted it.

I had time to arrange myself at my desk, ankles crossed, skirt smoothed, before the stairwell door opened and Tyler’s familiar sneaker squeak sounded. He’d cut his hair short, almost a crew cut. I missed the floppy waves, but I longed to run my fingers over the short, plush-looking hair over his ears.

He trudged to my desk. “Hey.” Wary. We were going with wary. “So you wanted to talk?”

I nodded. How did I talk to this version of Tyler, the one whose always-smiling mouth turned down into a frown, who stood a couple feet farther away from my desk than he usually did?

“Let’s go into Jackson’s office. He’s out for the day.” I led the way and shut the door. I flipped the switch that lowered the blinds. “I’m so happy you applied for the job.” Shit, I’d already said that.

He folded his arms and shrugged. “I figured it was worth a shot.”

“And see? They asked you to interview.”

“Yeah.”

Wow, okay. I wasn’t used to Terse Tyler. Maybe he just wanted me to get to the point. “Sit?” I gestured toward the sofa in Jackson’s seating area.

Without a word, he bypassed the sofa to sit in one of the wing chairs. I perched on the sofa right next to his chair and tugged my skirt over my knees. “I’m sorry you saw what you saw at Jackson and Alicia’s party. I—”

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