Page 51 of Nothing But the Truth

Oliver held out a fork. “Well, yes. It was supposed to be bigger, but...” He shrugged without needing to explain further.

Mikayla looked like she was only halfway there, with one eye on her phone, and Annie looked like she wanted to run. Lucy had to give her serious credit for even hanging around the office after her email. She had been sure she’d have to hunt her down to talk to her about her plan, but there she was at Lucy’s sad little office birthday party. Her makeup showed telltale signs of having been dabbed with bathroom tissue; most of it was worn off. She cautiously met Lucy’s gaze, as if she expected to be reprimanded.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked her.

She nearly flinched in surprise. “You’re not mad at me?”

“Quite the opposite, actually. I’m indebted to you for speaking up, and I have an idea I want to talk to you about. Do you have ten minutes?”

Annie gaped, causing her to stumble over her words. “I, um... HR told me I should take the rest of the day off, but I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me before I left.”

Oliver placed a small plate with a wobbling piece of cake on it in Lucy’s hands. She jammed her fork into it and took a bite. “I told you: I’m not mad,” she said around a mouthful—white cake with strawberry buttercream filling, her favorite. “We can go to my office, then you can sneak out the back door. I just need you to sign off on something.”

Annie’s face shifted to half-nervous, half-intrigued.

“This cake is delicious,” Lucy complimented, and took another bite.

“Of course it is,” Oliver said, scooping his own forkful. “Only the best at my events.”

“You planned this?”

“Yes. Why do you sound surprised?”

Lucy shrugged. “It’s just that women are always expected to plan office social events. It’s nice to see someone else do it for once.”

“Amen,” Mikayla said through her own mouthful, one eye still on her phone. Annie was the only one not eating, and Lucy couldn’t blame her if she’d lost her appetite over the past hour.

Chase materialized at the kitchen entrance and frowned at the scene. “Well, this is a poor turnout.”

On another day, Lucy would have wanted to shove her cake plate into his face and watch him pick pink frosting from his eyebrows. But given their truce and the fact that she hoped he’d support her plan when she told him about it, dessert warfare did not tempt her.

He entered the room and helped himself to a piece of cake. She wondered when the last time was that he ate a carb and decided that the cake binge was a sign his visit with HR went much like hers.

Behind Chase’s back, Oliver and Lucy had a silent conversation.

Sorry; I had to invite everyone, Oliver said with a roll of his eyes.

Lucy shrugged. It’s fine. We’re cool now.

What?!Oliver’s brows shot up. His eyes narrowed. You better explain later.

I will, Lucy promised with a nod.

“Chase, can you come by my office in ten minutes? It’ll be quick.”

He checked his watch with a flip of his wrist. “Yeah, sure.”

“Thank you.” She dropped her empty plate on the island with a clatter. “And thank you, Oliver, for planning this event.”

Oliver’s eyes narrowed further with suspicion, having just witnessed the most cordial exchange between Lucy and Chase he’d seen in years.

“Annie? Are you ready?” Lucy asked.

She nervously nodded, and Lucy wasn’t sure if she was nervous about their meeting or nervous about walking through the gossip lying in wait on the way to her office. There was only one route to get there, but at least they could face it together.

Lucy held out her arm because she knew if their roles were flipped, she’d want something to hold on to.

Annie looked at her, at first uncertain but then with a swell of relief. She took her arm, and they left the kitchen with their elbows linked.

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