Page 24 of Always. Forever.

“I missed you too, Rach,” I say as we walk side by side to my office.

“What’s your morning looking like?” I ask her with a smirk. She knows when I’m not in the office I miss out on a lot of the goss, and believe it or not, a lot goes on in this accounting firm. So when I am in the office, we always book an hour out in our schedules in the morning for a “work catch-up,” when, in fact, it’s her telling me everything that has happened and what I have missed.

She opens the door to my office and gives me a mischievous smile. I look over at my desk, and sitting there are two plates with my favorite pastries from my favorite bakery down the road.

“I already checked both of our schedules and saw we had a spare hour first thing this morning.” She winks.

“You’re the best, you know that.”

The cinnamon hits my nose before I even arrive at my desk.Ahh, my favorite coffee cake with cinnamon crumble.This girl knows me too well.

We sit down and dig into our pastries and sip our coffee. I should come to the office more. Being at home is a lot more stressful and quite isolating. I love working here and love all my colleagues. Though, I wouldn’t get this treatment if I came in all the time, so I think I will stick to popping in now and then.

I raise my eyebrows up to Rachel while she is stuffing her face with a waffle, and I laugh. “You enjoying that?”

She holds her mouth, trying to hold her laugh in without spitting her food out. She takes a big swallow before washing some down with her coffee.

“As soon as I laid it out on your desk, I wanted to dig in but had to wait for your ass, do you know the torture of it just sitting there and smelling the way it does.”

“Okay, well now that you got your taste, spill, I want it all.”

She nods, finishing another mouthful.

“I slept with Harley,” she rushes out. I’m taken aback so much I choke.

Rachel leans over, smacking my back. I get myself under control and grab the napkin, dabbing at my mouth.

I look up at her with wide eyes. “You what!?” I shriek.

“Shhh, keep it down, will you?”

“Harley? Really?”

“I know, I know. It was one of the nights we were here late and—”

“Wait, wait, wait. You banged Harley in the office!?” I smile, this is by far the juiciest gossip I have had since working here.

“Ry, you cannot say a word.” She points at me, trying to hold a stern face.

“As if I would. However, I need every scrap of detail, or I’ll go ask Harley,” I sass.

Rachel squints at me. “I should have done this over drinks. Why did I blurt that out over pastries and coffee, who does that?” She slumps her head on the desk.

I wrap my hands around the top of her bun and pull on it so she sits up.

“You’re not getting away with this. Spill, right now!”

She sighs. “Okay, well . . .”

She takes a sip of her coffee, trying to prolong this as much as possible, so I lean across and take the coffee from her as well as her pastries. She glares at me as a kid would if their mom took their favorite toy away.

I fold my arms and raise an eyebrow at her. “You will get it back once you have told me everything.”

She throws her arms up in the air. “Ahh, okay. Yes, we slept together in the office, on his desk, if you must know. Well, not on it, me over it with him behind me . . . But this isn’t the first time.”

I stare at her, my eyes wide. “What, well how many times? Rachel, how long has this been going on for?”

I peek down at her lap, through my glass desk, and she’s twisting her ring around her fingers. This is not like Rachel; she is as loud and confident as they come. Her and Toni together are like a volcano erupting, two of the loudest personalities—it’s enough to give you a migraine sometimes, believe me.

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