Page 11 of Before the Summer He Found Her

This has already gotten too personal.

“Well, thank you for your paranormal insight,” I say, attempting to reel this conversation back in.

“Oh, fuck, I’m sorry. I think I got carried away.”

“No, no, no, you’ve done nothing wrong,” I say with a slight chuckle, stressing each word to reassure her I mean this. “We’re talking about this because I wanted to know. I’m the one who got caught up. I sometimes forget we’re work associates when I’m talking to you.”

Maybe it’s the subject matter that we’ve been on, and my nerves, but the last bit falls out of my mouth before I can stop myself. Instantly, my insides tighten, and my throat constricts.

She works for you, Ezra!

Her smile deepens. “Oh, believe me, I understand. Talking to you has always been, well, not like talking to a boss or even a coworker. More like a friend I’ve somehow known a very long time, even if we hardly know anything about one another.”

It takes me a second to realize how hardI’msmiling. That my chest is entirely too warm given the lack of heat in this part of my house. The two of us are sitting here, on a remote call, miles and miles apart—staring at the other with big, goofy grins on our faces.

“Uh… uh… n-now,” I stumble, feebly attempting to get my head back on straight and forcing away the smile. I clear my throat.

Shit. Shit.Shit.

My mind draws to a complete blank. I have nothing. All words escape me.

Until I fall back on the only thing I know.

Work.

“Uh… uh… uh… the report I was working on this weekend,” I say. Yes, the fucking report. “Why don’t we discuss that before I take up too much of your time?”

Her smile fades into something more neutral, professional, and she gives me a thumbs up. “Right. Okay, let me pull up my notes.”

With that, although my mind is everywhere but on that damn report, we dive in. We act like we didn’t just have this personal, soul-deep conversation that brought us a million times closer.

Because I can’t do that with her.

I can’t. I really can’t.

For the next twenty minutes, I force myself to be her boss and forget about what I’ve just learned about—from both her and about myself.

CHAPTER FIVE

EZRA

I’m rushing to my car after work ends, phone in hand, dialing Jeff. Simultaneously, my boss Scott is calling, which is nothing out of the ordinary on a Monday. I push Scott through to voicemail—I’ll call him back after I handle my latest life crisis.

“Yo, man,” Jeff says on the fourth ring.

“What are you and Sasha doing right now?” I ask.

“Dunno dude. She’ll be home from work in half an hour. I’m waiting around at her place.”

“Stay there,” I say. “I’m heading over. We need to talk. Sheknowsme.”

“My man,” Jeff laughs. “You’ll have to be more specific. You have a new hot girlfriend?”

“What? No! Channah. One of the techs who works for me. The woman I saw when I used Sasha’s device. I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around all this, but it’s quite possible she truly saw me and that I’ve been to visit her more than once. Sasha’s device might not simply be read only. It fucking reads and writes.”

Bottles clank together. “Okay, okay, calm it down, brother. I’ll text Sasha now. Want a beer when you get here?”

***

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