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Sam nodded. “Yeah—well—” She cleared her throat, pushing away those old memories. “Sort of. I mean—I own it.”

“Oh,” Liz exclaimed, a look of surprise filling her features. “Wow, look at you! I never would’ve expected that.”

Sam gave her a tight smile as she nodded, scratching the back of her neck. Somehow, even as an adult, she still reminded her exactly of the young girl she’d spent endless days and nights with. Hell, she’d probably spent more nights at Lizzie’s house than her own.

“Well, I’m relieved,” Liz said with a chuckle. “When they called on such short notice, I thought they might rush over some intern or something.”

“Oh, so you run the—”

“I manage the reporting department here,” Liz cut in quickly with a broad grin.

“Great,” Sam said, hoping her feigned enthusiasm sounded more convincing to other ears. It wasn’t an entirely unwelcome surprise. But still, being forced to be around a constant reminder of the days after her mother had died wasn’t exactly what she would’ve chosen.

Especially with how things had ended. Liz’s face alone, no matter how much it had grown and changed, was still enough to transport her back to the day.

“Well, come on back,” Liz said with a wave as she turned around. “Lets get right to it since it’s already a little late. But maybe we could catch up afterwards?”

“Mhm,” Sam hummed, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

Liz led her through a long hallway, past a string of offices and cubicles as people left for the day.

“I don’t know how much you want to go over today,” Liz said over her shoulder as they turned into one of the mid-sizedoffices. “Hopefully not too much, though. I was trying to make it out of here in time for my cycling class.”

Sam sat in the chair on the other side of her desk, pulling her laptop out of the backpack. “That’s fine. We can just start with an overview of how you’re doing your reporting now and what kind of issues you’re running into. Then we can pick things up again tomorrow.”

They spent the next several minutes going over things, with Sam occasionally prodding for more details or asking additional questions. She wanted to keep all conversations entirely work related, and luckily, Liz seemed content to do the same.

Maybe Liz wanted to avoid those memories just as much as she did.

Sam typed notes on her laptop as Liz checked her phone for the third time that minute.

“Sorry,” Liz muttered. “Keep going. I’m listening. Just need to text my girlfriend real quick.”

Sam nodded as she continued typing.

“She’s gonna stop by and drop off some food,” Liz mumbled as she typed something into her phone before finally dropping it back on the desk. “I’m lucky,” she said with a chuckle. “She’s actually here at the office most days. She's with the PR agency that works with us.”

Sam hummed, only halfway paying attention as she tried to ignore the string of new urgent emails popping up on the screen as she typed.

“Working with someone you date can be—interesting,” she said with a snort. “But also has its perks.”

“What tool do you use right now to funnel all your data over?” Sam asked, finally tearing her eyes away from the screen.

“Oh—uh,” Liz squinted, tilting her head back in thought. “I can’t really remember the name. Starts with a ‘P’ I think. I can show it to you tomorrow.”

Sam glanced back down, highlighting that portion of her notes to come back to the next day.

Faint footsteps echoed in the hall outside the door, and a moment later, Liz stood from her chair with a smile.

“Hey babe,” she said, stepping around the desk.

Sam continued typing out a quick note as a bag crinkled behind her.

“Babe, this is Sam.”

Sam set her laptop on the desk, standing to turn and quickly introduce herself so she could finish up and get out of there as soon as possible.

“Sam, this is my girlfriend, Jess.”