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I rolled my eyes and pulled my phone out of my dress pocket. (Those were seriously the best. Who even wore dresses without pockets anymore?)
Della: Rude.
Hayes: Exactly what I call getting adhesive on a brand-new leather seat.
If I kept rolling my eyes at this rate, they’d unscrew from the sockets. So I sent back another text instead.
Della: You’re welcome for protecting your head.
Hayes: *smirk emoji* I’m already good at making sure that’s covered.
My cheeks flamed bright red.
Hayes: Want to see?
Della: Keep it in your pants.
I turned and walked away from his motorcycle, knowing he was probably laughing inside the restaurant. I was tempted to raise a middle finger as I walked away, but between all the other innocent people in the diner and my boss inside the office, I restrained myself.
Barely.
Hayes Madigan knew how to press all my buttons. Maybe it was time I pushed some of his too.
I was back at the office, working through a stack of paperwork when my phone started vibrating like crazy.
Group Chat
Della, Henrietta, Larkin, Liv, Maggie
Liv: EMERGENCY MEETING AT DELLA’S HOUSE. TONIGHT @ 6. Ya bitches better be there.
Private text message
Liv: You’re MOVING?
I swallowed hard, seeing the flurry of text messages coming through my phone. Liv had found out I was leaving—before I had a chance to tell her. Now, not only did I feel like a shit friend for moving. I was a shit friend for keeping it from her.
Della: How did you find out?
Liv: I saw your mom at the grocery store. She thought I knew already. LIKE I SHOULD HAVE. wtf Del?
I set my phone on my desk and rubbed my temples. I was guilty. Liv was pissed. And now I had to explain. This wasn’t what I had in mind.
Della: I was going to tell you all on Saturday, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud... I’m really sorry you had to find out this way. Forgive me?
Liv: We can talk all about it tonight.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I locked my phone and tried to focus on the rest of the paperwork I had to do this afternoon. This was already the part of my job I enjoyed the least, but now it was like torture, knowing I only had a couple hours before all my friends would be at my house demanding answers it hurt to give.
I even put on a podcast recapping the latest The Great British Bake Off—a.k.a. GBBO—fan predictions, but that did nothing to distract me from my worry. Eventually, I finished up my papers and crossed the lobby to my boss’s office.
I knocked on the doorframe, and the older woman with light brown hair and giant Coke-bottle glasses looked up at me. She pushed the frames up her nose and smiled. “All done for the week?”
I nodded. “Any plans for the weekend?”
She tilted her head to the side, but her hair stayed in place thanks to gallons of Aqua Net. “Other than coming up with a scheme to keep you here?”
My lips curved into a sad smile. “Having a boss like you already makes the decision hard enough.” Edna had taken a chance on me fresh out of college. I’d grown here as a professional. As a woman. “It’s going to be hard not seeing your face every day.”