Page 54

“What?” I can practically hear the wheels turning in her head and I need to brace myself for the many questions she’s going to have, but right now, what I need most of all is to go hop in the shower with my wonderful partner, my girlfriend, my love.

“I’ll explain everything when I get to the office,” I tell her. “Don’t tell anyone. I’m working out the details, but I’m going to have more answers for you later today.”

“Are you serious?”

“More than serious,” I tell her. I end the call then, slide out of bed, and make my way toward the bathroom. The door is closed, and I can hear her singing. Oh, I’ve missed this sound. Quietly, I push the door open and step inside. The bathroom is already steamy, and Jessica stops singing long enough to peek her head out of the shower.

“There you are, beautiful. Are you getting in?” She smiles at me with a hopefulness I haven’t seen in a very long time, and with a smile that reflects how happy I am, too.

“Yeah,” I tell her. “I’ll be right in.”

Epilogue

Hillary

When I was a little girl, I thought that everyone was offered a chance to fall in love. The universe was pretty, I thought, and the world was bright. I didn’t know just how hard things could really be, and while I love working for Toni, the truth is that I want what she has with Jessica. I want the passion. I want the intrigue. I was someone to feel so excited to see me that they feel like they’re going to throw up – you know, in a good way.

So after work, I head back to my tiny little apartment, sit down in the middle of my futon, and start swiping. It’s not long before I find someone who matches with me. It’s an instant thing, so she must have swiped on me recently. Maybe it was a day ago or a week ago, I don’t know. The girl has long, red hair that flows over her shoulder. She also seems like she has the best smile I’ve ever seen in my life. She’s sweet, beautiful, and is wearing combat boots in almost every single one of her pictures.

I find myself completely entranced, so I don’t wait to send her a message. Her profile says she likes jokes, so I try to open with one that’s clever. She responds right away.

And that’s it.

It’s a hit.

We spend the entire night talking and even end up on the phone together at one point. I feel like I absolutely know her. I feel like we’re falling for each other right now.

Reluctantly, I finally end the call and we switch back to texting.

“I’d love to see you,” I tell her. “Tomorrow?”

“I’m starting a new job tomorrow,” she admits. “But maybe we could meet after work. Drinks?”

“Absolutely. Where’s your job? Maybe we can meet in the middle.”

“It’s at Northington Tech,” she tells me. “Do you know it?”

My blood runs cold as I realize that she’s not only talking about the company where I work, but that she’s the new hire we’re bringing in tomorrow. I didn’t attend any of the hiring meetings because I was out sick. I let Toni and Jessica handle all of that. They assured me that they’d found me the perfect person to work with me, and I believed them, but...

But now I’m in trouble.