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“My car service will,” Jo said, sorting papers on her desk. “I, however, have a job I’ve been slacking on during your entire visit.”

“As though you’ve ever slacked in anything in your entire life,” Evelyn muttered.

Jo came around her desk to stand in front of her best friend.

“Thank you for coming,” she said.

Evelyn grinned. “I’m really glad I did.”

“I’m really glad you did, too.”

Evelyn hugged her, tight. “There’s nothing wrong with your feelings,” she said right into Jo’s ear. “You’re great, and she’s great, and if things work out, that will be great.”

Jo tried not to roll her eyes, because nothing was going towork out, but she appreciated the sentiment.

“Get out of here, okay?” Jo said. “Don’t miss your flight.”

“I’ll be back if you need me, you know?”

Jo’s heart felt full. “I know.”

—

With Evelyn gone, Johad nothing to distract her from Emma, whose smiles still never reached her eyes. Jo wanted to give Emma a way out, if she was uncomfortable. She called to her from behind her desk.

“What’s up?” Emma asked. She hovered at the door to Jo’s office.

“Come in.”

Emma did, her eyes shifting around the room, nervous. Jo hated that she made her feel that way.

“How is the search for my next assistant coming?” Jo asked.

Emma scratched the back of her neck. “Fine. Good. I’m still narrowing down résumés.”

“I was thinking, if you wanted to, you can move to associate producer earlier than midseason. As soon as you hire your replacement, we can make your promotion official.”

“I know,” Emma said slowly, like she didn’t understand. “And it’s on track for that to happen at midseason.”

“Right,” Jo said. “If you wanted to move on sooner, I meant. You’re welcome to speed up the process.”

Emma stared at her. Jo adjusted some papers on her desk. She sighed, didn’t say what she really meant.I’d understand if you’re desperate to get away from me.

“I’ll move on at midseason,” Emma said. “As I said, I’m stillgoing through résumés. I want to take my time and make sure I hire the right person. There’s no need to rush, is there?”

“Of course not,” Jo said. “If you don’t want to—of course there’s no rush.”

If Emma wanted to get away from her, Jo wouldn’t stop her. But she didn’t, apparently. Jo felt marginally less terrible about the whole thing.

—

Jo didn’t like tomake a big deal of her birthday. Evelyn was right about why; it never felt like people were making a big deal forher, so much as because she was a celebrity, they thought they were supposed to. She didn’t need to be the center of attention any more than she’d already been for most of her life.

Last year, a cupcake had appeared on her desk when she wasn’t in her office. She knew it was Emma, of course, even if she hadn’t seen her actually do it. A cupcake appeared, and at the end of the day, Emma had quietly wished her a happy birthday. That was all Emma did, and Jo liked it. It felt like she did it for her, her specifically, not just because that was something you did on someone’s birthday, but because she wanted Jo to feel special on her birthday. Jo appreciated it.

This year, even after the almost kiss, even after all of the awkwardness between them, there was still a cupcake on her desk when she came back from a meeting. It was huge, as it was last year. Dark cake and a tower of white frosting with crushed red-and-white mints on top. From the smell, Jo guessed it was a cupcake version of a peppermint mocha. She immediately unwrapped it. It was so big she had to find a plastic fork in her desk to eat it; otherwise she’d end up with frosting all over her face.

Jo savored that first bite. The mint was sharp and the cake was deep and rich and delicious. Emma was too good to her. Too good for her. Emma was smart and kind, and sometimes it seemed like she worked even harder than Jo. Jo ate the cupcake Emma bought her, and inexplicably felt like crying.