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Eloise did go out to the garden and I kept glancing at her as she walked and seemed to be deep in thought as I tried not to screw up her coffee. I got the color right and made a cup for myself, tasting it and hoping I’d gotten it right.

It tasted like coffee to me, so I went ahead and brought it out to her. Maybe it would help with whatever she was trying to work out mentally.

“Here,” I said when she turned to face me. Her eyes took a second to focus on me and when they did, it was like being slammed in the chest. Those eyes were so incredible in certain lights. They were blue, but under the right conditions, violet. Like the day when I’d met her for the interview. Who had eyes like that? Seriously.

Eloise took the coffee from me and I waited for her verdict on pins and needles, trying not to fidget too much.

Eloise sipped and then nodded. “Adequate.”

Hey, I’d take it.

“I’ll let you get back to your rumination,” I said, backing away.

“My rumination?” she asked.

“Whatever it is. I’ll just go back to work.”

Eloise pivoted away from me and started walking again. Guess I was dismissed.

I went back to my desk and thought way too much about blue eyes.

* * *

Somehow I was even more mentally exhausted after my second day, but I didn’t get cake on my way home. Wouldn’t be a responsible financial decision, and I had to start making more of those. It had to get better, right? I couldn’t already be thinking about quitting only two days into this job.

Danica was home when I got back, which was unusual. I found her slumped on the couch, looking dejected. That wasn’t a good sign.

“Hey, long time no see,” I said, dropping my shit and going to sit next to her.

“Hey,” she said, her voice dull.

“What’s wrong?” I asked when she didn’t say anything else.

“Gavin and I had a fight,” she said, referencing her boyfriend.

“Aw, I’m sorry. What did you fight about?” I was hungry, but I could see that she needed to get this out first. Then I’d make something warm and comforting for both of us and we could crash out on the couch with some edibles and a movie or something.

Danica gave me the whole long rundown, and I made all the right noises and took her side. It was easy because Gavin was being a dumbass. Even if she was in the wrong, though, I’d be on her side.

“Just give him some time to cool off and I’m sure he’ll be crawling back to you with an apology.” Danica and Gavin didn’t fight often, and it was never about anything too serious. They’d been together forever, even before Gavin transitioned, and I had the feeling that they were going to make it. The kind of relationship they had didn’t come around every day.

Danica eventually begged not to talk about Gavin and asked me about my new job, so I filled her in on Eloise and she was shocked that I’d gotten the job but told me that she was happy and thought I’d be good at it.

“I don’t know about that, but I did make her coffee adequately today, so that’s something,” I said while I rinsed rice to put in the rice cooker to go with butter chicken and some butternut squash soup I had in the fridge.

It seemed to perk her up and then we both chilled out and it was nice to let everything go for the evening.

I went to bed earlier than I normally would have because one of my library holds had come in and I was eager to read it. Probably should have been reading my boss’s books, but I was saving them for the weekend. I guess I might have been putting off reading them for fear that I wouldn’t like them. Sure, it was silly, but it was a real possibility. They just didn’t seem like my kind of thing. No offense to any of her numerous fans. Not for me, and that was fine.

But now I had this job and I was going have to familiarize myself with them, at least a little. Eloise had been busy in her career, releasing no less than two books a year, and some years more, for nearly twenty years. That was a lot to go through. So much to keep track of. Her brain kind of terrified me. How the hell could you come up with that many unique stories? How could you keep them straight?

There had to be something magic in them, though, to have that many fans and to always sell well and to get movie deals. Something that kept those loyal fans buying every single book and seeing every movie and traveling to the locations and buying merchandise.

The new book was exactly what I needed, and I passed out with page-turning remote in my hand.

* * *

“You made it through the week,” Hunter said when she took me out for happy hour wings on Friday to one of our favorite local joints.