Page 38 of The Rebel

“And I’ll have another one with caramel topping.”

Daisy was going to enjoy this, I was sure.

After a few sips of the caffeinated brew, I was in a much better mood and returned to the office. Fortunately, Dorothy wasaway from her desk, so I quickly headed straight to Daisy’s office. She glanced up the second I stepped inside.

“You’re back!” She glanced at the coffee cups in my hand. “And you brought treats?”

“Yep. Black coffee for me, one with caramel topping for you,” I explained as I put it on her desk.

She slowly looked from me to the cup and then grabbed it with both hands.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked as she brought it to her lips.

I tilted my head. “You looked like you needed a pick-me-up.”

Lowering the cup, she grinned. “So, I looked bad?”

I laughed, putting my own coffee down at the edge of her desk and leaning closer to her. “Never.”

I wanted to be even closer. Instead, I straightened up, grabbing my cup, and cleared my throat. “So, how’s everything progressing?”

“I’m all over the jazz competition,” she said, smiling broadly. “God, I love this job even though we’re crazy busy.”

“It’s not always like this,” I assured her. “I just decided to hold the jazz competition at the same time as the festival because it fits the theme.”

And so it went. We worked on the jazz competition for the rest of the week. Since the festival was going great, there was no need for us to focus on it anymore. After it was over, we’d do a cost analysis of the event to better plan for next year, but that would happen in due time. That meant this week, we were always in the office, and that proved to be difficult. Last week, I’d done my very best to stay out of Daisy’s office, but now I was finding any excuse to go in. And I wasn’t even sorry about it.

Most of the time, I did have a good reason. Some things were simply resolved quicker in person. But sometimes I just passed by her door and found myself walking in instead of passing by, such as on Friday evening.

There was something about Fridays.

Daisy was sitting on her desk, her legs dangling as she scrolled on her phone, laughing.

“Am I interrupting?” I asked.

She looked up at me and then quickly back at her phone. “I’m off the clock, technically, so don’t yell at me.”

God, she was cute.

“I know. I’m just surprised you’re still here.”

“Oh, I’m just killing time until I pick up my best friend from the airport.”

I raised a brow. “You’ve got a visitor this weekend?”

“Yes. I can’t wait to see her.”

“Is she flying in from Chicago?”

Daisy shook her head. “No, I don’t have any friends left in Chicago anymore.”

There was a story behind that, I was certain, but now wasn’t the time.

“Annelise grew up in North Dakota, same town. She’s practically my sister, and she still lives back home, not far from where my parents are.”

“You’re showing her around New Orleans?”

“Yes.” She nodded excitedly. “I can’t wait to hug her and catch up with her. She knows me better than anyone. I want to pick her brain on some things.”