Page 30 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“Don’t remind me.”

“Can’t you just pretend to like him for my sake?”

“No. You deserve more than just eye candy. It was one thing when you two were just screwing, but he’s not good enough for you to have a relationship with.”

“Then we’ll just have to agree to disagree.”

“Sure thing, sugar.”

We never got anywhere talking about Dre. Stu never liked himbut couldn’t give me a concrete reason why; he just had afeeling. Since his intuition was freakishly close to a woman’s, I usually believed him, but I had a hard time hopping on board with this one.

“All right,” I said, standing up. “I probably should get heading out.” I had about a block to walk to get back to work. “Thank you for meeting me.”

Stu gave me a tight hug. “Lunch with my best girl? Wouldn’t miss it.” He grabbed my hand and walked me out, kissing me goodbye. “Make sure to pass that on to Stephen now, you hear.”

“Shut up.”

I smiled the rest of the way back. It was probably one of the best Mondays I’d had in a long time. I didn’t know why I’d been even a little worried when I’d come in that morning. Mr. Krismer hadn’t come out of his glass bubble or even given me a second glance when I walked in the room. I wasn’t sure if I was expecting to be terminated on the spot, but I did have a few nerves jittering around when I’d badged in the door. Turned out that all was fine. Neither my swearing at one of the bosses nor acting foolish at a work function had hurt my employment status. I’d even talked to Adam about it and he said everything was cool. No problems.

I got back to my desk with a few minutes to spare so I checked my e-mail. There were ten new unread messages, but none of them meant anything to me. Except one.

RE: Company-wide Dating Policy. Flag: High Importance.

I’d like to take a moment to remind all employees and supervisors of FiTech, Inc. of the fraternization policy that is currently in effect. Dating, romantic involvement, and sexual relationshipsare prohibited between managers and their staff. Failure to uphold this policy can result in disciplinary actions up to and including employment termination. I would strongly advise all new hires to familiarize yourself well with this policy and for all experienced supervisors to review. If said policy is violated, expect stern consequences to follow.

S. Davidson

Head Director of Software Development

I keyed my front door open and stepped inside, shutting it quietly behind me. “Christa,” I called out. No answer. I’d texted her earlier to see if I could bring her soup or something bland, but she said she’d rather sleep than eat.

What I needed was a stiff drink. Something strong as hell that made my throat burn and my eyes water. Too bad I’d gag before I’d be able to choke it all down. Somehow I didn’t think a shot of peach daiquiri would have the same effect.

For the rest of the day at work, I’d been unable to get that stupid policy out of my head. I’d asked Kate if they routinely sent them out and she said no. Which just confirmed that Stephen had a message behind it. But was that message meant for me and Adam, or me and him?

“Christa,” I yelled a little louder, rapping on her bedroom door.Yeah, she was probably sleeping, but I at least had to find out if she was sick enough to warrant a visit to the emergency room before I could leave her alone again.

“In here, Perry.”

I whipped around to the bathroom on the other side of the hall. The door was slightly open. “Are you okay?” Her voice had sounded faint.

“Define okay.”

I peeked in to see her sitting on the floor with her back propped against the wall. There was a bottle of vodka on one side and on the other….Holy fuck!

“Christa? Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod.”

She held out her hand. “Don’t freak out. Please. I’ve been doing plenty of that already.”

Okay, deep breath.I couldn’t help my reaction; I felt like this might as well have been happening to me. I couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying. I took her hand and sat down, pushing aside the…unopenedboxes?

There were three total and I picked them up one at a time. Yep, all unopened. “You don’t know yet?” I whispered.

She looked at me with puffy eyes and shook her head. “I can’t.”

All right. We would deal with this. Together. I rubbed her hand. “How long have you been in here?”

“All day. Right after you left for work, I went down to the drugstore and picked up the tests and the booze.” She snorted. “You should have seen the look on the cashier’s face.”

---