Page 22 of Objection to Love

Well, late to being early to work, which was pretty much the same thing.

Acting as though she hadn’t a care in the world—and as though she didn’t currently have a massive Band-Aid on her chin—Em grabbed her purse and stepped onto her porch. She waited for the barrage of questions—the onslaught of random thoughts from next door—but none came. Out of the corner of her eye, she peeked over at Garrett.

He was sitting peacefully on his porch swing, sipping away at his mug. He caught her staring and raised the mug in salute.

But that was all. He didn’t even offer any tea to her like he’d said he would the day before.

Bemused, Em made it to her car without hearing a peep out of her generally talkative neighbor.

Weird.

Not unwelcome, just weird.

With a shrug, she backed out of her driveway and started the drive to work.

No one seemed to notice her altered appearance at any point during the day. Not even her paralegal mentioned the fact that Em’s entire chin was covered in bandages. It was humbling… to have evidence that something so big to her didn’t matter a bit to anyone else.

At exactly five o’clock, Stephanie peeked her head into Em’s office. “I’m heading out for the night. Have a good evening, Ms. Miller.”

In a show of either friendly interest or masochistic tendencies, Em raised her head from the brief she was reading. “Are you heading anywhere fun?”

Stephanie apparently didn’t find anything strange in Em’s sudden interest in her paralegal’s social life. “A group of us are going for drinks, actually.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Oh, it should be. It’s karaoke night at Annie’s, and Parker and I have planned a mean rendition of ‘Under Pressure.’ You know, the one by David Bowie and Queen?”

“Yes, I’ve heard it.” Who hadn’t?

Stephanie bounced up to the balls of her feet, then back down. “It’ll be great.” For a brief second, her eyes fell to the bandage on Em’s chin, and an unspoken question lit her expression. But then she backed away, eyes flicking up. “Anyway, goodnight!”

She flitted away, grabbing her purse off her cluttered desk and skipping out of the office. The light in the break room turned off a few moments after Stephanie passed it, and a few more of her coworkers left for the day. They didn’t wave or say goodnight, just walked past her open office door as if she didn’t exist.

Em frowned.

She didn’t like karaoke. She was glad they hadn’t invited her.

But she did kind of wish that they evennoticedher. She’d never realized before how very separated she was from the office. No one ever talked with her unless it was regarding a case. And even then, they usually sent emails. Even Rachel, whose office was right next door.

But that was professional.

Right? Em’s frown deepened, and she tapped her pencil against the brief.

Movement in her peripheral made her glance out her door again. Mr. Standson was just stepping out of his office.

In Em’s newfound recognition of how very isolated she was from those she worked with, she’d noticed that Mr. Standson, the boss, talked with nearly every one of her coworkers. Maybe she should be more interactive with him as well. She stood and rounded her desk, hurrying to get to her doorway.

“Heading home, Mr. Standson?” she asked with a strangely stiff smile as he passed Stephanie’s desk.

He looked over at her, apparently startled. “Oh, Ms. Miller. I didn’t see you there.” He glanced at his watch then back at her. He was about fifteen years Em’s senior and was balding in a perfectly round spot on the top of his head. “No, actually, I’m headed to meet some friends for karaoke tonight.” His eyes danced in apparent anticipation, and the expression looked strange on her generally stoic boss.

Wait.Karaoke?

“Oh? Where are you going?” Em asked innocently.

“Annie’s. It’s a great little bar down the street from here. We try and go every few weeks.”

Em’s heart sank. There wasn’t any way herbosswas joining the office group for karaoke? He was way too professional for that.

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