Page 36 of October
“You know where I sit,” Molly replied.
CHAPTER 10
Molly glared at her. She shouldn’t have, but she had. The new hire was sitting at Juliet’s old desk. It wasn’t even technically herolddesk yet. Juliet’s stuff was in boxes, waiting for her to decorate her new office, but the desk was already occupied by the new trainer they had hired to replace that idiot Andrew. Soon, they would hire Juliet’s replacement, too, and they would sit next to this person who now had Juliet’s desk. Molly hated her already.
“I don’t have access to the HR system yet, but I’m supposed to log in and verify my access, according to my new-hire checklist.”
Molly realized that the woman was talking to her one second too late.
“Oh, I can help you with that,” Finley offered.
Molly looked over and saw Finley laughing at her. Then, she got a ping on their internal messaging system.
Finley Storm: Will you chill out? It’s her first day.
Molly leaned over her computer and typed.
Molly Jewel: She’s in Juliet’s chair.
Finley Storm: Juliet has a new chair, Molls.
Molly looked over at her, and Finley gave her a playful glare.
“I sent you an email for your access. Just click the link in there, and you should be good to go,” Finley told the newbie.
Molly had already forgotten her name, which was bad because she was in human resources, and she should be nice to the woman who’d been a roaster in one of the stores prior to joining the corporate team. At least, this new occupant of Juliet’s chair wouldn’t be here every day to start. Since she’d already worked in one of the stores, she’d be able to skip the store training, so she would just spend a month with the real roasters in the local roastery, learning about how the coffee was made. They called all the baristas ‘roasters’ here at Southern Roastery because the company’s leadership wanted to differentiate themselves from the other coffee places, but it did make things a little confusing when they were talking about the people who actually roasted the coffee, so they had to deal with that regularly.
“Thanks,” the newbie replied.
Molly wished she were looking across her desk at her best friend. She was sure this new woman was fine, but she wasn’t Juliet, and Molly hadn’t ever been great with change. She’d just have to keep telling herself that Juliet had gotten a promotion, and that was a good thing.
“Hey, Fin.”
Molly looked over when she heard the voice and saw India standing there, looking almost hopeful. Well, at least this was old. Molly wasn’t good with change, but it seemed nothing would ever really change between Finley and India.
She had had such a good day yesterday. The Ava thing was awkward, but other than that, it had been perfect with Finley; so perfect that Molly had thought Finley might actually ask her out on a date. She hadn’t, of course, and that was disappointing, but something had changed between them. Yes, Molly was still totally into her and still very much nervous around her, but she’d gotten past some of that, at least, and that was a good feeling.
“Hey. What’s up?” Finley asked India, turning around in her chair to face her.
“I’m going to lunch.”
“Okay,” Finley said.
“Want to go with me?”
Molly quickly turned away, feeling like she was eavesdropping on a private conversation, even though India had started it in the middle of the cubicles.
“Not really, no,” Finley replied.
“To the store?” India suggested, referring to how they called the café’s stores to, again, appear to be different. “I’m just grabbing one of the wraps and a chai tea. Twenty minutes, at most.”
“India…” Finley said.
“Finley, it’s lunch. It’s not a big deal. Just walk with me, please.”
Molly turned her head toward Finley, who was looking at her and not at India.
“I called ahead to make sure they have that panini you like in stock,” India added. “I’m buying.”
