I was lying in my bed trying to read a book when I got a call early Thursday morning. After my weekend in jail, I’d pretty much holed myself up in my home. My friends visited me on Monday after I was let out and spent the night, but they had their own lives.

I, on the other hand, might not even have a job left.

When my cell rang and I saw that it was Gabe, I didn’t know whether to pick it up or not.

A part of me wanted to still be mad at him. And not just because he’d completely dismissed me in front of another woman. I got arrested thanks to whatever shit was going on with him, his dadand the company. I was pretty sure the fact that I was a secretary to both didn’t help my case.

Still, the man was my boss until I either quit or got fired. So I took a deep breath and answered the call.

“Hey, Jasmine.”

His chuckle came across the line, and I bit my lip as the sound went through my body, heating it up. I closed my eyes and dropped my book on the bed next to me. I was tempted to throw a tantrum because it was so unfair that was all it took for my body to react to the man when I was still mad at him.

“What,” I snapped, just to get the sound to stop.

“Jasmine, is that any way to talk to someone when they call you?”

His tone made me pause and narrow my eyes as I went on the alert. For some reason, Gabe was in a good mood, enough that he was ignoring my rude behavior. Then my heart started beating a little fast. If he was calling me, then did the news have something to do with me?

“Tell me what happened,” I got out in a rush, my back straightening out as my free hand curled against my thigh. “Something did happen, right?”

“Oh, yes, something did happen.” He paused to laugh. “It’s good news, so don’t sound so anxious. The charges against you…”

His voice trailed off, and I knew he was doing it on purpose to keep me in suspense. There was hope growing in my chest and dread pooling in my belly. I was about to snap at him when he finished.

“They were dropped.”

At his words, all the air whooshed out of my chest. I was left sitting slumped on my bed. I could barely take it in, the breath hitching in my throat as I brought a hand up to my mouth.

“The charges were dropped,” I repeated, voice quiet. “So I won’t…”

“You won’t be bothered again, by the police or the Feds, anybody. If you want, I could go to the officers that arrested you and ask them to deliver a formal apology. I could even bring my lawyer along.”

I huffed a quiet laugh, pressing the back of my hand to my mouth as I blinked the tears out of my eyes. It hadn't occurred to me until that moment how much I’d still be worried. If the police had decided to pursue me as a suspect…

“Thank you,” I whispered, the sound wet with the tears I was trying to hold back. “Thank you so much, Gabe.”

He hummed. “You don’t have to thank me, though. See, the authorities finally did their job right.”

I rubbed my hand over my eyes. “Meaning?”

“I mean, Jasmine, the real culprit was caught. There’s enough damning evidence that there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind about this, so every other suspect is in the clear unless she says something.”

“Her?” I murmured, distracted.

“Forget about that,” he said quickly. “I wanted to ask if you’ll be coming in for work today.”

I pursed my lips. “Gabe, I was still locked up in jail for a little over two days.”

“And you’ve had two days to relax,” he countered. “Don’t worry; you won’t be doing any heavy duty work today. I’d just really like for you to come in.”

His voice went soft at the end there and it was doing funny things to my insides, different from what his laugh did. When he spoke like that, it made me melt and want to be agreeable. I hadn't forgiven him yet, but if he asked me to in that tone, I would probably do it in an instant.

Still, I chewed on my lip, hesitating. “Didn’t you have someone replace me for the days I wasn’t there?”

“Well,” he said slowly. “There wasn’t as much to get done, for one, and then once the FBI came, I had to stop work and cooperate with them. Hopefully, operations won’t be shut down as long as the last time, but yeah. It’s only going to be some basic work for a few days. It’ll be even more boring,” he added with a laugh.

I felt my lip twitch into a smile. “All right,” I conceded. “I’m coming in. Hope I’m not too late for you, boss,” I teased.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll forgive you just this once. Oh, and feel free to use a taxi instead of taking the train. I’ll reimburse you on your next pay check.”

I grinned at that. “Whatever you say, boss.”

Once I cut off the call and got moving, I was a lot more excited than I’d expected to be. Although, just about anything would be better than staying cooped up at home because I was too afraid to head outside. To not have the threat of getting arrested hanging over me was incredibly freeing.

I rushed to take a shower and get dressed. When I picked up my purse and shoes, I was out the door maybe fifteen minutes after I got the call. I took a taxi as he’d said and I was at the building in another twenty minutes with light traffic.

Going up the elevator left me a bit nervous. Gabe and I hadn't talked, but I had decided that we needed to. But then the elevator stopped and the doors opened and I froze.

There were a bunch of people on the floor when usually not ten people at a time were ever up there. Then, for whatever reason, as I stepped out of the elevator and people started to catch sight of me, they began clapping. They were all smiling at me and I didn’t know why.

Then, through the crowd of people came Gabe, having to push his way through. Out of politeness, attention was diverted away from us. I was just thankful it stopped the clapping. But they weren’t making moves to leave the floor, either, so I was still confused.

“Gabe, what the fuck is going on?” I whispered once he was close enough. “What is everyone doing here, and what’s with the fucking attitude?”

He glanced over his shoulder, as if he’d only just noticed the crowd, and turned back to me with a lop sided grin.

“Everyone was in the mood to celebrate, and I didn’t have the heart to tell them no.”

“Uh,” I said, frowning. “You could have just given them the day off? Told them to stay at home?”

He rolled his eyes. “Jasmine, it’s not like I forced anyone to come in, and I have tried to get them to leave. But, as miraculous as it seems, not everyone detests their job.”

I scowled. “I never said anything about hating my job,” I said, giving him a pointed look.

That had his good mood dimming just a little as his expression grew serious.

“I do know, Jasmine. You made it pretty clear on several occasions. But I really…” his brow furrowed as he struggled a little. “That’s why I wanted to see you so badly, so you and I can talk.” He gave a small, sideways smirk. “Or, you know, we could have a meeting in my office.”

I looked around at the crowded floor. “Can I even find a way through in all this chaos?”

“It’s fine,” he said, placing a hand on my lower back. I should have pulled away, but I didn’t. I looked up, confused by the small smile he was giving me. “It doesn’t have to be right now. Come on. There are some people here that want to congratulate you on being in the clear.”