“So nice of you to join us, Angela,” Allison says as the waiter heads to get our drinks. I opted for water while the other girls are having white wine spritzers.

Angela can drink whatever she wants, she’s not on the clock. As for the other two, I’m not sure what they’re thinking, but I won’t let them pull me down with them. It’s not like their throwing back shots of tequila, which I’d love to do right now, but still.

The ride over here was filled with crushing silence. No one spoke, including me. I thought about asking again why they invited me to get it over with, to hopefully get an honest answer, but I chickened out. I will find out before we leave this table. I don’t care if I have to walk back to the office.

“Yeah. Tyler and I were going to grab lunch since I have the day off, but this is just as great. I never see you girls anymore. Plus, there’s something we need to discuss.”

“We need to do another girls’ night,” Justine announces excitedly, clapping her hands together like a high school cheerleader.

“We should. How about Saturday?” Allison asks, perfectly composed as usual.

She’s a fickle one. There have only been a few fleeting moments when I could tell what was on her mind. This isn’t one of them. She genuinely seems interested in the idea of getting together for a night out.

“That’s not going to work because its Tyler’s birthday on Sunday and we’re throwing him a surprise party Saturday night. So, I need you girls to be there.”

“Fun!” Justine practically screams.

I’m starting to get the impression that she gets loud when she gets nervous.

Angela rattles off all the details to the girls. It’s not until she’s done that Allison’s face lights up at the mention of Ryder.

“It’s at Ryder’s house,” she states, a smirk on her face.

“Well, it’s not like I could have it at his house,” Angela replies, taking a sip of her wine spritzer. “We could use a little help with the food if you girls want to come over earlier. It could be almost like a girls’ night only in the afternoon. Is that cool with you, Em?”

“I don’t see why not,” I reply, reaching for my water and taking a large gulp.

Keeping my cool, I listen as the three of them make plans for Saturday afternoon. Picking at my salad while they nail down more details, I try to think of a way to get out of helping. Angela is my best friend in the world, and I love her, but I’m not sure I want to be around these other two if things are going to be like this. The only excuse that makes sense is for me to say I’m not feeling well, but then I wouldn’t be able to go to the party either.

The subject changes from the upcoming party to Angela and Tyler’s relationship. Smiling, I listen as Angela gushes over how sweet Tyler is. I’ve heard all the stories before, but my heart still swells in my chest as she replays them for the other girls.

He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her. He takes great care of her and you can tell that they make each other happy. Why they don’t move in together and get married is beyond me. They would make beautiful babies.

Our conversation quickly shifts from talk of the happy couple, to talk of the unhappy couple at the table. Justine gives us the play by play of her latest crushing relationship. Judging by what she’s telling us, it sounds like when Justine falls for a guy, she falls hard. This time, she fell past him and face first into the dirt.

I feel bad for her. Between her and Allison, my money would be that she finds someone first. She’s sweet when she wants to be. It’s only when she’s conspiring with Allison that I tend to see another side of her. A side that I don’t like much.

They pass the conversation to me, inquiring about my love life. Knowing that I have to tell them something, I talk about Ian. It’s painful at first to tell them about our relationship since it’s over, but the more I tell them, the more happy memories I have of us. We may not have ended on the best of terms, but we had some great times together. Times that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Allison and Justine share a look as I finish my story and it’s the perfect time to call them out.

“What?” I ask, looking from one to the other.

“Well,” Allison begins, relaxing back in her chair. She does this often. It’s almost like it’s a signature move. You know she’s going to say something deep when she relaxes like that. “We just heard that you may have gotten involved with Ryder. That’s all.”

“We’ve been over this already. Nothing is going on between us. Don’t you girls know better than to believe the rumors?”

“Is that all they are? Rumors?” she challenges.

“Yes. Rumors. And even if there was something going on between me and Ryder, or whoever, I’d appreciate it if you would come to me and not listen to the gossip.”

“That’s why we invited you to lunch. We figured you wouldn’t want to talk about it at work. You know, where other people can hear,” Justine chimes in, leaning forward.

This is exactly why I thought they wanted to have lunch with me. To gossip. Well, I’m not one to share my personal life with everyone I know and I’m not one for gossip. Especially when it’s about me.

“There’s really nothing to talk about,” I lie as Angela kicks me under the table.

“If you say so,” Allison says, sliding out of the booth. “We better get back. Ryder gets cranky if you aren’t back on time from what I hear. At least that’s why his last assistant quit. He was too demanding. You should ask him about her.”

She’s feeding me information for a reason. She wants me to ask about her. No going to happen. I don’t care about his last assistant or the fact that she quit because he was demanding. Plus, she could be lying to me. Who knows with her?

Ryder is gone when I get back to the office. There’s a note on my desk that he had a last-minute meeting with his attorney and that he won’t be back in the office. He’s also left me a list of things I need to do so we don’t fall behind on the deadlines he has coming up.

Getting started, I work diligently until my phone chimes, alerting me to a new text message. Digging through my purse, I expect it to be Ryder. I’m surprised to see Ian’s name across my screen.

After yesterday, the way we left things and then spotting him in the parking garage, I’m not sure I’m ready to see him yet. Sure, it was eye-opening to talk about him at lunch. We shared a lot of good times together and those are the ones I want to keep close to my heart.

I’m still not ready to face him. I won’t be for a while. Not until I’m sure he’s moved on. I can’t stand to see the pain in his eyes. Pain I caused according to him.

Anger courses through my veins. I know what he thinks, what he was told, but after the years we spent together, I had hoped he would know me better than that. Especially as of lately. I make my own decisions. I’m my own person.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully type out my response.

After ten minutes of waiting for his response, I put my phone away. Of course it chimes as soon as I drop it in my purse. Ignoring it, I focus my attention on the last task I need to accomplish before heading home for the night. As soon as I drop all the paperwork on Ryder’s desk, I head to the elevators.

My head is pounding. I can feel the tension radiating off me. A hot bath and a glass of wine should help, but it won’t solve all my problems. There’s not enough wine in the world to solve my problems in one night.

“Have a great night, Miss Emerson,” Helen calls as the doors slide closed between us.

That woman is so sweet. She’s always the first to say hello in the morning and the only one to say goodbye. She’s so quiet the rest of the day that I barely notice she’s there.

There’s a chill in the air that assaults me as the doors open to the parking garage. It’s eerily silent except for the screech of tires against the pavement somewhere below me. An unsettling feeling of being watched consumes me, so I pick up the pace and speed walk to my car.

As soon as my car door is closed, I hit the locks and breathe a sigh of relief, resting my head back against the seat and closing my eyes. A knock on my window causes me to jump, my knee slamming against the steering wheel.

Smiling on the other side of my window is Ryder.

“Hey,” he says as my window slowly lowers.

“You scared the shit out of me,” I reply, placing my hand over my heart as it beats wildly in my chest.

“Sorry. I saw you getting in your car, and I wanted to catch you before you left.”

“What are you doing here? I thought you were gone for the day.”

“I just finished with my lawyer.”

“How’d that go?” I ask, crinkling my nose in concern.

“Fine. Things should be official by morning. Want to grab some dinner and celebrate?”

He’ll be divorced by morning? That was quick.

“Um…”

Am I the rebound then? Is that what this is? He heard the rumors going around and thought, “hey, that could be fun,” so he made a move.

“What’s going on in your mind, Emerson?”

“Nothing. It’s just…”

How do I put it without sounding like an asshole? I don’t want to offend him. I don’t want him to think that I’m not interested in him. It’s just, things are moving really fast. We both just ended a long relationship, his more serious than mine. There are other people to consider here, mainly his daughter.

“If you don’t want to have dinner, that’s fine. We can celebrate another night. Or wait until its official to celebrate. Maybe Saturday at the party?”

“As long as we don’t celebrate in front of Allison or Justine,” I retort.

“What happened?” he asks, opening my door.

“As expected. They wanted to interrogate me about this,” I say, motioning between us. “In fact, I bet you money one of them is watching us right now. I wouldn’t be surprised. They didn’t believe me when I told them nothing was going on.”

“That’s because something is going on and you’re a horrible liar.”

Rolling my eyes, I let out a huff. I know I’m a horrible liar, but I wasn’t lying to them. I was omitting partial truths and attempting to keep a low profile. Is that such a bad thing?

“Look, people are going to talk no matter if we’re together or not. Let them. Who cares? This isn’t about them, it’s about us.”

“I know.”

“We don't have to do this,” he says, taking a step back and standing up so I can’t see his eyes. Is he angry? Indifferent? His voice doesn’t give anything away. “It’s up to you, Emerson. It would be a shame to give up before we even try, though.”

It would. That much I’m sure of.

“What did you have in mind for dinner?” I ask, hoping he’s still interested.

“Something better than Thai food on my office floor,” he replies, bending back down, a smile on his face.

Rolling up the window and shutting my car off, I grab my purse and follow Ryder to his truck. Just as he begins to back out, I see Justine and Allison getting out of the elevator. I contemplate ducking down so they don’t see me, but I think about it for too long.

Our eyes meet, Justine’s widening in surprise, the same as mine I’m sure. Allison’s have a knowing look in them as she raises her hand and waves, slyly grinning at me. All the effort to convince them that nothing was going on between us was pointless.

Squaring my shoulder, I wave back at them. If they want to play games, let’s play. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I’ve done nothing wrong. And this is none of their business.