By the day’s end, the flutist was fully restored and drying. Nicole cleaned herself up at a large basin sink in the corner before donning a puffy jacket and heading out of the studio. As she passed by Kadeen’s office, she glanced over and noticed that he had already left for the day.

The pang of disappointment was annoying.

Heading down the elevator and to the subway, Nicole managed to hop on an approaching train, squeezing herself into the rush hour crowd as she popped in a pair of headphones and listened to music to help her decompress on the way home. When she reached her stop, she held her breath until she reached the top of the stairs, then gulped in the crisp air of winter.

The one thing she couldn’t stand about New York was the smell. She had grown up in a small town, full of sprawling farmhouses and fresh country air. It was one of the many things she missed from back home, though she knew she had made the right choice in leaving. There weren’t any jobs there that came close to providing the opportunities that came with working at ZbK Acquisitions.

Nicole’s apartment was a tiny studio on the third floor of a red brick building in Brooklyn. She pressed her key into the lock and let herself in, relishing the comforting scent of home as she closed the door behind her and dropped her work bag on the floor, hanging her keys on a small hook.

From the front door Nicole could see her entire apartment. A small kitchen with a serviceable stove and oven shared a wall with her fridge and a small square of counter space. Across the room was her unmade bed and a reading lamp perched stoutly on a small bedside table. She had a little table with two chairs, a small couch, and a separate bathroom.

It wasn’t lavish, but it was home.

Nicole had been thinking about upgrading. With her job at ZbK Acquisitions she’d been able to put away a sizable chunk of cash, but she was also loaded up with student debt. She figured she could live simply for a while as she paid those off, then get more extravagant later on, if she so chose. She would have the funds to do so by then, which was a comforting thought.

Heading to her closet, Nicole opened a compact drawer and pulled out a pair of plaid pajama pants, which she quickly changed into. She padded over to the kitchen, found some leftover Chinese in the fridge and heated it up in the microwave above the stove. When her food was ready, she set it on the table and pulled out her laptop, turning it on and calling her sister on video chat.

It rang a few times before the screen showed that they were connecting, and a moment later her twin sister Ellie’s face appeared.

“Hey!” she said, cheerful.

Nicole smiled. It always warmed her heart to see her sister’s face. She was the biggest thing Nicole missed about being home. Before she could get a word in edgewise, a little face popped up in the corner of the screen.

“Nico! Nico!”

Ellie’s two-year-old daughter, Evie, was waving frantically at the camera as she climbed like a little monkey onto her mother’s lap.

Ellie laughed. “Someone misses you!” she said, rearranging her daughter so that she could better see the screen.

Evie continued to wave until Nicole waved back. Placated, she sat with a finger in her mouth, watching the screen.

“How are you? What’s going on?” Ellie asked.

Nicole told her sister about the day’s events, how her boss had asked her to fly to the Middle East with him the very next day, and how she wasn’t even sure what to pack.

“Bring something to cover up with, in case it gets cold. That way you’re all set no matter what the weather,” Ellie advised.

“Nicole, look! I can do a cartwheel!”

Ellie grinned and turned the camera on her other daughter, Mia, as she flailed around their living room. In no way did her gestures look anything like cartwheels, but Nicole smiled and told her how great they were anyway.

“Do you think this is crazy?” Nicole asked when Ellie brought the screen back to her face.

“Not at all. People travel for business all the time. Your boss just happens to be rich enough to be able to do so at short notice.”

“I suppose.”

“Nicole, this is a great opportunity. Ignore your stupid coworker and go have fun with it. Enjoy the adventure!”

“You’re right, as always,” Nicole relented with a lopsided grin.

“Of course I am. I’m your big sister.”

“By all of two minutes,” Nicole said.

“And what a two minutes they were,” Ellie teased.

Evie had decided she’d had enough of conversation, and jumped off her mother’s lap, sprinting away in an unknown direction.

“Evelyn Marie Johnson, don’t you dare touch that… Gotta go!”

Ellie made a face at the camera before ending the call, and Nicole chuckled to herself as she closed her laptop. She loved her nieces more than she could possibly express, and she thought about when she could head upstate again. With the amount of work Kadeen had for her, it was unlikely she’d make it out for a while.

Nicole finished up her dinner before her thoughts turned to packing once more. She pulled a small suitcase out of the closet and began to pack a few items she thought might be practical for her and Kadeen’s destination. She had to dig around a bit to find her passport, and when she finally found it, she stared at it for a moment, turning it over in her hands.

An image of Kadeen appeared in her mind’s eye. He was literally tall, dark and handsome, and she’d been fighting her attraction to him since day one. The fact that Imogen had picked up on it was enough to make her realize she would have to do her best to pack those feelings away and leave them at the door.

She tossed the passport in her purse, and, finishing her packing, laid in bed, trying not to think about the next day. It would be a fun trip, but the most important thing she had to remember was not to act on her attraction to her employer.

No. That would be a terrible idea.