"Ready for your big day?" I asked, looking over at William, who was seated next to me.

"Amelia, you realize I'm just maintenance, not a rocket scientist, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. But, you should still be excited. Plus, we get to work together!” I imagined meeting each other for lunch and taking walks together once the weather broke.

"Well, not together, together. You're an attorney, and I'm not."

"You're salting my game this morning, William."

"Mom? What's 'salting my game' mean?" came the voice from the backseat.

I chuckled from the front seat as we drove Charlie to school. I picked up William on the way to Charlie’s elementary school so we could drive to work together, too. "It means like bumming me out or raining on my parade."

"So, when you take away my iPad you're like salting my game?"

"Exactly, buddy." I looked in the rearview mirror and witnessed Charlie smirking in the backseat. Such a little stinker.

I also couldn't help but steal glances at William out of the corner of my eye. He'd styled his freshly cut hair, and his beard grew in nicely. I wanted to reach across and touch his face. After the brownie batter “incident,” no other instances of touching came about. Maybe I’d imagined the electricity between us?

However, I couldn't remember ever feeling this attracted to a person, not even Cal. Sure, I was attracted to Cal while we were married, but in the "shrugs my shoulders, he's not that bad" kind of way. With William, it was completely different. Lately, when I saw him, warmth in my belly spread rapidly enough to nudge my heart incessantly and make my brain go fuzzy. I never knew it was possible to experience such a strong pull to another human being, besides my son, of course.

I found myself thinking of William constantly and counting down the seconds until I could see him again. And, no, it wasn't just because his makeover revealed a bright and shiny penny under the layers of street weariness. I felt a pull toward him even before all that. Maybe we were always destined to meet, like fate or something.

We dropped Charlie off at school and giggled as he sprinted toward his group of friends like a lost puppy reuniting with the litter.

"Ready for work?"

"As I'll ever be."

William and I walked into the office together and stayed close as we fought the wind every step of the way. Even though February was half over by now, winter didn't seem to show any signs of leaving town.

William opened the door for me, and I bowed. "Thank you, sir."

"You're such a nerd," he teased.

Our Human Resources Coordinator stood at the receptionist's desk, waiting for William to arrive. I'd learned it was customary to have someone from HR greet you on your first day and walk you to training, except for the attorneys who seemed to be thrown into the wolves' den right away.

"Have a great morning. Meet for lunch around noon in the cafeteria?"

"Sounds good." William smiled weakly, and I sensed his nerves. I knew he'd be okay, though. I mean the man served in the military after all. I'm sure this job would be a walk in the park compared to war.

That morning, I had an urgent meeting with Leo Brass regarding his case. After weeks of pouring over the details, we were positive his accountant had been stealing the company's profits and depositing them in offshore accounts. However, even though it seemed like a slam dunk, I had to prep Leo for civil court, where he could be called to testify.

"Morning, darlin'," Leo said as he bent down to kiss my hand.

"Nice to see you again, Leo. I have some excellent news!"

We took our respective seats in the conference room near my office, and I delved into the details of the upcoming civil case.

"So, the accounting firm we hired to help with the numbers discovered a handful of instances that several thousands of dollars disappeared each month over the course of ten to twelve years."

"Bastard!" Leo exclaimed. "I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was this bad. What's the damage?"

"Well, it looks like he stole about two mil over the course of his time with your company. We believe we may have found the accounts, too. I have a few contacts who will be traveling to the banks on the islands where the financial institutions may be located."

"Good!" Leo pounded his fist on the conference room table.

"We're going to ask the judge to force him to pay back the money he stole, but also to pay your legal fees as we wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for him to begin with."

"You're a rock star; you know that, Amelia?"

"Oh, stop!” Heat resinated my cheeks.

"So, what do I have to say on the stand if they call me up?"

"Nothing crazy. Just confirm how long Roy's been working for you and when you suspected he might be involved with the missing money situation."

"You know, I heard rumors he's going to say I coerced him or blackmailed him into stealing the money for myself." Leo shifted uncomfortably in the noir leather chair.

"That would require solid proof. A judge wouldn’t just take his word for it. It's not true, right?" I asked, trailing off.

"Of course not!" he insisted.

"Sorry, Leo. I had to ask." I reached out and patted his hand with mine.

"No worries at all, my dear."

We concluded the meeting, then Leo kissed me sweetly on the cheek goodbye. I sincerely hoped he was telling the truth about the accounts, because there was nothing more embarrassing than being caught with your pants down in a courtroom. Well, err, in my case, it'd be a skirt.

I glanced at my watch around five to noon, and my heart fluttered with excitement. I couldn't wait to hear about William's day thus far and eat lunch together. Now I'd have a real friend at work. Of course, I had Karen, but she was more like a mother figure to me. William was different.

I scurried to the elevator and rapidly pressed the button for the ground floor where our cafeteria was located. My breathing quickened, and my pulse raced as I saw the back of William across the room. I wanted to run to him until I saw another woman, whom I’d never met, hug him tightly. My heart sank faster than the Titanic.

The woman, blonde, busty and tiny threw her arms around William and screeched like a little girl.

Did they know each other? She looked familiar. I knew she was an attorney, but we hadn’t crossed paths yet.

I saw her face light up as they sat and talked at a table with only two chairs.

Now what?

Do I go over and interrupt them? Or, do I leave them alone? William caught my eye and waved me over. Well, now I didn’t have a choice.

“Hi, William,” I said.

“Amelia, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Amelia. Lucy and I went to high school together.”

I extended my hand toward her, and she returned the gesture airily. “It’s nice to meet you,” I offered. “I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m in the corporate practice.”

“I’m in environmental.” She yawned.

“I bet that’s exciting. I’ve heard many good things about that practice.”

Lucy nodded and dug into her sushi platter. She didn’t seem very interested in conversing, and I took that as my cue to leave.

“Well, I’ll let you two finish catching up.”

“Wait, why don’t you join us for lunch? We did have plans,” William offered sweetly.

As much as I wanted to catch up and hear all about William’s day, a nagging voice in my head reminded me I had a few more cases to continue preparing for.

“That’s okay. I think I’ll have a working lunch today. Very busy.”

“I’ll call you later, okay?” William asked.

“Sure, sounds fine.”

I stood in line and ordered the special for the day: chicken souvlaki salad. I waved goodbye to William and returned to my office to eat and research. I spent most lunch breaks poring over documents and cases.

“You really should take a real break one of these days,” Karen said, poking her head into my office.

“I know,” I groaned. “But I have so much to do.”

“It will be here after your lunch hour, dear!”

“Always looking out for me, Karen.”

“You bet I am!”

I took a bite of my salad and wondered how William faired downstairs. I sensed a hint of chemistry between him and his friend, Lucy. Maybe they dated in high school? I tried to push the twinge of jealousy from my mind and worked well into the evening, as usual.