I braced myself for an awkward morning, uncertain whether I'd just burst into an apology the moment I saw Alec or if, instead, I'd bury myself so deep in work that no one could find me. Fortunately, the moment Ryan saw me exit my office, the team sunk their claws into me. I spent the whole morning reviewing the previous day's work and delegating tasks for the day ahead. I didn't have a moment to even see Alec, much less talk to him.

Once lunch rolled around, I was mercifully given a break and I intended to make use of every second of that break gorging myself on a hearty lunch. This time I brought myself a ham sandwich that I'd need to unhinge my jaw to eat, a salad bursting with dried fruits and nuts, and, just for good measure, I also brought a couple hard boiled eggs to snack on. I had protein for miles.

At that point, however, I found my office a rather unwelcoming place when it came to mealtime, and since Emi was hard at work at her desk, I figured it was best to head back out into the Pit to rejoin my fellow teammates for lunch.

"Mind if I sit down?"

Ryan, Dennis, and Cynthia, all parents, were holding a rather mild conversation about pink eye and bed wetting, when I approached the small circle of sofas we had been using earlier to hold our meeting. They gave me a quick glance and a little nod before returning to their discussion on play date etiquette. As for the more youthful, child-free members of our team, Jean and Theo, they welcomed me with wide smiles, eager to hear about something other than daycare drama.

"We were so busy discussing our tasks, you never got around to telling us about your interview. How's that going?" asked Jean, a cheerful woman about two years younger than myself and well known around the office for her less than graceful nature. "I hear you and Mr. Radcliffe have been working nonstop."

I swallowed hard and gave a sideways glance to where Cynthia sat listening to Ryan with one ear and to Jean with the other.

"Well, I mean I wouldn't say nonstop," I said, with an uncomfortable laugh before putting my salad bowl on to the coffee table.

"Really?" asked Jean with a slight gape to her mouth. "It seemed like you guys were going pretty hard at it yesterday. I wanted to talk to you about that ticket raffle I mentioned this morning, but I didn't want to interrupt you guys while you were working. Unfortunately, the entire time I was here, neither of you came out of your office. You were still going at it by the time I left around five."

She said it all with a sweet, innocent smile, but Jean wasn't just masterful at spilling coffee all over the kitchenette. She could also be a bit of a klutz with her words too and I felt certain I saw Cynthia's ears perk upon Jean's words.

"Well, it's really just nothing..." I tried to look into her eyes as I laughed it off, but I kept redirecting my gaze to my salad as I stabbed it repeatedly with my fork. And I knew there was nothing. Nothing happened, nothing was even close to happening. Yet, I couldn't help recalling Alec's awkwardness and how quickly he left the moment I suggested we relocate ourselves to a more informal setting... "It was just nothing, just work..."

"Look, Lex, it's okay," said Theo with an impish smile as he spread out his hands and leaned back into the plush leather couch. "None of us here will judge you so why not just tell us the truth?"

"T-truth?" I asked, my eyes darting around our little corner of the Pit, only to find that the other three members of our team had apparently ended their conversation and were now listening to ours with an intent gaze.

"Yeah," said the youngest member of the group as he swung himself forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "You're afraid of Mariska. I mean anyone who's watched her show even once knows she's brutal to anyone over the age of eighteen. Even with the topic of discussion being a charity, she'll still find a way to run you into the ground."

"I think she just resents the fact she's still a morning talk show host and not doing the prime time news reports," said Dennis with a shake of his head.

"Oh, yeah," I said with a relieved laugh. "You know, I try to look like I got this in front of Mr. Radcliffe, but yeah, she's a bit scary."

In all honesty, I wasn't afraid of Mariska. I certainly wasn't looking forward to it, but I was good at my job and part of being an effective PR officer was staying cool, calm, and collected against scrutinizing glares, abrasive accusations, and stressful situations. At least, I could do that when it came to my job. Apparently, my personal life was a different matter. That aside, if Theo wanted to throw me a lifeline then I was going to take it. Although, when I sent a quick glance over to Cynthia, I saw her still watching me with a steely, contemplative gaze.

"You'll do fine," said Ryan. "You've handled worse than her and she can't attack you too hard when a charity is involved. Even she knows viewers would be unresponsive to that."

"Yeah," said Jean, giving me a light nudge of her elbow, "Mr. Radcliffe picked you to do the interview for a reason. Surely he saw something special in you that made you perfect for this job."

It took all of my strength to keep my internal groan from reaching my face and pinching my lips. Jean, just smiled her innocent, oblivious smile, while Cynthia's eyes narrowed and her finger brushed the bottom of her lip. As I ran through other avenues to once again get us off the topic of our boss and his particular feelings for me, I was yet again saved by Theo's exuberant interjection.

"Hey, Emily!" he called, popping up from his seat and raising his hand in greeting. We all turned to find my officemate shuffling off to the elevators that stood in front of the Pit. She turned with a surprised raise of her brow, her mouth drooping with uncertainty.

"You haven't had lunch right?" asked Theo, stepping around the sofas and drawing closer to my befuddled friend.

"Uh, no," she replied, her eyes squinting with suspicion.

"Yeah, I saw you working this whole time," he said, his eyes darting over to our glass clad office, one that I was starting to think was far less private than both Emily and I had hoped. "You should take a break and have lunch with us."

"Oh, I don't know," she said, looking over her shoulder at the elevator. "I've got to go speak with accounting about a few venue quotes..."

"So you're working on the venue!"

"Yeah, I'm leading the team that's handling the location and decorating it..."

"Great, well, that would be really useful to know for the marketing team," he said with a wide smile and a bounce of his eyebrows. "In fact, Ryan and Cynthia are working on the commercial, so knowing how you plan to decorate the hall will be crucial for how they should stage the set."

"You know," muttered Ryan, "that would be really helpful. I mean I don't want to bother you now if you're busy, but knowing the color scheme, if you're going for a more traditional or modern theme..."

Emily sighed and looked past Theo to where I sat on the sofa. I gave her a shrug and an amused smirk in return. She then dropped her shoulders and glanced over to the office. "Well, I suppose I should eat something. I guess I could go grab my lunch and talk over some of our ideas with you guys."

"Great," replied Theo. "The more the merrier."

And though Emily didn't at first look very merry about the interruption to her work flow, I was feeling rather grateful for Theo's enthusiastic recruitment of my overworked officemate. It was clear from the way Cynthia leaned in to better read Theo's expressions as Emily detailed her plans to Ryan, that the office gossip had found a more appealing lead. One, that I frankly was interested in myself, but that was something I could discuss with Emily later. And it would be much later as Emily ended up staying far longer than anyone planned and she even brought a few more of her teammates over to better discuss ideas with Ryan and Cynthia.

Once I managed to slip away it was already well into the afternoon and I was shocked when I realized that I'd spent all that time out in the open and still hadn't run into Alec. I couldn't tell if it was a blessing or a curse. Sure it meant I didn't have to deal with any uneasiness that may or may not be between us after the previous night and that people like Jean and Cynthia wouldn't draw wild conclusions from our interactions together, but it also meant I wouldn't have a chance to go over some notes for my pre-interview the following day.

So I reviewed my talking points on my own and watched as the floor emptied with each tick of the second hand. By the time Emily had gone home for the night, I felt confident that I wasn't going to be seeing him that day. And since I'd spent so much time in the office that week, I felt it right to leave at a normal hour for once. I was only preparing for a pre-interview after all. The real deal was still a week or so away and I knew this was a challenge I could handle on my own.

However, as I was packing up, I heard a knock on my door.

"Are you heading out?"

I turned to find Alec looking very relaxed as he leaned against my door frame.

"I still planned to do work, just figured I'd do it from home." I didn't know if he could hear the defensive panic in my voice. The sun had started to fall and the light glared through my window so that it reflected sharply off his glasses. He looked more robot than human with his eyes hidden behind the harsh glow. So I decided to save face the best I could, just in case he judged my desire for a decent bedtime unbecoming of a rising star in the department. "However, I did want to go over a few things with you before tomorrow."

"I had a similar hope. I've been going over the designs for our advertisements today with Dennis and I'd really like it if you could help me finalize them before I go to the firm tomorrow."

He pulled himself up off the frame of the door and with the glare gone, I saw his soft, tired smile shining through. I felt a sense of forgiveness there, one that was just as eager to forget yesterday as much as I was. What mattered then was getting as comfortable with the material we had before tomorrow and if Alec was willing to help with that, all the better.

"My office or yours?" I asked.

"We're already here, so let's settle in."

And just like the day before, I found myself wasting the hours away with Alec. The sun slipped down past the skyscrapers as the floor around us became vacant. Time ticked with its steady beat and dinner drew upon us. Somehow, despite having consumed what was by every right a rather substantial lunch, my stomach once again moaned and grumbled in the quiet of the deserted PR department. I hugged my abdomen, doing my best to silence its growl, as Alec stopped mid-sentence and flicked his gaze up at me from over top his glasses.

"Hungry already?"

"No..." I said with despair nullifying my assertion. "I mean yes. I tried to have a big lunch, but I think the harder I work, the faster I burn away food."

"I believe that is the basic concept of digestion."

At first I thought I heard agitation in his voice, but when I caught the sly smile on his lips, I realized he was playing with me. My breath caught upon that discovery and I sent my gaze away from his grin and towards the orange sky outside my window. It's then that I noticed my clock upon the wall and found that I had at least made it a bit longer than the day before. Slightly relieved, I took a deep breath and studied the brush of magenta that painted the sun's lingering reach upon the sky. Violet began to seep in and I suspected a single distant star may have been visible just outside the sun's dying glow.

"If it is all right with you, I would like to finalize these designs for the printer tomorrow before heading out."

"Of course," I said with a catch in my voice. I turned back to face him with a stiff smile. "My stomach can wait."

My stomach, however, retaliated with an undeniable growl and it took everything in me not to punch myself in the gut to make it stop.

"It's okay. Like I said yesterday, I don't want you starving for work."

"Sorry, I know, I'm just..."

"Afraid to say something because of last night."

"I..." I hadn't expected him to just pull that one out and I found myself struggling for words. In the end, I figured if he was going to be blunt about it, so was I. "Look, I understand yesterday now, but please know I never meant to test your ethics."

"I know you weren't," he said with a warm smile. "This was all on me. It was my fear of opinions that made me so short with you. I hope I can make it up to you."

I blushed a little at the thought of what he could possibly mean by making it up to me.

"You don't have to make up anything," I replied, though I was still deeply curious about his intent. "Like I said, I understand where you were coming from. It's okay."

"Being cooped up in here, though, is not okay. So I planned something else if you are willing to compromise with me."

"Compromise?"

"If you go on a little adventure with me, I'll show you what I mean."

I didn't know what that meant, but his grin was infectious and I so desperately wanted to know what was waiting behind his tantalizing smile.

"I've never been one to turn down a challenge."

***

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