The Boss (The Boss 1)

After seeing the two of them together in the apartment, I’d decided that I had to meddle. Just lightly. Just to give Deja a hint. Because from what I’d discerned from our past six years of friendship, dating Holli was like trying to solve the puzzle box from Hellraiser. Deja was doing me a solid by not blowing the whistle on my extracurricular fun times with Neil, so I owed her a solid right back.

“Hey, Mr. Elwood isn’t here,” Deja said, looking up from her computer when I pushed through the door.

“That’s okay. I’m not here to see Mr. Elwood, I’m here to see you.” It was still super bizarre to be back in this office, standing in front of the desk I’d worked behind for two years. I looked over to the empty desk across the room. “Still no second assistant?”

“No, I don’t really think he needs one,” Deja said tapping a button on her keyboard before swiveling her chair to face me. “Either he’s not demanding enough, or I’m the most capable assistant in the universe.”

“I bet it’s the second one.”

She gave a little laugh, but I could tell she was eager to talk about Holli. Her eyebrows shot up, and she smiled a big, unnatural smile. “So... How’s Holli?”

“Good, she’s good.” I nodded, my lips clamped together as I tried to figure out how to say what I wanted to tell her. “Look, I think you guys could be really good together. But there’s something you should know.”

“Oh?” she asked warily, her smile fading a little. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Well...” I took a breath. “Holli is really, really sensitive about her weight.”

Deja laughed in disbelief. “Um, she weighs about two pounds! I wish I was so skinny.”

“I know, and that’s the problem.” I’d lived with Holli since freshman year at college, so I’d had plenty of time to see how the well-meaning comments of strangers had affected her. I really hoped I could make Deja understand in a few minutes what it had taken me years to learn. “She gets a lot of crap for being so skinny. People get snotty with her and accuse her of having an eating disorder, or they give her a bunch of praise for her willpower. She just gets tired of it. The truth is, it’s just how her body is. She has as much trouble gaining weight as most people do losing weight. Then you get a bunch of jealous people taking digs at her, and there’s no way she can win.”

“Oh my god.” Deja looked slightly ill. “And here I was, all weekend with my stupid, ‘Oh, I’m so jealous of you, you can eat whatever you want, I wish my thighs didn’t touch, blah blah blah.’” She dropped her head into her hands. “Deja you fucking idiot.”

“No, look, don’t beat yourself up.” I felt kind of bad, though I didn’t know why. If I were routinely offending someone, I would definitely want to be told, and I was sure Deja appreciated hearing this. “She really likes you. And I think you guys would be so great together. Just, in this case, an apology might go a long way.”

“Will do,” she assured me. “Thank you.”

“I’m about to go grab some lunch. Do you want me to bring anything back for you?”

Deja shook her head. “No, I’ve got this avocado wrap thing in the fridge. Go, have a good one.”

As I turned to leave, Neil came through the door, followed by Hope. He looked startled to see me there. “Hello, Sophie.”

“Hello, Mr. Elwood. I was just on my way out.” I passed him and nodded at Hope. “Hello.”

“Getting along alright in the beauty department, dear?” Hope asked. She was about one hundred percent more pleasant now that she wasn’t working with Gabriella.

“Things are going great. A few bumps, but it’s going great.” I nodded at her and Neil, catching his eyes super briefly before I headed through the door. I’d just made it to the lobby when my phone vibrated with a text message from Neil.

That skirt is driving me insane.

I smirked to myself as I exited the building. I was hoping he’d noticed my floaty green skirt beneath the hem of my short white wool coat. I had definitely started to dress with an eye to what Neil would find attractive. Nothing inappropriate for the work place, still fashionable, but I’d figured out early that he was pretty into skirts. A flash of our night in the hotel six years previous came to me, his hand gripping the back of my waistband and roughly jerking down my jeans. A hot flush suffused my body, starting at my torso and spreading to my limbs. Okay, so maybe the clothes didn’t matter. Maybe he was just into me.

“Hey, Sophie!”

I startled guiltily. I wasn’t even twenty feet from the front door and I was thinking inappropriate-for-the-office thoughts. When I turned, Jake was jogging down the steps to catch up with me.