“Hold up,” Sammy said. She was sitting on the floor, her ballet-toned legs tucked up beneath her. She was tiny from her years of dance training. “Who is Jack?”
“That’s what I want to know!” Brooke said. “Just some guy, walking Mia to her car… no biggie, obviously.”
“It’s a hugie!” Emilia said. “But I’ll let Mia tell it, it’s her love-story.”
“It’s not a love story,” but Mia felt her cheeks redden. “He just walked me to my car.”
“Which, obviously, is why Emilia thought you’d smack one on him in the carpark and why we’re all here,” Hannah said, smirking.
“Okay. He’s our incredibly hot systems admin who’s been leaving the sticky notes and…” Mia trailed off, completely at a loss how to word whatever it was Jack had been doing. She looked at Emilia, silently begging her to help.
“Okay, I’ll go. He’s totally been wooing her. And you can laugh at my vocab all you want, but that’s what he’s been doing! Leaves her the sticky notes and now he’s waiting for her so he can walk her to the car. It’s so romantic. And he is really hot.”
“Okay,” Annie, who had always been the voice of reason in their group, spoke up. “So, he’s hot and charming and has Emilia’s stamp of approval. I’m not seeing an SOS here. I’m seeing a win-win.”
“Well, there’s the part where our company doesn’t let us date each other,” Mia said. “And also the part where I don’t know if he’s serious or not.” The group protested loudly at this, and Mia felt so grateful to have these women in her life.
“What was Mia’s Most Likely in our fake year book again?” Brooke asked suddenly.
“Most Likely to not see something that’s basically slapping her in the face?” Maya said drily, making all of them laugh.
“Most Likely to Deny…” Emilia said, looking at Mia with wide eyes.
“Okay, stop.” Poppy said suddenly. “Listen to me, Mia. He’s either a sick fuck who likes to chase women with no intention of it going anywhere, or very, very serious. Since you’re attracted to him, and Emilia likes him, I couldn’t possibly imagine he’s the former. So, go for it, I say. Fuck company policy. As if no one in a company that size is doing it behind closed doors.”
“Also,” Maya popped up. “You need to stop overthinking it so much and just see where it takes you.”
“Agreed,” Brooke said. The rest of the group worked on convincing her to take the chance. Looking around the room, full of the best friends that anyone could ever wish for, Mia felt something settle inside her. Maybe Jack really did like her for her. Poppy was right. There was nothing pretentious about him. And maybe, just maybe, Mia should stop weighing all her pros and cons, gather up her courage, and go for it. Maybe she should stop hesitating.