“How did things go at work today?”
This was how they began their conversation each night. He would ask her how things went with her job and she would ask how things went with his. They would hold a pleasant conversation for a good forty-five minutes and then they would say good night. Sometimes she wondered about the real purpose of them talking, other than to hear the other’s voice each day.
“Things at the shop went okay. Business has really picked up this week. I got a lot of pre-Thanksgiving orders.” Then she said, “I closed early. Lena and I went shopping for gowns for the ball this weekend.” She wondered if he would mention if he were going, or more specifically if he had a date.
“Did you find something you liked?”
“Yes.”
“What color is it?”
“Black.”
“I bet it looks good on you.”
“Lena thought so.”
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
There was a pause and then he said, “Marcus is going away this weekend.”
Kylie raised an eyebrow. This was news to her since Tiffany hadn’t mentioned it. “He is?”
“Yes. Cyndi’s parents are coming through on their way to—”
“Not Disney World?” she asked, immediately jumping to conclusions and hoping they were the wrong ones.
“No, Busch Gardens in Virginia.”
Thank goodness. “Oh.”
“Why did you think they were going to Disney World?”
“Because that’s where Tiffany is headed this weekend.”
“Ahh. And you thought that perhaps they had manipulated their grandparents so the two of them could be in the same place and at the same time.”
“It’s been known to happen.”
“I’m sure it has but I doubt they would go that far.”
“Hey, you never know,” Kylie said.
There was another pause and then Chance said, “We’re going to have to start trusting them at some point, Kylie.”
Tucking a braid behind her ear, she took a deep, frustrating breath. “I know, but for me it’s hard, Chance, because I remember all the tricks I used to pull to be with Sam.”
“Yes, but is it fair to judge them by what you did?”
“No.”
“All right, then.”
Kylie tilted her lips in a smile. Even if he were bringing a date to the ball, she still enjoyed her nightly talks with him. Although she had decided that they could never be lovers, it seemed that he had made up his mind that they would be friends. And deep down she didn’t have a problem with that.
She’d always had Lena as another female to bounce her ideas and thoughts off of, but there had never been a guy she felt close enough with to do the same. Lately she had asked Chance’s opinions about a lot of things, including how she should handle situations that had arisen at work. Being the savvy businessman that he was, he had always given her good, sound advice.
“So, how are things going at the Steele Corporation?” she asked.
“There was a development today that I wished could have been avoided.”
“Oh? What?”
“We had to let a man go who’s been with us for over ten years.”
She heard disappointment, as well as regret, in his voice. “Why?”
“We found out he’d been stealing from the company. He was padding figures and having the products delivered elsewhere. Bas had suspected him for a while but we only got the proof we needed today to do anything about it.”
They talked for the next thirty minutes or so and that night Kylie slept with an inner peace that she hadn’t known in a long time.
“SO YOU THINK THEY WILL have their first date this weekend?” Marcus asked before biting into his sandwich.
Tiffany smiled. “Yes. They’re going to that ball, although they aren’t going with each other. I can’t see how it won’t turn into a date with the both of us gone for the weekend. Didn’t you see how they were looking at each other last weekend when they thought no one was noticing? I think we did the right thing by contacting our grandparents.”