Secrets and Lies (a Les Twins fanfic)

Chapter 1: The Assignment

9:06AM you leave for paris in 3 days

Gabby stared suspiciously at the message on her computer screen. Dazed from fighting Monday morning traffic and dashing up twelve flights to her office, she thought maybe she was hallucinating.

But five minutes and half a cup of Starbucks later it was still there blinking on the instant messenger.

“This must be a joke,” she muttered and tapped three question marks into the reply box.

9:11AM ???

9:13AM did i stutter? my office. 10min

The snippy reply was typical Patrick. If he wasn’t her best friend and her boss she’d have cussed him out a long time ago. Instead, ten minutes later she was propped inside the doorway of his sprawling art deco office. Framed magazine covers decorated one wall. The others were transparent glass with a stunning view of the Atlanta skyline.

“You know if you weren’t my best friend—,” Gabby hissed.

“AND your boss,” Patrick loudly interrupted, his long dreads clashing fashionably with his collared shirt and bow tie.

Gabby rolled her eyes to the ceiling and smacked her lips. They both exploded in laughter as she plopped down in the swanky black leather arm chair across from his white enamel desk.

She was dressed in her usual nerdy chic style—a boyfriend shirt belted at the waist over black tights and ankle boots. As she crossed her long legs and leaned forward several thick, springy auburn curls fell over her black-rimmed glasses and she swept them back out of habit.

“Patrick, you know good and well that this is the worst possible time to send me out of the country. The wedding’s coming up and I haven’t even picked a dress yet.”

“Yes, yes, the wedding. Of course,” he waved one hand dismissively. “I also know it’s still six months away and this trip is two weeks tops. So please stop stressing. And anyway, I’m picking your dress because I will not have you up there looking a hot mess embarrassing me.”

Gabby stood up, put her hands on her hips, and shot him a cold look. Then she cut her eyes to the headshot of two young men with afros on top of a stack of files on his desk.

“Who are these guys, Patrick? I mean, really. Why can’t you just send one of the interns?”

“Because I’m sending you.” Patrick pushed the stack of folders toward her and leaned back in his chair. From the expression on his face Gabby new it was pointless to protest any further.

But that didn’t mean she had to like it.