He's The Boss

4

"Good morning, Caitlin," Lacey greets me at my desk early that morning in the office.

She's using 'Caitlin' instead of 'Cait' – that's a bad sign. I wish she would stop doing that. I wish she would stop applying the same rules she uses with her kids to me.

"Yes, Mrs Moreno?" I match her with unnecessary politeness.

"Don't think I don't know what you got up to last night."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're wearing your hangover face."

"I have a migraine. It's not the same thing."

"Cait – "

"Guess what? You'll be happy to know that I just got Keith to agree to a second date with Lindsey. They're going out tonight."

The little bone seems to distract her. "Keith Atkins? Really? Mr She-Has-Too-Many-Teeth-For-Me?"

"Yup."

"What about - ?"

"I got them a booking at Lafitte."

"On a Friday night?"

"I called in a favor."

"You're kidding."

"Hey. Anything for love, right?"

Lacey leans against the top of my cubicle, her blue eyes sparking for a moment before she remembers to return to Mom mode. "Alright, Cait. As always, you're my star matchmaker, but still, this lifestyle of yours has got to stop."

"With all due respect, Lacey, I don't comment on or judge the decisions you make."

"I'm not trying to tell you how to run your life. I'm just questioning how long you can keep this up before you get yourself into some real trouble. You and Sam – "

"He has nothing to do with this," I shoot back, my voice coming out louder than I expected it to, and causing a few people to look our way.

"What's gotten into you?" Lacey asks, blinking cautiously.

"Nothing."

"Did you and Sam finally have a fight?"

Her words strike me. It's true – he and I rarely argued about anything. Or maybe he'd just kept quiet about his disagreements, resenting me in secret all this time.

"You did, didn't you?" Lacey goes. "Oh, well, don't worry, Cait. This is a good thing – I keep telling you it's the sign of a healthy, mature relationship."

"We're just cooling off a bit right now."

"Alright, I can understand. But you have to find better ways of de-stressing than drinking and partying."

" ... drinking and partying?" someone interrupts, and we see an older blonde woman in a tight white dress offset by a red pearl necklace.

"Hey, Nicola!" Lacey chirps, while I smile uncomfortably.

Nicola beams. "How are you two?"

"Good. Glad to see you again. You look great."

"Thanks. I, uh, I'd ask what that conversation was about, but now that I'm out of the picture, I guess it's really none of my business."

I smile tightly, hoping to hide my immense relief.

"I heard you were out sick for a few days, Caitlin. Are you feeling better?"