the rest of those Moscow Mules before my shift tomorrow.” She braced her hands against her lower back and stretched. “Thank God I pushed those hernia surgeries to the middle of the week.”
Samiah looked from one woman to the other as something akin to panic stole over her.
“So is this it?” she asked. “This is how this ends?”
London hunched her shoulders in a cautious shrug. “Are we supposed to hug or something?”
“Yeah. No.” Samiah shook her head. “I mean…maybe?”
She didn’t know what she meant, but she knew it didn’t feel right to just walk away from one another after everything they’d been through over the past twelve hours.
“This just feels…I don’t know…anticlimactic. We should share phone numbers. Or, at the very least, connect on social media.”
“I guess you’re right,” Taylor said. She reached into her black clutch and drew out a couple of business cards. “I like you two. You get to have my real number,” she said with a wink. “Give me a call sometime and let me know how you’re both doing.”
“I’ll go you one better,” London said, slipping the business card in her back pocket. “Why don’t we meet for drinks next week? Just to check in on each other. I have a feeling things will get a little crazy following this viral video.” She shot Taylor a good-natured grin. “I’ll even bring the kombucha.”
“I prefer the ones with ginger, thank you very much.”
Relief flooded Samiah’s veins. She would explore just why it was so important not to lose touch with these two later. For now, she was just happy they were going to connect again.
“It’s a date,” she said. “Shoot me a text with whatever time works best for the two of you and I’ll come up with a place to meet.”
“Aww, now I do want a hug,” Taylor said. She stretched her arms wide and gathered London and Samiah in an embrace.
Samiah saw both women to the door with a promise to contact them later in the week. Then she went to her bedroom and fell face-first onto the bed. She grabbed her phone, pulled up the YouTube video, and groaned. Another twenty thousand views since she’d last watched it less than a half hour ago. This was such a freaking disaster.
She set the phone beside her on the mattress and twisted around, staring up at the stark white ceiling. She wondered if she should add another item to her list.
Item 58: Have half a million people witness the most humiliating moment of your life.
At least it would be an easy one to check off.
Chapter Three
Samiah had always viewed her condo’s proximity to the high-rise that housed Trendsetters IT Solutions as a bonus.
Today, she regretted the hell out of her short commute to work. The compulsion to retreat grew stronger with each loathsome step she took toward the building.
She’d considered calling in sick, but quickly recognized the futility in that. Her coworkers’ scrutiny would be waiting for her whenever she returned to the office. It was better for her to face their judgmental reaction to Saturday night’s disaster now and get it over with.
As she pushed through the building’s revolving doors, trepidation slithered along her spine like a serpent, poised to bite her in the ass at any moment. The lobby teemed with employees of the various tech companies occupying the building. As usual, Samiah felt overdressed in her Anne Klein jacket and pencil skirt, surrounded by all these people who had never grasped the concept of Casual Fridays. Every day in the Austin tech world was Casual Friday. Maybe she should have opted for jeans today. Maybe then she wouldn’t stand out so much.
Hyperaware of the gazes that followed her as she walked through the brightly lit lobby, Samiah focused on the bank of elevators straight ahead. The swirling hum of the floor buffing machine drowned out any chatter before it hit her ears, but she caught several people pointing out of the corner of her eye. One woman even gave her a thumbs-up. Samiah acknowledged her support with a brief nod and smile before slipping onto a nearly full elevator.
Familiar faces surrounded her, but she didn’t know a single name. This building had over thirty tenants. Everyone treated one another with reserved politeness and congenial respect, but other than the smokers who congregated in a corner of the concrete patio on the south end of the property, no one took the time to get to know anyone who was not a coworker.
Unless someone