Lunch proved to be another ordeal. Reyna hadn’t seen her friends since they’d dropped her off at the club Friday night. She knew they’d be brimming with curiosity. She hadn’t known they’d be rabid with it.
About fifteen minutes before it was time to meet, Reyna walked to the corner deli and ordered her usual lunch of tuna salad, crackers, and a protein smoothie. She sipped on the smoothie as she strolled back to the office, wishing it were a large, bloody steak. However, more than ever it was necessary to keep up appearances. Reyna didn’t want her friends knowing what had occurred, that she’d been claimed. Personal privacy was too deeply ingrained in her.
They pounced as soon as she cleared the elevator and stepped inside the rooftop atrium.
From their table, halfway across the room, Lexy called out, “Reyna, how’d it go Friday night?”
“Did you meet anybody?” Delaney asked just as loudly.
They knew how much she disliked being the center of attention. Reyna briefly considered turning around and heading to her office for lunch.
“She must have,” Caitlyn announced with certainty. “She stayed the full hour. I didn’t think she’d last.”
Giving a resigned sigh, Reyna ignored the attention they’d drawn from the other workers and held her silence until she reached the table. “Of course I stayed. I said I would, didn’t I? That was the deal. I can’t believe you sat outside the whole hour watching.”
Delaney grinned. “We only stayed the first forty-five minutes until Lexy arrived.”
“I didn’t see you leave. You must have had fun,” Lexy said, her expression hopeful.
“Not really.” At their groans and protests, Reyna reminded them, “Clubs really aren’t my scene. I told you that before you came up with this plan.”
Caitlyn sighed. “Well, you kept your end of the bargain. We’ll keep ours. We promise not to harass you anymore about how you spend your off time.”
Reyna turned to Jacey, who’d remained quiet. “I’ll have to pay you for the dress. It was ruined.”
Immediately concerned, Lexy asked, “What happened? Some bozo spill his drink on you?”
“No, she got wild and sexy with a vampyr and he ripped it off her,” Delaney said laughingly.
For a stunned moment, Reyna simply stared at Delaney in disbelief. How the hell had she known? Caitlyn and Lexy burst out laughing, and Reyna realized Delaney was teasing her. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, she turned to find Jacey watching her.
“Don’t worry about the dress, or the coin. Both are replaceable,” Jacey assured her. The look she gave Reyna said Jacey knew exactly what had happened to both but was willing to keep the information to herself.
“How did you—?” Reyna began, looked at the others who were still chuckling at Delaney’s joke, and changed her mind. It was evident she needed to take a closer look into Jacey’s background. Like Reyna, Jacey was more than she appeared.
“I’m no threat to you, Reyna,” Jacey said quietly. “If you can believe nothing else, believe me when I say I want you to be happy.”
Not sure she could believe the woman but uncertain as to what Jacey could gain by lying, Reyna turned her attention to eating her lunch. The other’s merriment dwindled and food consumption began in earnest. The talk changed to a review of what each one had done over the weekend and their plans for the week.
As they were finishing the last of their meals, Lexy leaned forward and said in a low voice, “I heard management closed this really big deal with Japan and we’re all getting raises.”
Since Lexy worked in the legal department, Reyna wasn’t surprised she’d heard about the deal they’d made this morning. A copy of the agreement had been sent down. The others immediately turned to Reyna.
“Reyna, is it true?” Caitlyn, who worked in Accounting, asked.
“Weren’t you just saying Friday at lunch you heard we might be getting cost of living increases?” Delaney said.
Reyna hesitated. In her phony position as Executive Assistant to the Chief Administrative Officer, she was presumably in a position to know. However, a certain amount of confidentiality was to be expected. “I haven’t heard anything official, so don’t quote me on this. I don’t think we’re getting a raise, but there’s talk we may see a bonus out of the deal.”
“I’ll take a bonus,” Caitlyn said quickly. “Every little bit helps.”
Lexy sighed. “A raise would be nice, but completely unnecessary. After comparing notes with some of my friends, I realize Illuminator Incorporated is already one of the highest paying employers in the city. I know people who would kill to trade places with me.”
“Same here,” Delaney said. “They’d kill simply to have our benefits, never mind the salaries. I’ll settle for a bonus. I’ve got my eye on this purse I want to buy.”
Reyna shook her head, knowing Delaney’s penchant for expensive designer purses. “Well before you go out and spend your bonus money, remember it’s just a rumor.”
“Reyna, if you say we’re getting bonuses, that’s good enough for me,” Jacey said demurely.
“Yeah, Reyna. Your word’s good enough for me too,” Lexy echoed.
Reyna, busy staring into Jacey’s solemn, knowing gaze, barely heard her.