With a huge effort, Giselle was able to push away the guilty, gloomy and haunting thoughts and images in her mind. At two minutes to three, she got up, put on her leather wedge heels and went downstairs. Finally the rain had let off and spring was coming to an end. The temperature would pick up soon, pushing into the mid twenties.

Laury's car stopped in front of the pedestrian walk when the entrance door fell into its lock. Giselle opened the car door, sat on the passenger seat and smiled at the driver. The woman wore her black, died hair in a pony tail and had slightly too much makeup on her. It made her look desperate, especially the red lipstick on the narrow lips. Laureen had her own charm, but anyone would be able to see that she was in her mid thirties and single. The cleavage was sightly too low, the earrings too big, the lipstick too red and the pants too transparent.

Giselle didn't care about all that. At her core, Laury was a nice person. Kind and sweet, but had her flaws, just like everyone else. For one, she couldn't keep a secret.

The old, blue Ford Fiesta roared cutely as Laury hit the acceleration. It lacked the power to be a menace, so it's engine sounded a bit like a lion kitten doing its best to imitate its dad.

When they drove on the freeway, the driver smiled over, "Bad day I guess? You've never agreed to going out with me this quickly. If you want to talk, I'm here, love". Giselle glanced at the buildings passing by them with distorted lips, "Yeah well, you've always been able to see through me. Or anyone else for that matter. Not sure if I want to say...".

"Wait, you think I can't keep something to myself?", Laureen responded with a surprised expression. "Yeah, I guess? Don't be mad, Laury", the passenger said apologetically, but Laury sighed, "Everyone thinks that, but I do keep a ton of things to myself. Guess you wouldn't know".

Staying silent for a while, Giselle decided to just tell her, since she didn't want to dance around this for the whole evening, "Ian and I had a fight. He's staying with his brother now and I guess he's pondering about breaking up with me".

To her surprise, her coworker took a long time to say anything. A few glances shot over to her, but that was all. When the car drove off the freeway and was heading into the maze that was Blackwater's street network, she asked, "Was it about that time when you probably cheated on him?".

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Damn, that woman was sharp. Giselle recalled the reactions when she had showed up for work after sleeping with Annie. That woman had picked up her afterglow on both occasions. The car stopped at a traffic light and her mind drifted down memory lane. To the kiss, Annie gave her for comfort and her dash from the apartment into bed, over their first night together when Ian had pushed her to see Annie and finally to poker night and their distracted attempt to watch Goblet of Fire. Without going into all of this, Giselle just said, "Yeah...".

Laury pressed her lips together and sighed again, "Damn. I hope it'll sort itself out, y'know? I like Ian. He's a nice guy". "Yeah, he is", she said. Then Laureen took the chance, like she always did, "Think that lucky guy of yours, think I can take him off your hands?". The passenger glanced over and tilted her head in amusement, "Maybe? She's our neighbor and she's single?". That revelation made the driver gasp. The mouth stayed open for a long moment until the woman composed herself, "Oh well, I'm not into girls. Maybe I should be? I guess it'd double the market size". Giselle laughed, "I'm not sure women find your style that attractive, Laury". "What? Why not?", the coworker snorted playfully. "Because you look like a desperate, divorced woman in her midlife crisis?", she offered with a grin, and both women chuckled and burst out laughing. Laury could take this kind of teasing, but at times she dished out about as much as she could take. Despite all the shortcomings, Giselle liked the woman. They had been together at Dean's for over 5 years now and shared long work days and bad customers. That created a bond which was tough to break or disrupt.

And while Laury steered the Ford through a busy parking garage and found a spot to leave it, Giselle thought back at years of work, the laughs, the challenges, the disgruntled customers and the memorable moments. "Earth to Giselle, we're here!", Laureen poked her side with a dangerously long nail on the index finger. The passenger shifted out of the way and groaned, "I'm here, no need to poke a knife into me! When did they get this long even? You could kill a man with those!", but her coworker stuck out her tongue and got out of the car without another word.