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mouth. “I know….we’re going to Kinkos! I’ve got to get the reports ready for a client for tomorrow and you’re going to help me because Angela already left for the day.”
    It was true, Chelsea had just passed Angela's desk which was pin-neat and shadowy without the overhead light and the administrative assistant's chair had been pushed in. “But…there are printers here.”
    “These reports are four-color.”
    Chelsea shook her head. “We’ve got a color printer, the Lanier.”
    Sharon smiled. “And it’s all out of toner, so we can’t finish the job here.”
    “Candice never lets us run out. She’s, like, the superwoman of office managers.”
    Sharon shrugged her shoulders and said, “Ever hear of Hide and Seek?”
    “What?”
    “Trust me.”
    Chelsea was shocked and then impressed, watching Sharon nonchalantly pull the emptiest color toner cylinder, cyan, out of the Lanier and throw it out in the workroom garbage can, tuck two remaining stocked boxes of the cyan toner under her arm and walk across the office to place them in the workroom at the opposite end of the office. Then she calmly called Kevin and lied on his voicemail. She dropped the receiver in its cradle with a clatter and turned to face Chelsea, a Cheshire Cat grin making her soft friendly face look almost evil. “That was way too much fun.”
    Chelsea fell into one of the visitor chairs in Sharon’s office and fanned herself, feeling hot from the combination of excitement and anxiety. “Oh, I don’t know how to thank you. Are you sure you don’t want to come tonight? There are going to be so many cute guys there, I swear.”
    Sharon’s smile twisted into a grimace. “For a second there, I was considering it. I’ll pass on the hot men. I prefer a hot bath.”
    “Oh, come on. You’re so pretty and smart. You should be married and going on romantic cruises and stuff.”
    Sharon laughed without mirth. “I think you’re a little confused about marriage, sweetie. Trust me, I was married once upon a time. It’s no romantic-cruise-filled experience.”
    “Oh,” Chelsea said, leaning forward and warming to the subject. “You just had a bad husband. If you had the right husband you’d-“
    Sharon shook her head and laughed. “No thanks. Please don’t.”
    “Fine. Why not just come out to have some fun with the girls? You can’t stay home every night. You’ll turn into a boring old lady.”
    “Hey, who are you calling old?”
    “You know what I mean. Come on. Live a little! And I’d love to hang out with you outside of work. I’ll buy you a drink?”
    Sharon’s expression softened. “Ah…you’re probably right. I never go out anymore. Just me and Fred and the boob tube. No, don’t look at me like that, all peppy and hopeful. Fred’s my cat.”
    “Oh, well. I’m psyched I talked you into it. Yay! All right, so I’ll meet you there? At seven? I’ve got to run home and freshen up.”
    "Freshen what? You look a like a model, ready for her close-up."
    "Oh, you! You're so funny."
    Sharon rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I'm not kidding, but anyway. See you there."
    "Awesome! Okay! Bye!" Chelsea leapt up and ran back toward her cubicle to get her purse and turn off her computer, going the long way around the office in order to avoid the glassed-in conference room where Kevin was currently torturing one of his teams.
    An hour later, her makeup freshly applied, long blond hair re-curled with a curling iron, and wearing a new outfit - a black skirt and clingy silvery blouse from bebe she couldn't afford but that flattered her hourglass figure perfectly – Chelsea was climbing the steps after locking the door of her basement apartment when her phone rang. It was her default ring of a twittering bird, so it wasn't a friend or family member with a programmed ring. Taking a deep breath, she made a little wish it was Travis. That he had looked up her number in the employee directory, thinking of her after their conversation today