It was the lamest lie ever and Mary knew it. In the heat of the moment, and there had definitely been heat coursing through her veins, Mary had almost told Lex the truth.

She was attracted to Lex. It was as simple as that. She saw it clearly now and it was hard to believe she hadn’t connected the dots earlier. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to.

When she had felt Lex’s fingers brush against hers, she had briefly thought Lex was about to grab her hand. Mary had instinctively reached out for her, pulling back at the very last moment.

A tiny part of her brain had still been functioning properly. “There will be no way back,” it had whispered. Mary had suddenly understood the magnitude of what she had been about to do. She had snapped out of the spell she had been under.

And so she had uttered the first lie she could come up with. “You’re obviously in great shape and I am not at all.” Lex’s blue eyes had been fixed on Mary’s. Mary thought she had seen disappointment in them.

Lex hadn’t replied to Mary’s awkward admission, opting for casual conversation instead. Mary had gone along with it for the rest of the walk to the hotel. No, she hadn’t planned to go to the gym. Yes, next time she would pack an outfit.

Now, they were seated at a table in the bar. Lex had told her this place would be more casual than the hotel restaurant. Casual turned out to be a very subjective term, Mary realized.

The place was decorated in the style of a high-end cocktail bar. Leather chairs stood around shiny, mahogany tables. A luxurious, thick carpet gave the spacious room a cozy feel.

Mary flipped the page of the menu and was happy to discover an impressive selection of gourmet burgers. The vegetarian burger with sweet potato fries sounded perfect.

“See anything you’re in the mood for?” Lex asked.

Mary nodded. “Yeah, the veggie burger looks great.”

“You’re a vegetarian?” Lex asked, closing her menu and putting it aside.

“About 99% of the time, yeah,” Mary told her. “I have some seafood now and then.”

Lex smiled. “Can’t resist the shrimp?”

Mary crossed her legs under the table. “Shrimp. Crab. Oh, and lobster.”

“Lobster?” Lex laughed. “Expensive taste, huh?”

Mary huffed playfully. “Look who’s talking.”

Lex grabbed her chest as if she had been shot. “Touché!”

Mary studied the fine lines around Lex’s eyes. They told Mary Lex did smile often. Just not at work all that much, she guessed. She liked it when Lex smiled. She didn’t like how it made her heart skip a beat or two.

“What are you having to drink?” Mary asked, clearing her throat.

“I think I’ll have a Stella,” Lex said, looking around for the waiter.

“A beer?” Mary asked in surprise.

Lex arched a dark eyebrow. “Yeah? Can’t I have a beer?”

Mary shifted in her seat. “Eh, of course, you can.”

“You thought I would order some fancy wine, didn’t you?” Lex asked, looking amused.

The heat crept up Mary’s neck again. Lex was making her blush every three minutes. “Okay, maybe…”

Lex moved to the edge of her seat and placed her lower arms on the table. Her hands lay only a few inches away from Mary’s. “What other things do you think about me?”

“What? I don’t …” Mary started, but then fell silent. First of all, she thought a lot of things but she wasn’t about to admit to any of them. Secondly, was Lex teasing her again?

“Ha, see?” Lex said, leaning closer. “Let me guess….”

Mary laughed to hide her embarrassment.

“You think I’m spoiled?” Lex asked.

Mary hid her face behind her hands.

“So, spoiled. Arrogant too?”

“Stop it!” Mary pleaded, peeking between her fingers. Lex was grinning. She didn’t seem hurt or insulted.

“I don’t think any of those things anymore,” Mary said, her hands dropping to the table in surrender.

Lex wagged a finger at her. “But you used to.”

Mary looked down at her hands as she considered her next move. She decided to be brutally honest. “Can you blame me after last week?”

This gave Lex pause. She pursed her lips. “No, I can’t,” she said. “I was a total bitch.”

Mary smiled at Lex’s bluntness. She wasn’t going to deny it. Lex really had been a pain in the ass. “Why, though?” she blurted out.

“Ah,” Lex sighed, sitting back. “That’s a tough question.”

“If you don’t want to answer it,” Mary said, shrugging, “That’s fine.”

She was only pretending not to care all that much, of course. Her heart rate had picked up and she wished Lex to finally open up a little. She desperately wanted to know more about her.

Lex took in a deep breath. She scanned the room, maybe hoping the waiter would finally arrive to take their order. Mary inwardly begged him to stay away. She felt like she might never get another chance to have this conversation with Lex.

“I have not been myself since I lost my previous job,” Lex admitted. Her voice suddenly revealed a profound fatigue.

Mary instantly felt terrible about poking her nose into Lex’s business. “I’m sorry, I… “

Lex raised her hand. “No, it’s okay. After my behavior last week, I owe you an explanation.”

***

Mary woke up with a start. A glance at the alarm clock told her it was 4.30 AM. She was surprised she had slept for six hours. Her head had been spinning with questions and thoughts when she had crawled into bed.

Mary sat up. She knew it was no use trying to go back to sleep. Her mind was already going back into overdrive. It was hard not to panic. Maybe a long, hot shower would help, she thought.

“I’m in so much trouble,” she muttered to herself, making her way to the bathroom.

A minute later, she let her head fall back against the tiles of the shower. The water ran over her face and shoulders. When she closed her eyes, the first thing she saw was Lex’s face.

Mary groaned. Yesterday had brought a lot of things into focus for her. Or rather, it had revealed something she wished wasn’t there. Something that had taken her by surprise and made life much more complicated than it should be.

“Why Lex?” she wondered. “Of all people? Why the one person you shouldn’t have a crush on?”

Mary inhaled deeply and adjusted the water to make it less hot. She was getting a little lightheaded. She placed her hands against the wall and stared down at her own feet. Memories of last night’s conversation floated to the surface of her mind.

“I got fired,” Lex had admitted. “Or rather, I was asked to leave. Same thing.”

This revelation had caught Mary off guard. She had never wondered why Lex had joined Leroy or why she had left her old job. She had always focused on the family link with Hannah.

Lex had continued, leaning back in her chair. “It really pissed me off. They took everything from me. I know it’s not an excuse, but…” She scratched her cheek and let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” Mary said, “I didn’t know. When was this?”

Lex fidgeted with one of the cotton napkins the waiter had left on the table after taking their order. “61 days ago.”

“You’ve been counting,” Mary said in surprise.

Lex met her gaze shyly. “Yeah.”

Mary tugged at the little ring in her ear. “So… What happened?”

“A co-worker confided in me about something,” Lex replied and frowned.

Mary shifted in her seat, struggling to sit still as she waited for Lex to continue.

“She was sexually assaulted by a senior partner of the firm,” Lex said. Her eyes burned with anger.

“Oh,” Mary whispered. “That’s awful.”

Lex nodded fiercely. “She was too scared to tell anyone, but I knew Vicky pretty well and I could just tell something was off, you know? I finally asked her to step into my office and that’s when she broke down.”

Mary’s throat tightened.

“There had always been rumors about this guy,” Lex continued, the words tumbling out now. “I just didn’t give them much credit, you know. People talk. People try to take each other down. It’s just business.”

Mary frowned. She didn’t agree with Lex’s assumption that these rumors were business as usual, but kept this to herself.

“What did you do?” she asked instead. Her hands were getting clammy. For some reason, whatever Lex would say next really mattered to her.

Lex sighed.