I texted back the emoji covering its face and shot Chels a text:

HELP. Pizza and wine tonight? My place. 

As I walked out the door my phone buzzed, Duhh. Be there at 6:30. Pink pjs.

I rolled my eyes at the last sentence. Knowing Chels, ‘pink pjs’ meant I would have to take five thousand pictures with her just for her to choose one that I hated to upload to her very popular social media pages. But I missed my sister and needed advice, so I’ll just suck it up. 

Walking into the office, everyone seemed busy and on edge. I typically was one of the first people to arrive most days, but I stopped to grab cocoa powder to surprise Chels with brownie cups for our movie night. Jesse was waiting for me in my office.

“Oh god Chels. Did you see my email? Fraternities are going to be the reason I have a stroke so young,” Jesse gripped her chest and I internally screamed. Jesse only ever said anything along those lines when something bad happened that is probably going to affect admission rates. 

“Please do tell me it made the news,” I pleaded, staring at a stressed out Jesse. “It did. Locally,” she replied, gripping the back of the chair in front of my desk. 

“Okay, okay. We can work with that. We’ll meet with the university’s president and I’m sure his marketing team has already released a statement. We’ll partner with campus security and Student Affairs for an event,” Jesse looked at me skeptical. 

“I agree with Mel. He drunkingly hit a stop sign. It could have been worse. Spring break is coming up. We could do a ‘Safe Spring Break’ event and invite the local TV stations,” Theo added, leaning on my door frame. Jesse’s face lit up and I knew the gears had started turning in her head. “Theodore, I love you! That’s perfect. Let me set up some meetings and I’ll update our teams later today. You two are good.”

Jesse left and Theo clapped slowly, “Wow Mel. You think fast. It took me all morning to come up with that while it took you ten seconds without even knowing all the details.” Theo bowed in a teasing manner and I tossed my stress ball at him. He of course caught it chuckling. 

“Why thank you Mr. Patel. However, I’ve been through this before. This happens every other year and Jesse still stresses. It's a pretty simple solution really,” I emptied my laptop bag and started setting up for the day. 

“So, last night…” Theo trailed off. “Last night, we were just two coworkers hanging out. Last night, nothing happened,” I finished. “Mel, there is no rule in the HR handbook against this. And I like hanging out with you. Especially if all your pjs look like the ones you wore last night. You can even pick the movie tonight,” he added smiling. 

“Theo, I don’t think this is a good idea,” I replied. “Well, then I guess I’ll have to eat the durian cake my family specifically made for you all by myself tonight,” he sulked for effect. 

“I mean, if you’re gonna bribe me, at least toss in some Chinese food too,” I laughed. “Deal. Text me your order and I’ll be there at 6,” he stated as he slowly back out of my office.

“Wait! I can’t tonight. I have plans, but maybe tomorrow?” Theo looked pleased as he left my office with a thumbs up. 

I practically spent the entire day with Theo. Our teams met to iron out the details of the event to get the marketing materials out to the community and student body. Jesse even ordered us lunch to apologize for basically locking us in the conference room most of the day. My shoulders ached as I slung my bag over my shoulder to leave at the end of the day. 

“Need a massage?” Jay’s breath smelled of cigarettes and made the hairs on my neck stand up right. I spun around and back away from him, “No thanks Jay. Gonna head home and go to bed early. Great work today.” 

“Let's go for a drink. Nothing better than some drinks and great company after a day like today,” he smiled trying to be reassuring and it made me uneasy. Jay could never take a hint. He has tried dating almost all the women in the building. It was very gross how sleazy he was, with his overused pickup lines and persistence. 

“Actually, I--” 

“She has plans tonight,” Theo added sternly. He led me towards the station with his palm resting on my lower back. I looked back at a pissed off Jay and was even more thankful Theo arrived when he did. I was too exhausted to deal with Jay’s tenacity. 

The train was packed again and I didn’t wait this time for Theo to pull me towards him. I leaned into his shoulder as the train took off, shifting all my weight onto him. He smiled and looped his arm around my shoulder. Once the train pulled to my stop, I was surprised to see Theo not following me off. Instead he waved as the doors closed. 

Opening my front door I smelled popcorn and knew Chels must have already let herself in. She had pajamas waiting for me on the couch and was in the kitchen when I entered and slumped down on the kitchen chair. I sighed dramatically and pretended to bang my head on the table. 

“Ok Maya Angelo, what’s so important I had to cancel my date with Remy tonight?” She leaned against the counter pretending to be angry. “Is it that guy you went on a date to the bar with? You probably thought I forgot, huh?” Tossing a kernel at her, I laughed and I headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower and get ready for the girls night. 

After devouring a bowl of popcorn and filling her in on all the details, Chels sat quietly. “And what exactly do you need help with? It sounds like you’ve already got this dude.” I stared at my sister dumbfounded. Did she miss the most important part?

“Chels. We work together. I can’t date him!” 

“Oh my god Mel. Everyone dates in the workplace. You spend most of your adult life working. It's kind of unnatural to not date anyone you work with,” she stated matter-of-factly. She did have a point. I placed the brownie cups in the oven as I thought about it. Maybe I should give Theo a chance. We weren’t even dating yet. I should at least get to know him better, right?

My phone rang and Chels grabbed it while I washed the mixing bowl. “Speaking of the devil. You owe me sir. I’m missing a very sexy date with my husband right now because you’ve got my sister gushing over you.” I smacked her with a soapy hand and grabbed my phone.

I could hear him laughing before even bringing the phone to my ear. I smacked Chels again before talking, “Hey Theo. Ignore my sister. What’s up?” Chels pressed her ear close to the phone to try to hear as well.

“Nothing really. I was just hoping your plans were over so I could come over. Rayyan dropped off the durian cake and it's too tempting not to eat it all by myself.”

“Taish, if you eat that cake without me I’m telling your entire family,” I teased as Chels batted her eyes dramatically, mouthing 'Taish'. Sticking my tongue out at her, I moved to the couch. Theo replied, “Well, I’m pretty sure my mom likes you more than me already, considering she wanted me to be a girl, so I’ll behave. I won’t keep you since you’re having an important girls night,” he sounded kind of sad. 

“Mel, I'm leaving. Seems we both have better things, or rather people, to do,” Chels yelled as she closed the front door. Theo’s laughs boomed through the phone. “Have I told you I really like your sister? Be there in ten,” he stated before hanging up.