"Thanks for keeping me company on my way into work, Dad."

"I've quite enjoyed our chat. You sound happy," he says through the speaker of my phone that's mounted on my dashboard and I turn off the engine.

"I am happy."

"And that makes me happy, peanut," he says and I grin at his nickname for me. "Alright, now that you're safe and sound at work, I'd hate to make you late walking inside. Can't wait to see you and Harry at Christmas."

"We're excited, too, Dad. Alright, I should go now, but I'll talk to you later. Give Martha and Mum my love."

"Will do. Bye, JJ."

"Bye, Dad," I reach up to press the End Call button and I notice that I have a new notification.

I tap on the alert and it takes me to Messages where there's a new VoiceNote from Harry. My smile is uncontrollable as I tap on the Play button and his voice comes through the speaker.

"Hey, love. I just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking about you and I hope that you have a wonderful day. I miss you. I love you. Oh, this is Harry, your boyfriend, by the way."

Shaking my head with a smile at his humour, I tap the button to reply, "I got your VoiceNote. It's a good thing you identified yourself cos I'd think it was my other boyfriend. I'm kidding, love. It was really sweet. I hope you have a lovely day as well and we'll talk later tonight? Hopefully. Alright. I love you. And I miss you, too. Oh, and this is JJ, your girlfriend. Muah."

As I press Send, I glance up at the time displayed on my phone and my smile fades.

"Shit, now I'm really gonna be late," I say to myself, grabbing my things and I hurriedly get out of the car.

The chilly air makes me walk even faster through the parking garage and as I approach the double doors, I get my employee badge ready to scan. Once I'm inside, I greet Trish at the front desk and she stares at me with her jaw dropped.

"Well, good morning to you," I tease and she gets up to follow me.

"Yeah, yeah, good morning and all that. I want to know what's going on."

"What? Nothing's going on and why are you following me to my office?" I playfully ask as I drop my purse and shoulder bag onto my desk.

"Because I want to know why," she crosses her arms while I hang my coat on the hook behind the door.

"Know what?"

"Don't be coy, love. I'm your best mate-"

"Second best mate," Emmet interrupts by poking his head in the doorway before stepping inside my office.

"Ugh, I've told you both that I'm not ranking either of you."

"Tied for first?" he gives a cheesy grin and I roll my eyes.

"Fine, sure," I absentmindedly say while logging into my computer to clock in. I let out a sigh, returning my attention to the two most infuriating, wonderful best mates I could ask for. "Is there coffee in the break room?"

"Yes. Lily made it about ten minutes ago. We can all go with you and you tell us all what's going on."

"But there's nothing going on," I playfully groan, inching my way between them. "If you'll both excuse me . . ."

As I walk down the hallway, the quiet chatter behind me lets me know they're following me and I sigh a heavy breath. I walk inside the break room and head straight to the coffee maker, inhaling the glorious aroma.

I can sense Trish and Emmet's presence behind me as I pour some hot coffee into a cup and I stir in some creamer. I bring the cup to my mouth to blow off the steam that's rising from the coffee, turning around to face my mates.

"You're right, Trish. She's positively glowing."

"It's my new eyeshadow," I fib, casually taking a sip of my coffee.

"Is that what we're calling 'having hot sex with your hot boyfriend every night' now?"

"Trish! Our HR manager is standing right here."

"It's okay. I'll let it go this once only because I'm emotionally invested in this particular relationship."

I roll my eyes, sighing at this exasperating moment, "Alright, I'll answer your questions, but during our lunch. Anyone up for some sushi?"

"Hell yeah."

"My turkey sandwich in the ice box isn't going anywhere," Trish grins.

"Alright, it's settled then. Now let's get to work," I say and they agree.

The morning goes by too quickly, only allowing me to work on one project that is bound and determined to turn my hair gray before it's supposed to. My concentration is broken when my stomach growls rather loudly and I look at my computer's clock.

"Twelve on the dot," I say to myself, clicking out of my computer program and I clock out. After I put on my coat and grab my purse, I make my way up to the front desk and wait for Trish to get off the phone.

"You're welcome and you have a lovely day. Bye-bye," Trish says and hangs up the phone, making eye contact with me. "Em's in the loo."

"We're always waiting on the lad," I joke, spying him in the corner of my eye.

"Excuse me, but I prefer to call it fashionably late."

"Whatever you say, Emmet," I roll my eyes into a smile. "Now let's go. I'm starved."

Since the restaurant is literally next to our building, it's only a few minutes later that the seating hostess walks us to our booth. The delicious aroma makes me even hungrier and it's all I can do to not blurt out my order.

After we give our orders to our waitress, I sit back and mentally prepare myself for the questions my best mates are sure to start firing at me.

"It's not that busy today so hopefully our food will be right out," Trish says and I agree with a nod. "Now, back to our discussion before."

"Christ, I almost forgot," Emmet laughs. "Yes, please tell us why you're radiant and don't give us some 'it's my new blush' bullsh-"

"Who had the California roll?" our server interrupts Emmet and he clears his throat.

"That would be me," he says. "M'sorry, love."

"It's fine. I've heard much worse and it's only Monday. And I know you ladies had the Spicy Tuna Roll. Enjoy."

We thank her before she leaves and I take out my chopsticks front the sleeve. My mouth begins to water as I take the first bite and I practically moan at the flavor bursting in my mouth.

"Mm, I love this place more than I love myself," Trish mumbles with her mouth full of food and we all agree.

"Speaking of love," Emmet says before taking a sip of his water, "let's get back to this morning's conversation."

"Yes, please tell us why you're practically glowing."

I sigh, raising my hands in defeat, "Fine. It's just that I'm really happy. Harry makes me extremely happy."

"So you two have worked out your issues?"

"Yeah, for the most part. I mean, we're both still a tad insecure about certain things, but we're taking a more mature approach at resolving our issues."

"Hmm, who are you and where is the old JJ who overreacts at everything?"

I raise an eyebrow at Trish's question, "I'll have you know that you're looking at the new and improved JJ."

"Not that we didn't love the old JJ, but I like this JJ. She's . . . more confident."

"I was confident before I met Harry."

"I know, love. That's why I said more confident. You should try this new invention, it's called listening," Trish says and I gasp in pretend offense, reaching over to steal one of her sushi rolls. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sharing your lunch."

"Sharing only works when the party that you stole from gets something in return," she says, eyeballing the sushi on my plate.

"Oh alright, go on and have one."

She smiles victoriously as she takes a piece with her chopsticks and I fit my eyes to Emmet. He's quiet now which is unusual and I causally reach for my water glass.

"How are things going for you on that dating website? You haven't mentioned it lately. Have you had any luck?"

"No luck, only liars who are set out to break my heart."

"Oh for Christ's sake, then why are you still doing online dating?" I ask out of sheer curiosity.

"Because the men on there are fine as f-"

"How was your meal?" our waitress interrupts Emmet once again, making us laugh.

"It was scrumptious, and never mind this one," Trish points to Emmet. "He was born without any manners." Our waitress clears her throat to cover her laugh and she sets the check down on the table before leaving. "Okay, laughter aside, I'll get the check this time."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know I don't have to, JJ. I want to."

"Emmet, you want to try talking some sense into Trish?"

"Uhm, thanks for flipping the bill, love."

I sigh, rolling my eyes, "You are such a stinker."

He gives a little theatrical bow, "Thank you."

"I don't think that was a compliment," Trish giggles. "Was it?"

"Definitely not a compliment."

"I'm being attacked," Emmet jokes, making us coo at him.

"No, you're not, love. We love you, Em."

He crosses his arms, looking away and we quietly clap at his performance.

"I don't know if I could ever forgive you two."

"Your bum looks good in those jeans," Trish says and he looks over at us with a grin.

"I forgive."

"Wonderful, now we can sleep at night," I sarcastically say and he throws his wadded napkin at me. "Alright, alright. I suppose we should get back. It's been nearly an hour. Are we ready?"

"If we have to," Emmet grumbles. "You know, it's scientifically proven that the fastest hour of the workday is the lunch hour."

"Is it now?" I play along with his theory. "Which scientist discovered that?"

"Me."

All three of us burst into laughter as we get up from the booth and we make our way out of the restaurant. Emmet holds the door open for us and I thank him as I walk through and a gust of wind blows up my skirt, taking me by surprise because of the cold temperature.

"Lemme help, love."

"Thanks, Trish. I knew I shouldn't have worn a skirt today," I say, smoothing my hands on the front of my skirt while Trish takes care of the back.

"But you look good."

"Yeah, but I don't want to give everyone around a show."

"Yeah, you only want to give Harry a show."

I can't stop the sinful grin from appearing on my face at the mention of his name and the thought of him. The teasing from my mates is worth it and for some reason I can't explain, it makes me happy.

"Okay, T-minus four hours left," Trish says as she opens the door to the building for us and Emmet groans.

"Can this day speed up? I want to get home so I can get ready for my date tonight."

"With one of your online hotties?" I ask.

"Mhm. You girls want to see a picture of him?"

"Yeah," Trish and I say at the same time and he whips out his phone. "What's his name?"

"Landon, and he's an Ig model, too."

"Good lord, he has an eight pack," I say in utter shock.

"He gets paid to work out," Emmet explains and Trish and I give each other a look before laughing it out.

"All jealousy aside, I hope you have fun tonight with him. You'll keep us posted?"

"Of course. You two are my besties, after all."***

A/N: Hello, fam! How is everyone?

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Much Love.
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