Chapter 3: Friendship

Mac hadn't told me that I'd need to make an appointment, so I was both embarrassed and impressed when the receptionist seemed reluctant to call up to him.

He'd excelled since leaving uni, achieving the kind of prestigious job that many of his classmates could only dream of. I hadn't pegged him as the career-driven type back then, but I'd only seen the non-working version of him, the party animal who was always up for a night out when the rest of the flat wanted to stay in. We'd clicked instantly in that respect, but university truly was a bubble, and we'd fallen out of touch after graduation just as easily.

As I waited in the modern lobby of his law firm, admiring the huge glass-panelled walls and marble floors, I realised there must have been a different side to Mac than the one I'd known. Nobody could bullshit their way into a place like this. However hard he'd partied outside his classes, he must have worked twice as hard inside them.

"You can go up," the receptionist said, gesturing towards the lifts. "Twelfth floor. You'll come to another reception area, and they'll point you in the right direction."

In keeping with the modern nature of the building, the lift doors automatically parted as soon as I stepped up to them, revealing an entirely mirrored interior, except for the plush, navy carpet. Roman numerals listed out the floors, a chic juxtaposition to the otherwise contemporary aesthetic.

I hit XII and the car began to smoothly ascend. This was the kind of place I'd have liked to work if I hadn't given up the corporate lifestyle. And if it didn't come with the long, stressful hours that I imagined it probably did.

The doors glided apart silently, revealing a reception desk in front of a wooden partition adorned with the company's logo. I introduced myself and was swiftly accompanied down carpeted corridors and past closed doors, until we reached an office right at the end.

"Go straight through," she said.

Thanking her, I twisted the handle and pushed against the glass. Mac sat behind a large desk, looking devilishly handsome in a crisp white shirt and light grey waistcoat. His brow was furrowed as he stared at the laptop in front of him, but his eyes softened when he glanced up at me, and a relaxed smile tickled his lips.

"After legal advice?" He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his blonde head.

The soft Scottish accent, paired with the mischievous glint in his eye and laidback body language, had an instant calming effect on me. While I still struggled to reconcile uni Mac with lawyer Mac, the man in front of me now was familiar.

"Yes." I played along. "Intellectual property theft."

His mouth stretched into a grin. "Incorrect use of the term but brownie points for trying."

"I know. You put me on the spot and that was the best joke I could come up with."

I wandered over to the floor-to-ceiling window behind his desk, peering out at the view of a neighbouring skyscraper's gym. For the first time since stepping inside the beautiful building, I was underwhelmed.

"Cool place to work," I said. "You've done well for yourself."

"You almost sound impressed, Palmer."

"Hmm, just a shame about the view. Do you need a promotion before you get an office with a nice panorama of the city?"

I turned back to face him, leaning my shoulder against the glass and crossing one leg in front of the other.

"Thought you came here to collect your missing lingerie, not to insult me."

He tugged open his desk drawer, pulled out my bra, and tossed it across to me. I fumbled to catch it, the delicate lace almost slipping through my fingers.

"Thanks. Did we need to talk, or...?"

Nothing about his demeanour suggested awkwardness over what happened last night. Eight years had passed since we'd last ended up in bed together, but sitting back in his chair, legs loosely folded at his ankles, he seemed just as unconcerned now as he had back then.

"Judging by your disappearing act this morning, I assumed you didn't want to talk about it," he said.

"I had to get across town for work."

He cocked an eyebrow, lips twitching. "At 5am?"

"You live quite far out."

He chuckled at that. "Not all of us are fortunate enough to live rent-free in a central hotel."

I smiled sheepishly. Despite his glamorous job, Mac hadn't lost his sense of reality since graduating. Over the past few months, there'd been several instances where he'd used money to get his own way—heavily tipping a restaurant owner to get us a good table or splashing out on first class tickets when the train claimed to be fully booked—but he never bragged about it. His wealth was there for everyone to see, without it being shoved in their faces. Understated rather than flashy.

"I also don't like using the Tube when it's busy so wanted to leave before the commuters hit."

"Fair enough. I remember you had a reputation at uni for sneaking out after sex. But maybe that's the lawyer in me making an assumption based on previous offences."

I smiled at his joke, even though he was close to the truth.

"I'm not after anything serious, Logan."

His eyes twinkled with amusement. "Me neither, Sophia."

We stared at each other for a few moments, as if trying to suss out whether or not the other person was lying.

"So we're good to carry on hanging out?" he asked eventually. "It's not like that was the first time we've ever had sex."

I breathed out a laugh. "No, but it's been nearly a decade since the last time."

"And it shows. You're a much better lay now."

I rolled my eyes but was too relieved to return the banter. Getting back in touch with Mac had been one of the highlights of my summer. Having already lost one friend this year, I didn't want to lose another just as the bond was starting to build.

"I'm sorry for leaving without saying bye."

Waving his hand to dismiss my apology, Mac rose from his seat and shrugged on his jacket.

"Don't stress. We can keep this casual. No strings attached. Friendship only. Sex and friendship. Whatever. I'm easy."

"That's not changed, then." I quirked an eyebrow, smirking.

"Could say the same about you, Palmer."

"Touché. But friendship only, okay?"

He smoothed his hands down his jacket, eyes narrowing as they bounced across his desk. When he reached towards a notebook and flipped it open to reveal his phone, his concerned expression lifted and he picked up the device, dropping it into his breast pocket.

"Mac?"

His eyes swung across to me again, brow lifting in acknowledgement. "Hm?"

"Friendship only."

"Yes. Absolutely fine. Christ, Palmer... If I'd known you were gonna be this weird about it, I never would've let you fuck me."

I huffed out a scoff, folding my arms. "Forget it. I've learnt my lesson: don't pick the easy option."

He winked. "Want to grab some lunch?"

His hand briefly rested on the small of my back as he guided me towards the door, but it fell back to his side as soon as we stepped into the corridor.

Outside his office, he transformed into a completely different person—one I hadn't ever seen before. His tone was professional and formal as we paused for him to take a message from the reception desk, a far cry from the mischievous and crass guy I knew him as.

Once again proving that having money didn't mean he needed to eat out at high-end restaurants all the time, Mac recommended paninis from a local coffee shop. He still waved off my attempt to pay, though.

"So what's your excuse, then?" I asked him as we settled down into a cramped table at the back of the café. "What's keeping you away from relationships at the moment?"

Smiling, he tossed me a jaded look as he hooked his jacket over the back of the seat.

"Massive cliché, I know, but work. I just don't have the time to give someone the attention they deserve. And from a selfish point of view, I can't afford the distraction."

"Are you working towards a promotion?"

He shrugged, folding his hands around his coffee mug. "Always. It's a constant process. I can't see myself settling down until I'm a senior partner."

"That your ultimate goal?"

"Senior Partner? No. The ultimate goal is to manage the whole place. Like my parents did with their firm."

Our paninis arrived, and Mac flashed the waitress a winning smile when he thanked her. The tips of her cheekbones tinged pink as she ducked her head and scurried away.

"I don't think you've mentioned your parents before," I said.

A frown clouded his face as he snapped his panini in half and glanced up at me. "No. We don't have the best relationship."

I hesitated before replying and watched the steam float out of his food. Even though Faye and I had turned a corner, it hadn't been an easy road. I couldn't imagine not having a good relationship with my parents, though, and probably took it for granted.

"Do you talk to them much?" I asked.

"Yeah. Every Wednesday night. Like clockwork." His lips twisted into a strained smile. "They're still up in Scotland, so I hardly see them. It's better that way. Hearing how disappointed they are is much easier over the phone than face-to-face."

My panini fell from my fingers, hitting the plate with a small thud. "Disappointed? Are you kidding?"

He'd gone to the best university in the country and now worked at a top law firm. What more could he have possibly achieved?

"It's not all bad, though," he said, lightening his tone. "It makes me work harder and I'm more successful because of it. Shouldn't complain about that, right?"

I cracked a small smile, not convinced by his attempt at optimism.

"Right."

"So, how about you?" he asked, before taking a bite of his sandwich and chewing. "What's your excuse for not wanting anything serious?"

"You already know it," I said. "Things with my colleague are still complicated."

Wrinkling his nose, Mac levelled me with an unimpressed stare. "You still not fucked him?"

I lifted one shoulder to shrug. "Like I said... Complicated."

Because of his involvement with several high-profile figures, representing some and bringing action against others, Mac still wanted the identity of my 'colleague' to remain unknown. I knew which law firm represented Teddy Stone—it wasn't Mac's—and I also knew that Ed wasn't currently engaged in any disputes with other firms, but Mac had his rules.

Seeing his ambition and passion for his job, I respected those rules. I didn't want to do anything that made him uncomfortable, but that meant there was only so much I could divulge about my complicated situation before I accidentally let the name slip.

"There was nothing about it in your contract, was there?" Mac's brow furrowed, fingers hovering over his panini as he hung on for my reply. "Nothing that has made it complicated?"

"No," I said. "Nothing like that. The contract was okay. It's just the history between us. My manager made it very clear that pursuing anything romantic would cloud my judgement, stopping me from making difficult decisions that are in his best interests professionally but not personally."

Reassured, Mac nodded. "I'd agree with that. You need to look out for yourself, Palmer. Sometimes that means seeing the bigger picture."

"Well, yeah. So we put it on pause, but... I don't think either of us have coped particularly well with that. Can't seem to keep our hands off each other."

That was somewhat of an understatement. After agreeing a relationship was temporarily off-limits, we'd decided that emotional distance was also needed, so our friendship had been shoved to the back burner. In its place was professionalism at work and a choking sexual tension outside it that we poked and prodded with stolen kisses, touches and antagonistic flirting.

The hostility was somewhat of a façade, but it was a façade we had to maintain, because the second it became anything else, we risked venturing back into that complicated friendship where affection blurred the lines.

The only thing that overpowered all of that was our Favour Agreement. Nothing would ever come in the way of our commitment to have each other's backs.

Mac cocked his head to the side, intrigued eyes flickering over my features. "But you're not someone who likes to blur the lines between romance and sex."

"No, but I can't get involved with someone else if I'm still drawn towards him. Even if it's not romantic, the energy between us is intense... It's not fair on anyone."

"I see. Now I get why you wanted last night to be a one-time thing."

Nodding, I took a sip of orange juice. "Just too complicated otherwise."

"Probably for the best, anyway. Wouldn't want you to accidentally fall in love with me." A teasing grin broke free as he nudged my ankle under the table.

I rolled my eyes and took a bite from my panini. Nothing stayed serious for long with Mac, and it was refreshing. As much as I loved my job, he was the perfect escape from a world where one poor decision had the potential to incite global condemnation.

"You don't need to worry about me falling in love with you," I said. "Stuffy lawyers aren't my type."

"That's reassuring."

"Plus I much prefer complicated, and you're far too easy-going."

Thankfully no harm had been done last night, but it made me reconsider my current coping strategy. I'd initially hoped that having meaningless sex with other people would help me get over Ed, but it had had the opposite effect: nobody had matched up. Not even close. And the more I tried, the more apparent that became.

"If you want my opinion," Mac said, "it sounds like you need to stop dicking about with the flirting and just start fucking him again. Keep the lines clear cut. No romance. Sex only. That way, you're not breaking any rules, but you'll still get him out of your system. Then you don't need to feel guilty about looking for something longer-term. If that's what you want."

I didn't know if I did want that. Nobody would replace Ed, and I couldn't be with him at the moment, either, so what was the point?

"Thanks for those words of wisdom," I said dryly, to lighten the mood again.

"I usually charge a very high fee for offering advice. Be grateful."

We settled into easy conversation, a blend of humour and seriousness. Although I had one complicated relationship in my life, my friendship with Mac did not need to turn into another. 

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Thank you for reading :) xx

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So that's Mac! How do you feel about him? Will she be able to keep Ed's identity a secret from him or will it get harder as their friendship develops?