Asher dropped a note on Daphne’s desk as he walked by, heading to his own cubicle. Daphne had to hold back a giggle, to ensure she didn’t call attention to herself.

  Asher and Daphne had started passing handwritten notes at work. To be entirely honest, Daphne herself wasn’t even entirely sure how it began. Privately, Asher and Daphne had discussed how passing the notes was much riskier than just sending texts to one another, but Daphne couldn’t deny that there was something exhirating about passing notes to her boyfriend at work, the way she had seen other girls passing notes to their boyfriends when she had been in high school.

  There’s something uniquely special about seeing Asher’s words in his own handwriting. It almost feels as though I’m getting to see a part of his soul.

  She gently touched the note to her nose, catching a faint whiff of the scent of the pen he had used to write it. I wonder if he smelled this scent as he wrote the words. She grinned foolheartedly.

  She unfolded the note, cherishing the anticipation of reading his words.

  You’re beautiful. <3

  Daphne giggled to herself, pursing her lips in the form of a smile. She took a peek around her, to see if any of her coworkers were looking at her, and then opened her desk drawer, putting the new note on top of the other ones she’d received throughout the day. Every night, she took them home and put them on her desk in her bedroom, which was a pile rapidly increasing in size.

  She looked up, straining her neck to see Asher through the plexigss on top of the cubicle walls. Her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing her beloved.

  Asher met her eyes and grinned, and Daphne could just barely make out that the tips of his ears were pink. She smiled at him.

  Daphne reached across her desk, grabbing a sheet of the scrap paper that had eternally been building up in the corner, and ripped off a section of one of the sheets. She pulled out a pen and wrote her own note to Asher.

  The cowlick on the back of your head is adorable.

  She held back a grin, pressing her lips together hard. There was definitely no cowlick in Asher’s hair.

  She folded the scrap of paper in half, and stood, walking around to the other side of the cubicles. She barely touched Asher’s desk as she walked by, but ensured that the note was firmly pced on his desk as she finished walking over to Holly’s desk.

  Holly wore a confused look as Daphne walked up and stopped. “Hey, Daphne,” Holly said. “What’s up? Do you need help with something?”

  Daphne gnced over at Asher’s desk, and noticed that he had already grabbed the note.

  “Hey,” Daphne said. “I was actually just coming over her to see if you needed ay help with anything.” Daphne finally turned back to Holly as she finished her sentence.

  Holly had an accusatory look on her face, with her eyebrows raised and her lips pursued. “You have enough work to handle,” Holly replied sternly. “And it seems you’ve got some other things on your pte as well.”

  Daphne giggled at Holly, before turning back to watch Asher’s reaction. He had pulled open his phone and was carefully patting his dark hair looking for the cowlick. Daphne chuckled to herself.

  “I’m gd things worked out between the two of you,” Holly murmured behind Daphne.

  “Thanks,” Daphne whispered back, still watching Asher try to find the cowlick that didn’t exist.

  He turned and looked at her, his eyes narrowed, but his lips smiling at her. It was a flirty gre. She batted her eyeshes at him, and he grinned. Daphne assumed he was probably ughing quietly to himself.

  Holly elbowed her. “You trying to inform the office of your new retionship status?” she muttered.

  Truthfully, Daphne had initially worried that people at the office would catch on, and make both her and Asher’s lives more difficult. But Asher had reminded her that it was only a matter of time before he was quitting and moving on to his family company.

  If he leaves, hopefully I will be out soon after him. He said he’s still ironing everything out for my interview, so I’m sure it’s only matter of time.

  She turned back to Holly, and made a face, trying to communicate her displeasure.

  Holly scoffed at her, before giggling a little herself. “Stop scking and flirting and get to work,” she commanded with a wink.

  Daphne giggled a little again, and then saluted Holly. “Yes ma’am!”

  Daphne turned back towards Asher’s desk. Their eyes met, and he lifted his head a little, squiggling his eyebrows as if he wanted Daphne to drop by his desk on her way back to her own cubicle.

  “See you ter,” she murmured to Holly as she walked away.

  She strolled up near Asher’s desk, where he held a note out to her. She grabbed it, clutching it in her hand in hopes of it not being discovered.

  She sat down at her cubicle, and pced the note down. She gnced at the clock. I still have some time before my next meeting.

  She looked up, and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Landon facing her. She looked over at him, and he was grimacing, one of the sides of his lips turning upward a little.

  Daphne’s stomach dropped, and she shot her head away from him, focusing on her computer monitor in front of her. Her eyes were wide. Oh no. Did Landon notice? Did he see me grab the note from Asher?

  She gently pulled her dark, fluffy hair around the sides of her face. She gnced at the note from Asher on her desk. I’ll read it in a little bit. She chewed on the inside of her lower lip. If Landon is watching me closely, the risk is getting caught is much higher than I’d like.

  She swallowed hard and gnced up through the plexigss she could see Asher through. He was watching her with his head cocked and his eyebrows drawn. He’s waiting for my reaction to the note.

  She pulled up the instant messenger on her screen, and opened her messages with Asher, right as he sent her one.

  ???

  Daphne sighed. I didn’t want to tell Asher about how Landon confessed to me, but Landon is really leaving me with no choice. She swallowed hard, clenching her jaw and replied to Asher.

  Sorry, I will read it here in a few minutes. Landon is watching me, and I’m trying to be careful. I’m just being a bit more cautious because he may be able to notice.

  Hopefully that will suffice. She hit send, and looked up at Asher, watching him read her response. He caught her eye and nodded, sending her a thumbs up in the messenger.

  Daphne let out a heavy sigh, gritting her teeth. I should have just been honest with Landon in the past instead of tiptoeing around his feelings, she scolded herself. Now I’ve really put myself into a situation.

  Daphne started working on the tasks ahead of her for the day. About ten minutes passed before she heard a voice behind her. “Daphne,” Landon’s voice said, tinnier than usual. “Can we talk?”

  Daphne spun around in her chair and looked up at him. His face was sullen, and she could tell that he was clenching his jaw on one side. “Sure,” she replied, standing.

  “Follow me,” Landon said gruffly, gesturing to one of the small conference rooms that had no windows.

  “Okay,” she replied, her stomach tightening a bit. Her heart sunk into her chest as they got closer to the room. This is the confrontation I tried to avoid with him from the get-go.

  They got to the room, and he opened the door, gesturing for her to enter first. She did, and he closed the door behind himself.

  Daphne’s heart started speeding up. Landon isn’t someone I need to be nervous about meeting in private, right? He didn’t seem to hate me before I came back to the past…

  She looked up at him, meeting his hazel eyes. He sighed, closing them and touching his forehead. “I’ll just be straight with you,” he said. “There are few things I hate more than beating around the bush.” He opened his eyes, and Daphne noticed that he looked a bit wounded. “Is there something going on between you and Asher? Romantically?”

  Daphne’s stomach turned, threatening to expel its contents. She tried to keep her gaze fierce. “That’s not really any of our business, is it?” she asked.

  He let out a heavy breath, his lips upturning into a sneer. “You’re beating around the bush again,” he told her. “Just like you did when I asked you out.”

  Daphne scoffed at him and walked towards the door. “I’m not beating around the bush,” she insisted. “It really is none of your business.”

  “Wait,” Landon commanded. Daphne stopped, her hand on the handle of the door. “It is my business,” he told her. “I’ve been waiting for you, giving you time to get over your ex, to see if you would be able to see me as a potential partner.”

  Daphne scowled and turned to look at Landon. “I didn’t ask you to do that,” she said. “That was your choice to wait for me.”

  Though she was outwardly trying to be strong and firm, her insides were on fire, melting and her heart ached. I should have just been honest with him in the beginning. He’s right that I’ve been beating around the bush. He’ll probably end up being far more hurt by actions than if I had just told him the truth in the first pce.

  “You might as well have asked me to wait for you,” Landon shot back. “You didn’t tell me that you weren’t interested in the possibility of a retionship with me at all.”

  Daphne chewed on her tongue. “Fine, you’re right,” she replied feistily back. “I was never really interested in you in the first pce. You’re not my type at all. But I didn’t want to hurt your feelings when you’d just broken up with your girlfriend and found the courage to tell me about your feelings in the first pce. On top of that, I really valued the friendship we shared and figured that probably wouldn’t be salvageable if I just tore into you when you were clearly feeling vulnerable. My bad. I hope you find someone who can make you happy.”

  Daphne caught a gnce at Landon’s taken aback face as she turned and left the small conference room. Walking back to her desk, she felt her stomach cooling and tightening.

  How presumptuous of him to wait for me, she thought, trying to ease her swirling stomach. It’s not like I told him there was certainly a future between the two of us.

  She sat at her desk and saw the note from Asher sitting by her mouse. She grabbed it and opened it, hoping whatever Asher had written might help her to feel a bit better.

  You’re so cruel. I wish we weren’t at work right now.

  Daphne smiled and dropped the note into her desk drawer with the other notes from Asher.

  She went back to her to-do list for the day, the pit in her stomach refusing to go away.

  Stupid Landon.