when Elise had arrived at work, she had patiently waited until she knew Britney’s shift ended. Now Elise officially went on break and headed to the staff area where she knew Britney would be.
Knowing she needed to talk to her friend in person, Elise had purposely not called Britney on the phone. She also hadn’t trusted herself to handle it well before now. Elise didn’t normally anger easily, but even after all this time, she was still having difficulty controlling her feelings toward her friend.
Elise stopped before turning the corner to the hallway leading to the staff room, silently praying that God would help her be calm and give her the words to say what was needed.
Elise took a deep breath, turned the corner, and stopped. Her mouth dropped open. Standing in the hallway in front of her was Britney. She was in her coat, obviously ready to leave, and giving Oliver Purdue one award-winning goodbye kiss.
Britney giggled as the kiss ended. “I guess I’ll see you later,” she said.
“With more of that to look forward to, you’ll definitely see me later,” Oliver answered.
Turning, Britney saw Elise standing at the entrance to the hallway and stopped. “Oh . . . hi, Elise. I was just coming to find you.”
Yeah, right! Elise thought. It was much more likely Britney had been intending on sneaking out without a word
“Britney, we need to talk,” Elise said, finding her voice.
“I have to get back to work,” Oliver interrupted, having the decency to blush crimson at Elise’s presence. “I’ll see you two later.”
Without waiting for Britney to respond, Elise marched forward, grabbed her friend by the arm, and pulled her into the staff break room. Thankfully, the room was empty. Elise turned to face Britney. She wasn’t planning on leaving until Britney had done a whole lot of explaining.
“What is going on?” Elise demanded fiercely.
“You mean with Oliver? I guess we’re kind of together now. Why are you looking at me like that? You’ve been trying to convince me to date Oliver for a long time. Now I am, and you’re looking at me like I’m a villain!”
“I know you, Britney. I’m not fully convinced you aren’t a villain!” It would be just like Britney to be dating Oliver due to some ulterior motive. Maybe she found out he’d just come in possession of some large inheritance. Maybe she needed him to do something for her. Maybe someone had dared her to go out with him. The list of possibilities was endless, and not one of the scenarios whipping through Elise’s head was painting Britney in a favorable light. “What made you change your mind?”
“A couple nights ago, when you went to see your play, I got called to come back into work because someone was sick. Oliver was working too. After the library closed and we got off, he insisted on walking me to my car. You know he doesn’t like me to walk alone that late at night.”
“Yeah, he’s walked me to my car a few times too,” Elise acknowledged.
“Anyway, when we got to my car, it wouldn’t start. I was really upset. I’d just had the thing in the shop for maintenance, and the mechanics had given it a clean bill of health. Did you know that Oliver is like a genius when it comes to cars? Before I knew it, he had the hood up and about three minutes later, the car was running. Apparently, he and his dad have restored a bunch of old cars. Oliver’s pretty crazy about anything with wheels. Here I thought he was just a geeky computer nerd.
“I was so relieved and thankful to him for fixing my car that I offered to buy him dinner sometime. Instead, he suggested that we go out to coffee right then. We got to talking, and one thing led to another. Next thing I know, we had talked until 3:00 in the morning! Then yesterday, we worked the same shift and spent the entire evening together. I think it was the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had!”
“I thought you weren’t even attracted to Oliver,” Elise said, still a
Knowing she needed to talk to her friend in person, Elise had purposely not called Britney on the phone. She also hadn’t trusted herself to handle it well before now. Elise didn’t normally anger easily, but even after all this time, she was still having difficulty controlling her feelings toward her friend.
Elise stopped before turning the corner to the hallway leading to the staff room, silently praying that God would help her be calm and give her the words to say what was needed.
Elise took a deep breath, turned the corner, and stopped. Her mouth dropped open. Standing in the hallway in front of her was Britney. She was in her coat, obviously ready to leave, and giving Oliver Purdue one award-winning goodbye kiss.
Britney giggled as the kiss ended. “I guess I’ll see you later,” she said.
“With more of that to look forward to, you’ll definitely see me later,” Oliver answered.
Turning, Britney saw Elise standing at the entrance to the hallway and stopped. “Oh . . . hi, Elise. I was just coming to find you.”
Yeah, right! Elise thought. It was much more likely Britney had been intending on sneaking out without a word
“Britney, we need to talk,” Elise said, finding her voice.
“I have to get back to work,” Oliver interrupted, having the decency to blush crimson at Elise’s presence. “I’ll see you two later.”
Without waiting for Britney to respond, Elise marched forward, grabbed her friend by the arm, and pulled her into the staff break room. Thankfully, the room was empty. Elise turned to face Britney. She wasn’t planning on leaving until Britney had done a whole lot of explaining.
“What is going on?” Elise demanded fiercely.
“You mean with Oliver? I guess we’re kind of together now. Why are you looking at me like that? You’ve been trying to convince me to date Oliver for a long time. Now I am, and you’re looking at me like I’m a villain!”
“I know you, Britney. I’m not fully convinced you aren’t a villain!” It would be just like Britney to be dating Oliver due to some ulterior motive. Maybe she found out he’d just come in possession of some large inheritance. Maybe she needed him to do something for her. Maybe someone had dared her to go out with him. The list of possibilities was endless, and not one of the scenarios whipping through Elise’s head was painting Britney in a favorable light. “What made you change your mind?”
“A couple nights ago, when you went to see your play, I got called to come back into work because someone was sick. Oliver was working too. After the library closed and we got off, he insisted on walking me to my car. You know he doesn’t like me to walk alone that late at night.”
“Yeah, he’s walked me to my car a few times too,” Elise acknowledged.
“Anyway, when we got to my car, it wouldn’t start. I was really upset. I’d just had the thing in the shop for maintenance, and the mechanics had given it a clean bill of health. Did you know that Oliver is like a genius when it comes to cars? Before I knew it, he had the hood up and about three minutes later, the car was running. Apparently, he and his dad have restored a bunch of old cars. Oliver’s pretty crazy about anything with wheels. Here I thought he was just a geeky computer nerd.
“I was so relieved and thankful to him for fixing my car that I offered to buy him dinner sometime. Instead, he suggested that we go out to coffee right then. We got to talking, and one thing led to another. Next thing I know, we had talked until 3:00 in the morning! Then yesterday, we worked the same shift and spent the entire evening together. I think it was the best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had!”
“I thought you weren’t even attracted to Oliver,” Elise said, still a
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