Chapter 26

Just before lunch, you messaged Gemma over the official Slack channel that the office used for messaging. 'Hey, Bodega?'

Gemma, sitting just down the table from you, raised her eyebrow a moment later and glanced up at you, then back down to her computer screen and typed quickly. 'Sure. Why this?'

We knew the law office had keyloggers on our work laptops, and the Slack could be checked by any of the Partners, so you, Gemma, Sabrina, and Eric had all taken to being as brief as you could on it. Andy, of course, said whatever came to mind. Sometimes he messaged on it late at night, asking if anyone wanted to come over for drunk pizza.

'Want to ask your advice on something without You Know Who tagging along.' You sent it, then realized she might think you meant Sabrina. Shit, was she going to think you wanted to gossip about Sabrina - or worse, that you wanted to talk to her about Sabrina?

Gemma just replied with a Thumbs Up emoji, and you all worked for another five minutes until the clock hit twelve.

"It's a sub day for me," Eric said, standing and stretching. "Anyone else want to make the run?"

"You buying?" Andy asked.

"No," Eric said. "Dude, you can buy your own sub."

"Fine, I'll still come," Andy sighed. They left quickly; the trip down to the sub shop, the wait and the trip back would take most of our break.

"You want me to grab you anything from the Bodega, Sabrina?" you asked.

"Um, sure. I'll get one of those pre packaged salads, please," she said. "The one with the chicken if it's there."

"I'll come with," Gemma said, standing. She was wearing a dark blouse with a floral print over a tan skirt that seemed tight and came down to her knees, and her usual dark 1" heels. Dressy enough to look good, but not to over do it.

"Cool, let's go," you said, and left together. You glanced back at Sabrina on your way out the door and she gave you a bright smile and a thumbs up.

You'd made it to the elevator before Gemma turned to you. "Alright, spill. Why do you want to talk to me without Sabrina around? Because we're cool, but I don't know if I'm ready to give advice on where you can hook up again or something."

"No, ugh, I knew you were going to think that right after I sent it," you sighed. "I meant Andy and Eric. Well, also Sabrina, but not Sabrina specifically."

"Oh," Gemma said, a little surprised. The elevator arrived and you got in, and you hit the button for the ground floor. "So, you actually have some advice on something?"

"Sort of," you said. "You're a confident person, right? Well, I met this really confident woman recently and I've decided that I'm interested in getting to know her better. I'm just wondering how you think I should approach someone who seems to have life by the balls and everything going for them."

"Oh, alright," Gemma frowned. You could see the gears turning in her head. "What about Sabrina, though?"

"Sabrina has made it completely clear that we aren't going to be a couple," you said. "And don't get me wrong, I think she and I could be good together, but I'm going to respect what she wants. Plus, this woman I'm interested in... well, let's just say she is very much a First Pick kind of woman. She's absolutely gorgeous, has great style and poise. She's very smart and driven, I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up a corporate lawyer, or some sort of prosecutor. And when she smiles it sort of lights up the room and makes me forget what I'm doing."

"Wow, John," Gemma said. "You kind of sound smitten. Who is she? She's not, like, some forty year old MILF or something, is she?"

The elevator stopped and opened, and you stepped out. "Hey Becks," you both said at the same time as you passed the secretary's desk.

"Hey Gemma, John," Becks said, giving a wave from her desk. It looked like she was managing some sort of scheduling binder so we didn't say any more.

Once we'd exited the office building, you turned to walk down the street towards the bodega. "So, first off no, I'm not interested in a forty-year-old MILF," you said. "But you do know her."

Gemma frowned again, pressing her lips together and eyeing me sideways. "If you just tell me, this will be a lot easier to help you," she said.

"Just try," you said.

"Alright, well, if she's as amazing as you say, and she's confident and she knows who you are - wait, are you trying to get a date with Becks?"

"What? No," you said. "Well, I mean Becks is pretty, but- No, no, it's not her."

"Alright, well, like I was saying, if she's everything you say she is, and she knows who you are and you're not being creepy or whatever, then you should just walk up to her and say, 'Hey, whoever you are. I'd like to take you out tonight if you're free.' And then outline a plan for the date."

"Alright, that makes sense," you said. "So you think she'd want me to just be direct?"

"Yes, John," Gemma said. "Surprisingly, women only like games when they're fun and they already know you decently well."

"Huh, alright, good to know," you nodded.

You two entered the bodega and quickly grabbed your usual lunch items, and you remembered at the last minute to grab some Reese's cups for Sabrina at the counter. After finishing at the cash, you both headed out again.

"So you're really not going to tell me who it is?" Gemma asked. "I'm going to have to find out through the rumour mill or something?"

"Oh, you'll know pretty much as soon as I ask, I promise," you said. "Believe me, I wouldn't hide it from you, that would be weird."

She gave you a look. "OK. You realize this has been kind of a weird conversation, right?"

"Well, yeah, but it was fun," you smiled. "Oh, by the way, Gemma, I'd like to take you out tonight. I was thinking we could meet up at seven at that arcade bar down on Fifth, then we could take a walk down Main street and hit the food trucks in Beaumont Park for a snack."

Gemma opened her mouth, and then closed it again. "Wow," she finally said. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"You did," you grinned. "So seven?"

"Make it eight," she said. "My roommates called a meeting for six and I have no idea how long they'll take."

"Eight it is," you said.

You both walked quietly for a moment, and then Gemma grinned. "So, First Pick kind of woman, huh? Style and poise? Laying it on pretty thick there, Romeo."

"Was I lying?" you asked.

She chuckled and then preened a little bit as she tucked some of her platinum blonde hair behind her ear. "No, I guess you weren't."