A woman laughed loudly in the cubicle next to Daphne’s. “Oh my God, Fiona! That’s hilarious!” the woman exclaimed, giggling even more.

  Daphne couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Are you kidding me? Fiona is not only going to be deadweight, but she’s actively going to sabotage the other workers as well?

  The woman’s laughing went up an octave and somehow got noisier simultaneously. Daphne harshly sucked in a breath through her nose. It’s Friday, it’s been a shitty week, and this is the tenth day in a row that I have worked. I don’t have the patience for this.

  She looked over at Landon who seemed chipper, despite the hubbub. Or maybe I’m just in a bad mood because Trevor attempted to dump additional work on me…again…this morning. Daphne bit her tongue to keep a look of resentment off her face. It’s only thanks to Asher, Holly and Landon that this day has been salvageable at all.

  “Hey Landon,” Daphne said, while trying to force her face to go back to a more neutral expression.

  “Hmm?” he asked, turning his chair to look at her.

  “I’m going to go warm up my lunch. Do you need anything from the kitchen while I’m up?”

  “Nope, I’m good, thanks for asking,” he replied, turning away from her.

  “No problem,” she said, standing. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she peeked over the partition between her and Fiona’s cubicle to see the woman who was making such a fuss.

  Daphne couldn’t see her face, but a woman sat on a stool facing Fiona, and had long, elaborately styled dark hair, and was wearing a bright pink outfit.

  Daphne looked away, grimacing. I doubt that she’s all that good of a person if she’s friends with Fiona.

  As Daphne began briskly walking towards the kitchen, she heard Fiona’s high pitched, nasally laugh. They even laugh similarly. Her eyes narrowed. And of course, Trevor is probably going to let go an outsider coming into our office if they’re here to see Fiona.

  Rolling her eyes at the absurdity of it all, Daphne pulled her leftovers out of the fridge and popped them into the microwave to heat.

  The woman’s laugh echoed all the way over to the kitchenette area. What the hell? She’s even louder than I realized. How can someone live that obnoxiously? She shook her head. Since she’s here during the day, I’d guess she probably doesn’t have a job either.

  Daphne grimaced, being reminded of Gary as she watched the microwave timer slowly tick downwards. I need a distraction. She pulled her phone out of her pants pocket. Immediately, she noticed that she had a text message, and from all the people it possibly could have been, it was from Gary himself.

  Can we meet up tonight? He had written. At our usual spot in the café?

  Daphne’s stomach flip flopped. He certainly wasted me no time kicking me to the curb this time around. Not that I want to stay with him either…it’s just going to be so hard to start over. She chewed on her lower lip.

  At least I tried this time. I put in the effort to fix the relationship. I worked my ass off to ensure that I would have time to spend with him after work. But at the end of the day, none of that matters if we want different things. She felt her heart ache. And I know all he wanted from me was money.

  She knew she had been avoiding the truth, probably even longer than she had been in the past for. Even before she had come back, the fire between them had long since been dead. Even though he had claimed that she didn’t spend enough time with him because of her work, the truth was that he also not tried to spend time with her either. She had been the one making plans for them, reaching out to him, and making the relationship happen. He had only bothered to contact her when he wanted money.

  Her eyes stung a little, knowing that like many of the other problems she’d been having in her life, she had buried her head in the sand in order to avoid an inconvenient truth.

  She made a face as if she was going to sneeze in order to prevent the tears from falling. The last thing she wanted was to cry on a Friday in the office.

  Daphne tried to summon up the anger that she had felt toward Gary only the night before, to distract herself from her current emotions. Remember how he flicked my wrist. Remember how he targeted me because of my mother’s money.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  It wasn’t working, and the microwave beeped, telling her that its time was up.

  She took a heavy, shaky breath and then nodded, looking at the message from Gary again. What time are you thinking?

  She took her food out of the microwave and stirred it, the steam a small comfort on, as her chest was beginning to feel as though ice was growing inside of it.

  Daphne navigated to the text messages with Maggie in her phone. Maggie… she typed. I’m pretty sure that my boyfriend is going to break up with me tonight.

  From across the office, Daphne heard the mystery woman and Fiona laughing again. God, what I would give to be so carefree.

  Maggie replied nearly immediately, the phone in Daphne’s hand vibrating only moments after the screen had gone black. What a prick, Maggie had written. He claims he’s not getting enough time with you and then turns around and breaks up with you when you give him what he wants?

  A second text message came in. Still, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this, Daph. How shitty. She added a sad face at the end of the message.

  Daphne felt her heart squeeze more at her sister’s response. Even if he is a prick… That doesn’t mean the breakup will be easy.

  Thanks, Daphne wrote back.

  I’ll be on standby if you need support this evening, Maggie replied. Though, if you want to see me, you’ll probably have to come out and hang out with me and the kiddos.

  Daphne half frowned, looking down at the microwaved food, and taking out a bite with her fork. She touched it to her lips and noticed it was still piping hot.

  Thanks, she typed back. I’ll let you know.

  How is the job going? Maggie asked. Has it gotten any better at all?

  Daphne had to hold back a single laugh at her sister’s question. It’s worse, she replied.

  Guess we should spend some time looking for other jobs this weekend, Maggie replied. I can do my best to help.

  Daphne’s heart warmed a little at the thought of working with her sister to look for jobs. Thanks, she replied. I’ll let you know based on how tonight goes.

  Maggie sent back a thumbs up, and as Daphne was going to close the messaging part of her phone, another text from Gary popped up.

  How about seven? He asked.

  I’ll be there, Daphne sent back, the cold wind beginning to blow in her chest again.

  One last message popped up from Maggie. Love and miss you, sister, she had written. Sorry you are having to go through what you are going through.

  Daphne felt her eyes sting again. She bit her lower lip, attempting to reign in her emotions until she could be completely alone.

  Love and miss you too, Daphne replied before pocketing her phone.

  Daphne took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Pull yourself together, just for now, she thought, grabbing the microwaved food. She began the walk back to her desk, her stomach twisting up in knots. It felt like no matter what she had done or tried, nothing was going her way.

  Is this some cruel twist of fate? Is it impossible for me to escape the events of my future, regardless of how hard I try?

  Swallowing hard, she walked up to her cubicle and realized that her chair had been taken by the mystery woman, and Fiona was leaning on her desk next to Landon.

  What the hell?

  “Daphne!” Landon exclaimed, a smile widening on his face. Daphne couldn’t help but think that if he was a dog, his tail would be wagging. “You’re back.”

  “I, um, am back,” she said, smiling half-heartedly. “Should I go sit back in the kitchen area?” she asked.

  Son of a bitch. I shouldn’t have offered that. I was going to try to get some work done over lunch. Me and my god damn mouth.

  “Maybe in a minute,” the mystery woman replied with a smirk on her face. “I’ve been dying to meet the ‘incredible’ woman who has been training my boyfriend. His word,” she clarified. “Not mine.”

  Landon laughed awkwardly. Fiona sneered at Daphne in the corner.

  “I’m, uh, sorry?” Daphne asked. Her mind felt as though it was processing faster than she could talk.

  Am I getting ganged up on right now for doing my job? Though the woman seemed as though she was trying to come off as pleasant, the undercurrent of her behavior seemed more jealous and possessive than friendly.

  “Daphne, this is my girlfriend, Rose,” Landon said. “Rose, this is Daphne, who I told you was training me.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Daphne said, deciding to at least feign ignorance of Rose’s behavior…for now.

  “You clearly called her incredible,” Rose said to Landon, still sneering at Daphne. “Nice to meet you,” she added. “I’ve heard a lot about you from both Landon and Fiona.”

  Daphne glanced over at Fiona in the corner, whose eyes were glowing maliciously.

  “I-I see,” Daphne replied, attempting to smile professionally. “Hopefully most of them have been good things.”

  “So far, it’s seemed as though the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree,” Rose replied, her eyes flashing for a moment.

  “I’m…sorry?” Daphne asked, tilting her head a little. “Have we met before or something?” Daphne’s heart started to pick up in pace. Rose’s eyes were studying her the same way a predator looked at its prey.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Rose replied, breaking eye contact, her brown eyes drifting over to Landon. He was studying his girlfriend’s behavior closely. “All I ask is that you keep your hands off Landon,” she continued, turning back towards Daphne, a self-satisfied look plastered on her face. “Keep it professional and never see him out of work.”

  “Rose,” Landon snapped. “You’re out of line.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Daphne replied smoothly. “I have a boyfriend.”

  For about six more hours, anyway, she added silently.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Rose said, her voice actually matching her words for once.

  “Anyway,” Daphne said, as Rose’s face contorted into a look that made it clear that Daphne was no longer wanted. “I am going to go eat my lunch now. So. Enjoy,” she said with a fake smile.

  Daphne turned away and began meandering back to the kitchen, her stomach swirling. Her throat felt tight, and her chest felt as though she was being crushed.

  What did she mean by the apple not falling too far from the tree? Is… She swallowed hard at the thought that was coming to mind. Is it possible that Landon’s girlfriend…knows my mother?