Carter Reed

gotten out. He was rarely in the office since he preferred to work from his home office so it was the first some of the workers met the Big Boss in person.
    Theresa popped up from a stool and waved us over. She almost slipped off her stool and pitched forward. Noah grabbed her arm, sitting her back down with a deep scowl over his face.
    Amanda started giggling behind me. “He looks miserable.”
    “See.” I threw a grin over my shoulder to her. “Nothing to worry about.”
    “So says you whose boyfriend is even more intimidating than the boss.” She nudged me with her elbow. “We should go over. Theresa’s going to come over and get us if we don’t march over there.” She paused as we watched our friend start laughing. She hit the table with her hand and kept laughing, even as she spilled some beer from her pitcher.
    Noah grimaced as he lifted the pitcher out of reach.
    She kept laughing.
    Amanda amended, “That’s if she can walk.”
    I shook my head. “Let’s go.”
    Leading the way, a few people said hello when we moved past. I extended a polite greeting, but I never wavered. Since my promotion people had been friendlier, but there’d been a time when they froze me out. I wouldn’t be forgetting that.
    As I rounded the table of girls that I once considered casual work friends, it was the same reception. All of them were warm and a couple gushed to me, but they’d been the worst.
    Bitches.
    I wasn’t blind to their keen gazes as they watched us approach Theresa and Noah’s table.
    “Hey!” Theresa threw her hands in the air again. The glass she’d been holding emptied onto a person walking by. They stopped, but saw Noah’s hulk size and kept going.
    They were smart.
    Then Theresa hollered, “My friend and roommate! You’re here.”
    Amanda and I shared a look. This night was definitely going to be interesting.
    Noah’s head leaned back. He gazed up at the ceiling, groaning at the same time.
    “Heya, heya. Sit here.” Theresa padded the empty stool on her other side. She jerked her hand to Amanda. “Now.”
    I nudged her this time. “You heard your roommate. Get going.”
    “Emma,” Theresa wasn’t finished. She leaned forward. Her elbow grazed the top of the pitcher. It started to teeter as she commanded with a wide smile, “You sit there.”
    Noah’s hand darted and he scooped up the pitcher before it spilled anymore.
    “Good catch.”
    He grunted in response and passed the pitcher to a waiter walking by. She started to ask him a question, but he turned his back to her. A scowl came over him and he scanned the room. “When is this over?”
    I laughed, taking my seat. “It hasn’t even started.”
    “Oh god.”
    Theresa was whispering in Amanda’s ear. I gestured to her and asked him, “When did she start?”
    “Don’t get me on that. She’s been going like this since I picked her up.” As his jaw clenched and his shoulders stiffened, I knew there’d been another fight between them.
    “Are the two of you a two anymore?”
    “We never get to that point. Something always comes up.” He shot me a dark look. I didn’t take offense to it. Ever since the sparring lessons, I’d gotten to know my boss a bit better.
    “I thought you were going to be? I thought you told her how you felt.”
    “What are you two whispering about?” Theresa’s voice jarred from across the table. Her eyes were narrowed, studying us, but she teetered on her chair again. Amanda caught her this time.
    “You.”
    Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? What are you saying?”
    Noah leaned back and locked gazes with her. “I was about to tell her that you’ve drank way too much for the night. I should take you home.”
    “No.” She pounded a hand on the table. “You said you’d stay for Karaoke. It hasn’t even started.”
    “Fuck Karaoke.” He glanced around the bar. “Look at this. I’m a damn freak show.”
    “No, you aren’t.”
    “Yes, I am. I shouldn’t be here. I’m everyone’s boss. This isn’t appropriate.”
    Theresa shot her hand out and pinned his arm to the table. She leaned close, lowering her voice, but not enough. “You promised me you’d do this. I don’t care whose boss you are. Co-workers party all the time together.”
    “Yeah,” he said. “At holiday parties.”
    “Noah.”
    He shook her hand off and stood from the table. As he reached for his wallet, he glanced up and froze. His eyes rounded and his mouth opened. Then a hush went over the room. I closed