Page 32 of It's About Time
“I am not in the mood for you today, Dilynne. What the hell do you need?”
She dramatically widens her eyes and places a hand to her chest. “Damn. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the coffin today.”
“Tell me why you’re here or get out.”
She sticks her tongue out at me and tosses the bag on my desk, landing with a thud. “Jesus. Are you on your man period? Good thing I brought you sugar then, huh?”
“Sadly, even one of Carolina’s creations isn’t enough to make today even remotely better.”
Dilynne moves her eyes around the room. “You’re already having a bad day? The day just started…”
“Trust me, I know.”
“Well, Carolina made a fresh batch of shortbread cookies, so naturally I had to bring you some.”
My eyes drop down to the bag. “And what insults did she write on them today?”
Dilynne smirks as she crosses her arms over her chest. “You’ll just have to open them and see.”
I’ve told her to stop bringing me pastries, especially since my waistline has seen the effects of the extra calories. But telling Dilynne Clark not to do something is like telling a lion not to chase a gazelle.
That is, it’s not going to happen.
And even though I’ll never admit it, I look forward to what insults she comes up with for Carolina to write in frosting. It’s gestures like these from her that make the unorthodox feelings stirring inside of me even more uncomfortable to deal with.
Which is why she really needs to fucking stop this, especially after today’s reminder of what those feelings can result in.
Rolling my eyes, I lean back in my chair. “I appreciate the gesture, but—”
“You know what, Elliot?” Tori storms into my office before I can finish my thought, drawing Dilynne’s attention as she twists around to come face to face with her.
Dilynne’s eyes practically fall out of her head as she looks at Tori like she must be a figment of her imagination.
Trust me, Dilynne. I thought the same thing. She’s real.
“Dear God. What horrible human lifted the house off of you and let you free?”
Tori rears her head back. “Excuse me?”
Rolling her eyes, Dilynne looks Tori up and down before muttering, “Of course you don’t know any Wizard of Oz references.” Then she turns to me. “Makes her nickname all the more perfect for her, don’t you think, Elliot?”
I ignore Dilynne’s jab and focus my attention back on Tori. “What do you need, Tori?”
“Well, I came back in here to finish our conversation, but…” She glances over at Dilynne. “What the hell areyoudoing here?” Tori bounces her eyes back and forth between Dilynne and me, settling on Dilynne as she waits for her reply.
“Funny how you think we owe you any explanations after what you did to Elliot.”
Tori’s jaw clenches, but she stays calm. “That’s between Elliot and me.”
Dilynne takes a step toward Tori, forcing her to crane her neck back since Dilynne is several inches taller than her. “No, Triple W. What you did to Elliot is my business too—since you infiltrated our entire group,our family, and hurt one of our own. So, if you don’t want to have a conversation with my fist next, back the hell out of this office and stay as far away from both of us as you can.”
“Kind of hard to do when I work here now,” Tori fires back, crossing her arms over her chest while keeping eye contact with Dilynne.
Dilynne spins back to me. “She works here now?”
“Trust me, no one is angrier about that fact than me.”
Tori’s smile is smug as she arches a brow at Dilynne. “Yup, which means you can’t keep me from talking to Elliot.” And then she turns to me. “And wearegoing to talk. That I’m sure of.” She leaves, and as soon as Dilynne snaps out of her shock, she shuts the door to my office and looks at me like she was just asked to send a rocket to the moon.
