Mia snapped out of it, quickly pulled away from me, and awkwardly tried to fix her messy hair. "No, I'm good."
"Alright, as long as you're okay. I gotta run, got some stuff to do." I said, walking off without looking back.
When I got to the restaurant, Emily and John were already there.
"Sorry I'm late, had to deal with something," I said, genuinely apologetic.
"No worries, let's order now that you're here. My treat," Emily said, waving it off and diving into the menu.
I took a seat next to John, and he leaned in, whispering, "Nice move, David. I see you set up some alone time for us by bringing Emily along."
I laughed awkwardly, "Well, if that's how you see it."
Emily ordered three steaks and a bottle of red wine pretty quickly.
The food came out fast. To give them some space, I focused on my own plate, barely joining in on their conversation unless they mentioned my name.
John seemed to be having a blast, though. He downed the whole bottle of wine and then ordered three more, finishing them all by himself.
When we were done and ready to leave, John was pretty wasted.
"You're a girl, so you should head home first. I'll get John back," I said, taking charge and supporting John, his arm around my shoulder, my other hand around his waist, ready to help him home.
"No way, I paid for dinner, so I gotta make sure you both get home safe. I'll come with you," Emily insisted, coming to the other side of John, trying to help.
But Emily was much shorter than me, so she ended up making it a bit harder.
"No need to trouble yourself. If you really want to help, just go ahead and find John's address," I suggested.
"Okay," Emily nodded, then asked a colleague from HR for John's address, confirmed it, and followed the GPS.
Luckily, John lived pretty close to the office, just a couple of blocks away.
Since I work out regularly, carrying John, who’s about 5'9" and slim, wasn't too tough.
We got him to his place, Emily found his keys, opened the door, and I helped John to his room, covered him with a blanket, and then we left.
At the intersection, I was about to head to Grace's place for an appointment, while Emily was going the other way.
I said goodbye, but she grabbed my hand, stopping me.
"What's up?" I asked, confused.
"Actually, I saw what happened between you and Ms. White in the office," Emily said, blushing.
I was both puzzled and in disbelief, "No way, you must be joking."
Grace told me herself that her office was soundproof, so how could anyone know?
"I'm serious. I was gonna drop off some documents to Ms. White and heard some... suggestive sounds coming from her office. The door wasn't locked, so I peeked in and saw you two... you know."
I felt my face heat up, totally embarrassed.
"You haven't told anyone, right? No one else knows?" I asked tentatively, hoping for the best.
"No, I shut the door right away. I can keep it quiet, but I need a favor."
"Sure, as long as it's something I can help with, I'll do my best."
To keep my thing with Grace under wraps, I had to agree. Helping Emily out seemed like a small price to pay.
"I'm in a bit of a jam. The CEO keeps pushing me to go on a business trip with him. I told him I have a boyfriend, but he doesn't buy it. Can you pretend to be my boyfriend for a bit?"
Wait, the CEO? That's Sophia's husband, Robert, right? So, he's cheating on her?
I felt bad for Sophia, but I didn't feel guilty about helping Emily. If anything, I was helping a woman get some payback.
"When?" I asked, trying to stay calm.
"Tonight, late. He's leaving for a trip abroad and wants to see me. Can you come to my place and pretend to be my boyfriend?"
I hesitated. I had just promised not to interfere with John and Emily, and now this?
But John was drunk. Even if I woke him up, he couldn't pretend to be Emily's boyfriend.
"Sure, just text me later, and I'll come over."
"Great, thanks."
Emily let go of my hand, and I walked away, lost in thought. 'What should I do? Pretending to be Emily's boyfriend shouldn't be a big deal. But Robert is Sophia's husband and Ryan's and Scarlett's boss. Ryan's up for a promotion. If I show up as Emily's boyfriend, could it mess things up for him? What if Robert fires all of us?'
I decided to tell Sophia about Robert's affair. It was their issue to sort out.
I texted Sophia, [Sophia! Does Robert have any travel plans soon?]
[Yeah, how'd you know? Looking forward to some alone time?] Sophia replied quickly, sounding happy about Robert's trip.
Did she not love Robert? Would she be upset if I told her?
"I heard Robert wants to take a female employee on a business trip. Do you know about this?"
"What? No way!"
"Seriously, why don't you follow him when he leaves?"
"Alright. Maybe he's going with his mistress! Don't worry, I'll follow him tonight!"