“I caught a ride home with a friend,” Sophie replied.
“Grady Hardy is a friend of yours now?” Marge asked, her tone accusatory.
Sophie swiveled back around. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t care,” Marge said. “I just find it surprising. You two weren’t exactly friendly to each other the other day.”
“We’ve had some time to reassess,” Sophie said. “I’m sure that’s what you want to here, right? So you can spread it around the gossip mill?”
Marge was silent, her eyes dark.
“Or is this about his brother, James?” Sophie knew she’d hit the nail on the head when Marge flinched. “Oh, good grief. He’s a client of the newspaper, Marge. He’s not interested in you. He’s never been interested in you. He’s a nice guy. That’s all.”
“You don’t know,” Marge said. “He could be interested in me. I have a great personality.”
“I do know,” Sophie said. “I’ve met his girlfriend. She’s funny – and nice – and she’s his entire world.”
“Grady said they weren’t serious,” Marge replied.
“Grady was lying to make you feel better,” Sophie said. “That’s what he does.” She knew she was being mean, but Marge’s constant attitude where she was concerned was pushing her over the edge. “He’s a nice guy. James is a nice guy. James is a nice guy who is completely infatuated with his girlfriend.”
“You’re just saying that to be mean,” Marge said. “Admit it.”
For a second, Sophie considered lying. Marge looked upset – genuinely upset. Sophie realized the greater kindness was telling her the truth, so maybe then she would move on and find someone she could actually connect with.
“James Hardy is so in love with his girlfriend it hurts to look at them sometimes,” Sophie said, the honestly of the words washing over her – drowning her own heart. “We should all want what they have.”
Sophie left Marge stewing behind the desk. Part of her felt guilty. The other part realized that she was one of the people who wanted want James and Mandy had – even if it involved incessantly watching shark movies.
Once she got to her desk, Sophie found herself swarmed by curious co-workers.
“I heard you got attacked the other night?”
“Do the police have any leads?”
“Did you recognize the guy?”
“Do you think it’s because of the story you’re working on?”
Conrad scattered his employees as he joined the fray. “How was the funeral?”
Sophie shrugged. “Sad.”
Conrad glanced at his loitering reporters. “Don’t you all have work to do?”
Her co-workers were reluctant to leave, but they knew Conrad meant business, so they did. Once they were gone, Conrad fixed her with a hard look. “What have you got on the other thing?”
“It’s fluid,” Sophie said. “I got a huge packet of information yesterday – and there is some information there that’s important. I need to go through it all, though. It’s like two thousand pages.”
Conrad’s eyebrows lifted. “Crap.”
“Yeah.”
“You should’ve told me. I would’ve pulled you off the funeral.”
“It’s okay. It’s good to get a break,” Sophie replied. “I’m going to file my story, and then get out of here. I need to get back at it.”
“Okay,” Conrad said. “Keep me posted.”
“You got it, boss.”
Conrad smiled. “Make sure you keep safe, too. If the other night is any indication, you’re on someone’s radar.”
IT ONLY took Sophie a half hour to bang out her story and file it in the system. When she was done, she gathered her things and slipped out the back door of the newsroom to avoid prying eyes.
She found Marge pouting behind her desk in the lobby.
“Bye, Marge.”
Marge glared at her. “Bye, bitch.”
Sophie climbed into her car, pulling out her phone before starting it. Grady picked up on the first ring. “Hey, sugar.”
Sugar? “Hi. I was just checking in as instructed.”
“You don’t have to sound so happy about it,” Grady teased. “How long until you’re done?”
“I’m done now,” Sophie said. “I’m going to head home.”
“Okay,” Grady said. “I should be there in about a half hour.”
Sophie hadn’t invited him, but she was thrilled he’d invited himself. Although, part of her was mortified by the flutter of happiness in her belly. “Okay. Do you want me to pick up dinner?”