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André returned then and strode to her desk with purpose. He handed her two pills. “Advil,” he said. He plopped them in her palm and then screwed off the lid to the water bottle he carried. He set the bottle on the desk.
“Thank you,” Nikki muttered, taking the pills.
He’d gone and found her exactly what she needed.
Which just reminded her of how great he used to be.
Until he wasn’t.
Wasn’t there a Lizzo song about that exact issue with men?
Whatever.
“Nicole––”
She held up a hand to stop him. “My name is Nikki.”
He flinched.
Sure, Nicole was her full name. And once upon a freaking time, she’d loved that he called her Nicole. It had felt special and elegant.
But that story was over.
“If my being here makes you uncomfortable, then I’ll go—”
“No,” Nikki stopped him. “It’s fine.” She nearly gagged on the words.
“Yeah, you sound fine,” Johnny said flatly.
Nikki rolled her eyes. She knew she was being uncharacteristically mean. It wasn’t in her nature. She was both the shiny and the happy that drove everyone around her into the arms of optimism whether they wanted to be there or not.
“I’ll be fine.” She glared at Johnny who smirked. “I’m sore and hungry. Those are my main issues at the moment.”
“Can I get you lunch?” André offered.
She wanted to throw her hands in the air in exasperation. But her shoulders and neck were telling her that that would be a bad idea.
So she sighed and narrowed her eyes to the tiniest slits she could muster.
He arched an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly.
“I’ll have it brought in. You don’t have to move.” André glanced at Johnny. “I’ll get lunch for everyone. Just as a way to say thank you and sorry.”
Johnny pursed his lips and looked to Nikki to give the answer.
She relaxed her jaw but her eyes remained narrow.
“Tacos from La Morena?” André asked.
She didn’t reply vocally but her stomach rumbled with an embarrassing growl.
André lifted his chin and took a step backward.
Fine.
He wanted to buy her lunch so bad, then she wasn’t going to stop him. But she was going to push it for all it was worth.
“A lot of tacos,” she said. “I’mveryhungry.”
