Lost and Found

Caught

I met his gaze with a challenge. "I don't wear them."

Voices sounded from the hall and a few others from my floor trickled into the room. Once they saw the donuts they were ecstatic.

I stood from my seat, unsure if I needed to say goodbye to him.

"Well, have a nice day, Mr. Blackbourne."

His silver gaze tracked my progress to the garbage where I threw away my mostly uneaten donut. Maybe I should have been less wasteful, but my stomach was too full of nerves and butterflies.

When my eyes met his, he nodded shortly. "You too, Miss Sorenson. Be safe."

By the time I arrived at my cubicle, my team was mostly all there. Rocky was talking to one of my coworkers, but winked at me as I passed by. I was just glad that he didn't try to talk to me. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him.

Karen was just clocking in on the computer, but glanced up at me as I walked by.

"Hey, you never responded to my calls or texts," Karen said as I took a seat at my desk. She crossed the aisle and leaned her slim hip against my cubicle.

I frowned and pulled out my phone. Sure enough, there were several texts and missed calls from early in the AMs.

"Oh, sorry, I fell asleep."

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled at me. "Did you need something? You never call me."

"Oh, well." Should I tell her still? Might as well. "I was trying to find a place to stay last night. Mine was broken into."

Her smile fell. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

I didn't have a good response to that so I shrugged.

She bent down and hugged me, smothering my face in her chest.

"I'm so sorry I didn't answer. I was out with a friend and didn't bring a phone charger."

I patted her back in an awkward manner. I wasn't always the best with informal touching. "It's okay. I figured it out."

She pulled away, but kept her hands on my biceps. "Well, did you figure everything out with the police? Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

I shook my head. "I don't feel comfortable going back to my place just yet. I'm sure I can figure something ou-"

"Stay with me tonight," she said in a rush, something lighting up her brown eyes. At my uncertainty, she added, "Please? It will be fun. I'll even treat you to some dinner."

I bit my lip and nodded. She grinned and with one last squeeze, released my arms. "Perfect. Do you need anything from your place before we go to mine?"

"I don't have any spare clothes," I said quietly, gesturing to the day old clothes I was already wearing.

She nodded. "'Kay, then we can stop and grab you some clothes before we head over to my place."

I smiled at her. "Thanks, Karen. I really appreciate it."

As we worked, I began to regret not just taking the donut back to my desk. Luckily, by the time lunch rolled around, there were still plenty of items in the break room. Whoever had restocked it, had done a great job. The vending machines were still there, but they only supplied sodas and candies now.

There was a note on the fridge stating that anything without a name on it was fair game and had left a black sharpie for people to write their names on their lunches and items. There were various treats in the cupboards and fridge, but I chose to go for a healthier option and grabbed a paper plate to stack some carrots and celery sticks on before I sat down beside Karen at the table. It wasn't all the often that we got the same lunch since the company tried to spread them out.

I nibbled on the edge of a carrot stick, trying to eat slowly despite my angry belly. The slower I ate, the longer I would be able to make everything last.

"What kind of food do you want to eat tonight?" Karen asked, tossing my plate a curious look before biting into her club sandwich.

Shrugging, because I really didn't have a preference, I said, "Whatever you'd like. I'll eat anything, really."

She chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. "Well, tell me this. Would you rather go out or cook something ourselves?"

I smiled. "Why don't we just cook something? It will be cheaper, too."

She waved me off and grinned. "Nah, like I said. It's my treat. Though, I do make a mean chicken alfredo."

My smile widened. "That sounds great."

Her brown eyes looked to the door and peered at something behind me. My back was to the door, which I normally tried to avoid, but Karen had beaten me to the seat that faced the entrance.

"Hey, Wil," she said and I peeked behind me at the guy I had noticed last night. "What are you still doing here?"

His green gaze went between the two of us and he sent Karen a half smile. His brown hair was the same color as the espresso steaming in the coffee machine. "I'm off now, but someone said there were donuts in here."

He sighed in relief when he saw that there were still plenty of donuts in the containers and grabbed a chocolate one with white glaze. He leaned his lower back against the counter and faced us as he took a large bite.

"Thank goodness," he said between his mouthfuls. "It was hard to concentrate knowing these were in here."

Karen chuckled and wiped some bread crumbs off her blouse. "You look exhausted."

He shrugged lazily and swallowed his bite of donut. "The night shift will do that to you."

His gaze flickered to mine and he cocked his head as he took another large bite. Once it was gone, he asked, "You're Sang, right?"

I frowned. How did he know that? I hadn't ever spoken to him. "Yes?"

He chuckled, but kept his keen eyes on me. I squirmed under the attention, but didn't lower my gaze. "Don't look so alarmed. Karen talks about you sometimes. That, and Rocky's been going around telling everyone you're his girlfriend."

"What?" I asked in alarm. I nearly dropped my carrot. "I'm not his girlfriend."

Wil rolled his eyes with a smile. "Everyone knows that. Rocky is an idiot."

Karen grinned over at me and folded her arms across her chest. "Rocky's been trying to get Sang to go on a date with him for forever."

"Not forever. Just a while," I deflected while Wil took one of the complimentary water bottles from the fridge. It was really nice to have the break room restocked, though I didn't think it had ever been this full before.

Karen snickered and wrapped up her remaining sandwich. "Maybe not forever, but seven years is a long time for someone not to get the hint."

"Yeah, Rocky can be a piece of work," I said, scowling down at my veggies.

Wil sighed before finishing off his food. "That's for sure. I hardly ever see him and I'm sick of him."

That made me chuckle and Wil sent me an appreciative smile. I liked his smile. It was easy. Real. The only thing that still troubled me was the way his eyes seemed to look at me. It wasn't malicious or cruel. No, but it was knowing.

"Anyway, I'm out of here." He sent us a wave and headed for the door. He paused and then backtracked to snatch another chocolate donut. He saluted us with it and disappeared. I stared over my shoulder for much longer than I normally would have.

Karen glanced at her watch, bringing my attention back to her. "It's time to head back. You ready?"

I nodded and grabbed my plate. I would just snack on the food while I worked.