= CHRIS POV =

Two hours and four glasses of wine later, we both were lying on the carpet, having pushed aside the coffee table to make room.

“I can’t believe Ruby did that to you. I’d have punched her if she pinned me down like that and force-fed my cake,” I said after hearing the full story of what Ruby did to Sarah during her interview.

“Right? I would have if I hadn’t been so shocked that it was happening to me in the first place!” Sarah exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air animatedly. 

“By the way…”Sarah said almost conspiratorially, “After working there for a week, Ruby has already cornered Mr. Ichikawa, Ms. Hana, and even Amber. I thought I was special, but she really does this to everyone.” Sarah sighed as if she was kind of disappointed. 

I stretched out onto the plush carpeting on the floor and  folded my right arm under my head, resting most of the weight on my bicep. The other arm I reached across the plush carpet to flick Sarah on the nose.

“Don’t tell me you’re disappointed. I did tell you earlier that Ruby tried to do the same to me in college so…I’m not surprised” I scoffed, kind of amused that after everything Ruby had done to her, that was her take away “Also don’t downplay the way she did it to you. I remember the force feeding, not the crowding a person into a corner and then force feeding. Both are red flags, but one is more glaring than the other” I pointed out. 

Sarah sat up, looking a little indignant, her hands dropping into the space between us as she leaned forward, her brown hair spilling down her back, making her look like some annoyed nymph.

Damn…if force feeding got her this worked up, maybe I should-

“And- and tried to force-feed them cake as well!” Sarah started again animatedly, forcing me to tune back in, cutting through my wandering thoughts.

“ Chris...She targets people shorter than her, and she always pounces when their hands are full” Sarah explained vehemently. 

I blinked slowly up at her “Are you…defending her or something?” I asked cautiously.

Sarah rolled her eyes and sighed “No. I’m just saying…it turns out even the way she does it with other… so I’m not special at all,” Sarah admitted sheepishly. 

My eyes widened for a moment, and then I burst out laughing. It was a deep laugh that came from my belly. 

“S-Sarah…baby…are you seriously upset that it wasn’t some kind of…romantic gesture? That it was just…Ruby being Ruby?” I gasped, sitting up as well, wiping a tear from my eye.

Sarah pouted and crossed her arms “Well I think I might have jumped to conclusion and..I feel bad about it”

“Yeah? You feel bad? Or are you just trying to cover up that you feel let down? Well it’s still inappropriate behavior, even if Ruby doesn’t mean anything by it. Ruby is a grown woman. She knows what she is doing. Don’t be so ready to give her the benefit of the doubt” I reminded her, shaking my head. 

Gosh she was too kind. She always errors on the brightest side of anything presented to her, even if it was to her detriment. 

Sarah paused for a moment, leaning back against her bedframe, wrapping an arm around her legs, swirling her half-drunk wine with the other hand.

“Well, I kind of…liked it…I guess, I just didn’t like it at first because I was trying to turn over a new leaf and not fall head first into my boss’ arms,” she explained, making me stiffen.

“What?” I said, feeling a coldness spread throughout my body.

Sarah bit her lip for a moment. She glanced over at me, as if checking to see if I was still there…still in “Bestfriend” mode.

I sighed and rolled my shoulder back. 

Three more damned  fucking hours.

“Sorry go on,” I said as I lay back down, propping my head up on my arm again so that I didn’t have to see her face while she continued to wax lyrical about god-damn Ruby. 

“I kind of like her,” Sarah started up again, making me question my friendship with the tall chef that terrorized her employees and friends alike with her cake creations.

“She has a real taste for life, you know? I wish I could live life as intensely and passionately as she does. She’s not afraid to take what she wants or do what she wants; it’s…kind of inspiring,” Sarah said and smiled “I’d totally date her if she wasn’t my boss. I’m trying so hard not to fall into that trap again-”

I felt like a thunderbolt had hit me. I sat up so fast I felt like I got whiplash. 

“What do you mean you’d date her? Sarah, you’re straight” I said, cutting her off, my eyes narrowing as I glared at her incredulously.

She was straight, right?

Right?

Cause if she wasn’t, why the fuck was I holding back so fucking much?

I shook my head. Maybe this was just a straight girl thing. 

“I know you think throwing ideas out like that is harmless but,  if she was a man… You’d be pretty fucking traumatized. Like enough. I’m not gonna sit here and - as your best friend - listen to you wax lyrical about someone who was taking advantage of you ” I snapped, glaring at her. 

Sarah tilted her head to the side, then she turned to me, and said something that made the whole world tilt to the side. 

With the sweetest smile, Sarah asked,“Who told you I was straight?”

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