Daphne looked at her watch for probably the sixteenth time since she and Landon had left the coffee shop. It had only been eight seconds since the last time she’d looked at her watch. It was still only nine minutes after eight.

  Daphne looked over at Landon in the corner of the elevator. He smiled awkwardly at her. She smiled back, feeling the same discomfort. Barely a word had been exchanged on their walk back to the office, and Daphne honestly wished she’d had an excuse to stay at the café a little longer just so she hadn’t had to bear the weight of the uncomfortable silence between them.

  What did he expect after he told me his feelings? He thought I was still in a relationship, so surely he didn’t think I would accept and start going out with him, did he?

  She swallowed hard, staring at the number on the elevator slowly ticking upward. Even if I had accepted his feelings, it probably still would have been odd to come back to work together.

  She chewed on her tongue, resist the urge to tap her fingers rapidly. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I’m not really sure how I can possibly go back to treating him the same at work…at least right away.

  Her mind drifted a bit to her life before the accident. Did Landon feel the same way before?

  The elevator finally dinged, and the doors opened. Landon gestured for Daphne to go first, and she smiled at him tightly, wondering if all of the oxygen in the building had been sucked out. If I thought it was just going to be the elevator…I was wrong.

  They began the journey to their cubicles, Landon trailing behind her. It’s too bad his new cubicle is right next to mine…I literally will not be able to get a break from him at all… She pursed her lips, looking at the floor. I’m just going to have to do my best to make sure things are as normal as possible.

  Daphne glanced up. They had almost made it to the cubicles! She could escape into her work and use her busyness as an excuse not to deal with Landon and his feelings…for the day at least.

  A pair of high heeled feet appeared in Daphne’s path. She had been walking so quickly she had to stop so abruptly that she nearly tripped over herself.

  Shit. What now?

  “Rose?” she heard Landon’s voice behind her ask.

  Daphne’s head shot up, and she met the eyes of the black-haired vixen she’d met recently. Landon’s now…ex-girlfriend.

  “What the fuck is this?” Rose said, crossing her arms over her well-endowed—or fake?—chest.

  “E…excuse me?” Daphne asked. “I just need to get to my desk, please.” She did her best to stare the woman down in her eyes, and not crumple like a flower getting stepped on.

  “You’re not sitting down anytime soon,” Rose replied, taking a step towards Daphne with one of the dangerously pointy heels.

  “Uh,” Daphne replied, taking a step back at Rose’s advance. “I need to work though?”

  Rose glanced over at Landon. “You lying son of a bitch,” she murmured. Her voice grew again, and she jabbed one of her perfectly made-up nails into Daphne’s sweater. “You’re cheating on me with her, just like you said you weren’t!” Rose exclaimed, glancing back over at Landon.

  Daphne looked around the office. People were staring, as she’d rightly expect them to. Her stomach did flip flops. Son of a…!

  Daphne took another step back and put her hands up, gently pushing Roses’s dagger finger away from her. “No, no, no,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t understand…”

  Rose cut her off, narrowing her eyes at Daphne. “Oh, I understand perfectly alright,” she replied. “There is nothing to explain. You can shut your whore mouth.”

  Daphne felt her eyebrows shoot up. She had to chew on the inside of her cheek to stop her jaw from dropping. Didn’t Landon just tell me that they broke up?

  “We’re not together,” Daphne insisted, despite the order Rose had barked at her. “I’m not interested in him at all.”

  Daphne knew her words might hurt Landon a little, even though they were truthful. But her heart was pounding in her chest. All she cared about was getting away from the dangerous woman in front of her.

  “I said to shut your whore mouth,” Rose screeched at Daphne, acting as though she was going to slap Daphne across the face. Daphne shrunk back, flinching and preparing for the impact.

  “That’s enough, Rose,” Landon’s voice said behind Daphne, softer than she’d ever heard him speak.

  Rose let out a sound that Daphne could only interpret as a guttural growl. “She stole what is mine,” Rose replied, spitting at Daphne, which she watched land on tip of her own shoe.

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  “We broke up,” Landon said behind her.

  “And what good reason would you have for breaking up with Rose Hawthorne?” Rose asked, advancing a step forward toward Daphne again. “Unless you were cheating on me with someone else?”

  Even though Daphne was not looking at Rose’s face, she could feel Roses’s eyes combing over her, boring holes of white-hot hatred into whatever flaws she could find.

  Behind Rose, Daphne noticed that in the cubicle next to her own, Fiona was smirking. What the fuck? Did Fiona see Landon and I leave together for coffee? What does this girl hate about me so much?

  “Daphne and I are not together,” Landon said firmly. “I’ve told you that multiple times.”

  “Then what are you doing coming back to the office together ten minutes after eight?” Rose sneered. She looked down at Daphne, and Daphne looked away again.

  “I bought Daphne a coffee as a ‘thank you’ for training me so well,” Landon said. “It was a celebration for my first day out of training.”

  Rose grunted. She didn’t seem to have a rebuttal to that. “I don’t believe you,” she replied. “Out to coffee as a thank you for training? Bullshit,” Rose continued. “I saw the way you looked at her when I visited. You talked to me about her all the time.” Daphne heard the sound of grinding and wondered if it was Roses’s teeth. “She must feel the same. Why else would you break up with me?”

  Daphne heard Landon sigh. “Get out,” he said to Rose. “You are not welcome in this office. This is a place of professionalism and work, and you are making a scene.”

  Did something like this happen the first time around? Daphne studied Fiona’s gleeful face more closely. I feel like I remember something like this, but I’m not sure. She chewed on her lower lip. I’m not sure if it was Rose before or not, but I remember apologizing for something I didn’t do and sitting down to do work immediately after. Daphne narrowed her eyes. Why did I do that?

  Heat was beginning to course through her body, and she felt something inside of her snap.

  Daphne looked up at Rose, firmly pushing her off and away from her body. “Do you hear yourself?” Daphne asked. “Landon and I are not dating,” she said tightly. “It shouldn’t be that big of a deal for someone to get coffee with a co-worker, even if you were dating. It’s no wonder he broke up with you with this attitude.” Daphne scowled up at the taller woman. At first, Rose had looked a bit taken aback from Daphne’s words. But now, pure venom was dripping off of Rose’s face.

  “You stupid bitch!” Rose said, gearing up to swing at Daphne, seemingly for real this time.

  I will not flinch this time. Daphne stood her ground.

  “Rose, stop it!” Landon shouted behind Daphne.

  Daphne closed her eyes, waiting for the blow to come. Instead, she felt a body come in between her and Rose.

  “Enough,” Asher said, the warmth completely drained from his voice.

  Daphne opened her eyes wide, to see Asher’s tall frame in front of her, between her and Rose, holding Rose’s hand in the air.

  “You’ve far surpassed the line of acceptable behavior, Rose,” Asher said.

  Rose’s demeanor changed to a cute and childish manner. “Ash,” Rose whined.

  Daphne felt her eyes widen at the nickname. …Ash? What does that mean?

  “I’ve been seriously wronged by this woman. You don’t understand.” Rose’s voice was honeyed again, and all of the traces of the scorned, spiteful woman she had been only moments earlier was gone.

  “So what?” Asher asked in a harsh voice, one which Daphne had never been able to imagine coming from him. “That doesn’t give you an excuse to physically assault her.”

  Daphne’s heart fluttered a little. She knew Asher’s words were true, but the fact that he’d said them out loud at her defense made her have butterflies, nonetheless.

  “But Ash,” Rose whined. All of the fluttering in Daphne’s heart stopped, and she felt it starting to sink into her chest.

  Wait a second. Did Rose just say that her last name was…Hawthorne?

  A lump formed in Daphne’s throat at the idea that Asher might be related to Rose in some way. Her stomach twisted up inside of her. I don’t know which is worse. Having Rose as an ex-girlfriend, or having Rose as a family member. Either way, being involved with either of these men involves being closer to this woman I want nothing to do with.

  “Leave,” Asher said to Rose firmly. “Before the police get called on you.”

  Daphne took a quick look around the room and noticed a few cell phones. Oh my God. Please don’t let this end up on social media.

  “No,” Rose replied in a pouty voice.

  “Then I’ll be calling Father,” Asher said, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

  Daphne peeked around Asher and noticed that Rose looked horrified. She rolled her eyes, probably trying to diminish Asher’s threat. “Fine,” she said. “I don’t want Daddy to know about this anyway.” She walked around Asher, and intentionally nailed Daphne’s shoulder with her own. “This isn’t over,” she hissed as she sauntered off towards the elevators.

  Silence fell in the office. Daphne noticed that everyone was still staring at the three of them, save for Fiona, who looked like she was pretending to focus on her work instead.

  Well… I’m glad I told Landon I wasn’t interested. The whole office is going to have their eyes on every single one of our interactions after this.

  “Sorry for my sister’s behavior,” Asher said loudly to the whole office. He turned to look at Daphne, and took a couple of steps back, finally giving her personal space. He took with him the warm, clean scent that was emanating from him.

  His eyes met hers. “Please forgive me for not intervening sooner,” he said, bowing his head.

  Daphne’s face started heating up. “Don’t worry about it,” she muttered. On her left, Landon came and stood beside her. He was a bit too close for comfort, and Daphne frowned. She noticed Asher’s eyes flipping between the two of them.

  He must be wondering if we were telling the truth or not. Just like I’m sure the whole office is now as well.

  “I didn’t realize Rose was your sister,” Landon said.

  Asher nodded. “We’re twins, if you can believe it,” he said.

  Fuck! They are very closely related then. Her heart sank further into her chest. Her eyes pricked a little. I wonder if he’s as crazy as his sister.

  The normal sounds of the office were beginning to come back, as the scene had pretty much dissipated.

  “See you both later,” Asher said with a nod, as he turned. Daphne focused on his retreating back. His shoulders were broad, his back muscles clearly strong.

  “They couldn’t be more different,” Landon observed. “Sorry for the trouble, Daphne,” he added, before turning to go back to his own desk.

  He’s right. I feel like I knew a pair of male-female twins when I was younger…

  She turned and sat down at her own cubicle, starting her workday twenty minutes late. I wonder if Asher and Rose are the same twins I knew growing up.