Laura poked gingerly at the bowl of truffle fries before her. She would normally have wolfed it down, but lately, it tasted like limp potatoes soaked in oil and dirt.

"What's the matter with you?" Geri's fork twirled like a ballerina, the pasta strands wrapping around its legs. "If you don't eat that, I'm going to finish it."

"Knock yourself out." Laura returned to her salad and shoved a helping of watered grass into her mouth.

"Okay, this is definitely not normal." The blonde girl grabbed Laura's phone off the table and far from her flailing hands. "Talk. Or I'll call Mrs. Rain and say her daughter punched a guy in the supermarket again."

"Oh my god, Geri, that was two years ago. You know he was trying to get funny with me," Laura groaned. She eyed her friend, trying to hatch an escape plan, but Geri's stern stare guaranteed that no hairbrained scheme of hers would work.

She sighed, resigning to prodding at her vegetables again.

"Charlie confessed to me."

If Geri's glare was intense before, then lasers were shooting from her eyes now.

"What?! What did he say?"

"He said he wanted to be with me." Laura murmured. "He called it a 'raging emotional boner'."

Geri snorted. "What, like a love hard-on? Oh, wait. A heart-on?"

The ridiculous pun tickled her gut and, despite her mood, Laura broke into a grin. "Ha. Funny."

"How did he do it? Geri pried, her eyes glinting impishly.

The blush that crept to Laura's cheeks was enough to damn her. Geri smacked her arm that rested on the table, drawing stares from the couple on their left. Laura withdrew her limb, rubbing the spot that now stung with soreness.

"Don't get so excited, you pervert. He just kissed my neck."

"Well, what's the problem?" Geri raised an eyebrow. "Don't lie, I know you're hopelessly smitten with the guy."

Laura sighed. She couldn't tell Geri about the Spectre-Langford merger, but their marital merger wasn't her secret to bear.

"He's engaged to Celene Langford."

Geri choked. "What? When did they even start dating?"

She shrugged. "Sometime in the last one to five years."

"That's... a very interesting timeline," Geri remarked, shaking her head. "Engaged and already thinking of cheating. Charlie Spectre, this isn't a good look on you."

Laura sank back into silence, knowing the analytical woman would take the bait.

"But, wait, what did you mean by one to five years? Did they know each other in school?"

There it was. Geri's train of thought had launched into full speed and nothing was going to derail it.

"He disappeared in college, though. It's all our clients ever talk about. Defected this, prodigal son that. So... why would Celene Langford date Charles Spectre? She cares too much about her image and is extremely proud of her family business. It's uncharacteristic of her to date someone who infamously turned his back on the industry, much less marry him."

Her own mind whirling with theories, Laura decided to throw Geri another treat.

"I caught Celene making out with another woman."

The expression that now eclipsed Geri's face suggested that something broke inside her brain. She lowered her fork onto her plate and stared back at her friend soberly.

"Laura... I don't think you have the full story."

♥

Cold steel bit into her palm as Laura pushed through the sleek glass doors, her heels tapping against the gleaming marble floor. An imposing logo rose behind the counter, staring her down into her place.

FLACO
The future of pharma

Like the speck of lint she dusted from her white jumpsuit, Laura cast her thoughts of Charlie away. If she planned on hopping over to Flaco, dwelling on Spectre drama would not benefit her.

Flaco towered over her troubles, and they could propel her to new heights.

She approached the black marble counter, where a secretary was occupied with his feverish typing. A matte-steel door stood to the right, accompanied by the red glare of a touchscreen keypad.

Laura cleared her throat.

"Hello, I'm Laura Rain. I'm here to meet Jack."

The secretary eyed her, his fingers dancing over a tablet before nodding and motioning for her to wait in the lounge. She walked over to the monochrome couch, studying the city skyline from the 30th floor. This office was in a newer part of the business district, where glass monoliths rose from the streets like shining, skyward tombs.

Bored by the monotonous view, Laura turned to her phone, pulling up the message that had summoned her here.

Jack
Let's have a proper chat. Come to our office tomorrow. Say you're meeting Jack.

Jack
Don't smile at the secretary. He's a bit of a bitch.

She stole a glance at the counter. The secretary's expressionless eyes were trained on the screen before him. He was a far cry from Spectre's old clerk – Gloria always greeted them with a smile and an endearingly long tale about her granddaughters.

The clacking of his keyboard rang through the empty lounge of Flaco. Laura stared as a Roomba glided silently over the immaculate floor.

A rhythmic whir sounded in the distance and a woman appeared, circling around the counter, her strut punctuated by the hollow click of her heels. Her copper hair was pulled into a bun that crowned her head, making way for the striking high neck of her black halter dress. She made a beeline for Laura, who rose from the couch and extended her hand in rehearsed greeting.

"Hello, Laura. I'm Marilyn Nguyen, marketing manager for Flaco. Thank you for meeting us today." Her handshake was gentle, but firm. She released her grip and ushered Laura from the lounge. "Please, come with me."

Laura grabbed her bag and strode after Marilyn, the woman's poised introduction imprinted in her mind. She'd thought her bosses at Spectre were sophisticated and commanding, but now that she had witnessed the smooth, deliberate movements of a Flaco employee, a wave of awe descended over her.

Everything about Flaco was calibrated and clean. Perfectly polished to hide the drug-fuelled muck that was coursing beneath their sewer grates.

They approached the secretive steel door beside the counter, but Marilyn promptly veered right, pulling them down an ivory corridor. They strode into the first room on the left, and Marilyn shut the glass door behind them.

She regarded Laura with a smile. "Please, make yourself comfortable. We'll get things ready. Would you like some sparkling water?"

"Perrier or San Pellegrino?" Laura returned, not wanting to miss a beat.

"Which would you prefer?" Marilyn drawled with perfect diction.

"I'll have San Pellegrino with a lemon, thank you."

Marilyn nodded and whisked out of the room, the door shuffling closed. Laura's eyes roamed the space, taking in the beautiful dark wood of the oval conference table. The seats were coated in lush, black mesh with leather armrests, and as Laura leaned back, it swayed under her weight with barely a whimper.

How could she return to the groaning wood and faded chairs at Spectre?

A harmony of footsteps sounded from the corridor and Laura stood up, the chair bouncing back upright. Hardly a beat passed and the door swung open. Marilyn walked in and placed a fizzling drink on the table, the lemon sinking to the base of the glass.

Turning to face Laura, she cast another smile over her face. "Thank you for waiting. Laura, I would like you to meet our fabulous chief of staff."

At the entrance, a petite brunette with cropped hair and sharp features stepped in.

Laura's stomach bottomed out. It was her.

The woman who was locking lips with Celene.

Laura's head swam wildly, begging her body to flee, but her feet were stiffly cemented to the marble floor. As the brunette inched her way towards Laura, every nerve screamed to be released from the bottomless bog of dread that filled her being.

Autopilot took over and Laura extended a weak palm in greeting.

"Hello, Laura. I'm Jacqueline Cook." Her gentle southern accent chimed in a light singsong as she reached out and grasped Laura's trembling hand.

"But you can call me Jack."

♥