I sat at one of the small tables in the bleak break room, eating some of Emily's lunch. She always packed a delicious lunch of whatever leftovers she had from the night before. Today, it was chicken and dumpling soup. Emily left lunch early again and couldn't finish her food.

"You better finish that, Gabriella!" She would scold me as she shuffled her short legs out of the room. She called me Gabriella only when she was being serious. Otherwise, I preferred everyone to call me Ella.

I worked at Westlake Marketing for almost a year and rarely bothered to bring a lunch. I usually just had a bagel and a couple of cups of coffee before work and waited to eat until I went home. Emily thought I still needed to eat something during the day or I would feel weak. She has always been looking out for me since I started working here.

We knew each other from high school, though we weren't close. Seven years later, we found ourselves working together. Emily was with the company for two years before I was hired. She recognized me instantly. I felt welcomed and got introduced to everyone in our department.

I was hired as a researcher and worked on the same team as Emily. Unfortunately, she wasn't the one to train me. Gray Bennett was my trainer and direct Supervisor.

Gray was a mystery. He only talked to people if it was about work. The conversation was brief and unenthusiastic. He could seem intimidating, especially with his height and deep dark eyes.

When training on a new program, if I didn't understand it one hundred percent within that day, Gray would almost act offended. He sighed heavily multiple times and went over everything again. Sometimes his eyes looked like they were searching for something inside of me. After a moment of not finding it, the disappointment on his face was unbearable. It made me want to crawl into a hole.

The only exception for him was Emily. I saw those two talking during work and meeting up afterward sometimes. It was the only time I saw him smile. I assumed they were dating, though she never spoke about it. I finally gave in to my curiosity when we left the office one day.

"So, Emi, are you and Gray like together?" I couldn't take it anymore. I had to know.

She looked confused at first, but then her face turned to disgust after realizing what I was asking.

"No! No way! He's like my older brother! Besides, I'm dating someone else. Gray knows that."

"Oh! Who is it then?" I was intrigued. She never mentioned a boyfriend before.

"Well, Dylan and I have been on and off for almost two years." She spoke quietly.

"As long as he's not jerking you around." I raised my eyebrow. Being on and off for that long wasn't a good sign.

"No, no. We both have commitment issues. It's like we take turns on who wants to settle down and who doesn't." She frowned and started to twirl her light brown straight hair away from her cheek.

"That doesn't sound very healthy." I was worried about her. She was such a sweet girl. I see how someone might want to take advantage of her.

"You sound like Gray now." Emily laughed. "It's been good between us for a while now, so I'm not worried."

"As long as you're happy with him."

We got into the elevator. I couldn't help but ask something else.

"So, what's up with Gray then? I think he hates me. He only talks to you.

"Ah. I saw she had a hard time explaining it. Yeah, Gray is a little awkward around people, especially girls. But he doesn't hate you. He seems to, um, not want to waste his words?"

I laughed. "Gray has no problem talking to you. Are you sure that he doesn't have feelings for you?"

"Oh no! I'm like his little sister. It's not like that at all." Emily was confident. She looked around the elevator, even though it was only us, and whispered to me. "I don't even think he's ever had a girlfriend."

"Really?" I whispered back to match her. "Wait, do you think he's gay?"

Emily didn't hesitate. "I don't think so. But he never talks about things like that. He never seemed interested in dating anyone."

"So, you guys have never talked about sex or anything like that?" I wondered what they even talked about if they weren't dating.

"Oh no. I don't think Gray would be comfortable talking about sex. I asked about a guy's point of view with different positions because I was self-conscious about what Dylan sees when I'm on top."

Emily started to blush as the elevator doors opened again. This time, three other people walked in. She was a little shy when talking about sex. I was an open book. Even though I had limited experience with my ex-husband and Garrett. I got her to be more comfortable talking to me.

I laughed and snorted. "Oh my God, Emi. What did he say?"

She continued to whisper. "Gray tensed up and said he didn't know. He didn't talk to me for the rest of the day. I haven't brought it up again since. I don't know if he's even had sex before."

"Really? Isn't he older than us? He surely had sex." I was shocked. I assumed most people had sex by the time they turned twenty-one.

The elevator doors opened again to the hallway leading into the parking garage below the building. We waited for the others to get off the elevator first. Emily went before me.

"I don't know. Gray is even more awkward when the subject comes up. Dana and Charlotte have noticed the same thing. Nick and Garrett would try to get Gray to participate in their conversations about girls. He would ignore them."

"Hmm, interesting. Maybe Gray's super religious." I shrugged it off.

At least my first anniversary is this week. Gray should get off my back after that. I laughed to myself.

"What's so funny?" Emily asked.

"Maybe that's why he's such a grump. He needs to get laid." We both laughed.

As we got into the parking garage, Gray came from the stairway at the end of the hallway. He was one of the few people who took the stairs. I thought the stairs were too creepy to walk down at night.

"Hey, Emi! I'll send you a link to that video I was talking about earlier." He ran up to us from behind.

When Gray smiled, his eyes sparkled. It was ridiculous how much of a difference it was when he was talking to Emily versus me.

"Okay, I'll check it out when I get home." Emily smiled back as she looked up at him. Their height difference was comical.

For some dumb reason, I decided to butt in their conversation. "What video is that?"

Gray's eyes instantly dulled. His voice went back to being near mono-toned.

"Nothing you would know about." He turned abruptly and walked to his car.

"Wow." I scoffed and looked at Emily. "You see what I mean?" I waved my arm in his direction.

"He's not that bad. He's just shy." Emily laughed. "I'll forward you the link if you want. It's a trailer for the new End of Reality game."

"Nah, you know I only like Adventure Brothers games." I sighed, knowing Gray was right.