I stared at the little envelope icon that sat there taunting me. Just one little touch on the screen to see who it was from.

Panic curled my toes and crept its way up my body.

"How did you even get the password to access this account, Anj?" Jaya asked, watching me from the side of her eye.

Anj shrugged. "I overheard my mom tell it to my dad years ago. She still uses the same one for everything."

"You spy on your mom?!" Jaya whispered in horrified excitement.

"No!" Anj protested - a bit too vehemently. "I just still remember it, and it worked. Lucky for you, Abi. Now we can check out all the hunka hunka burnin' loves Mom's looking at for you."

Fear shot through me, and my throat started to close. I began to sip the air in an effort to calm myself down.

That little envelope could be a message from the man I would marry in the near or distant future. Maybe it was from Camera Guy, and he was tapping his phone to tell me about a message? This message.

This was real. This was really real. My mom was out there in the world at this moment trying to find me a husband.

Tears filled my eyes and I hastily pushed back from the table. "I can't do this!" I gasped and stumbled for the door.

"Abi!" my besties called as they raced after me. They gently took hold of my arms and led me into the alley at the side of the building.

I leaned against the brick, bent over with my hands on my knees, too worried about passing out from lack of oxygen to even check for something icky that would mess up my work suit while I tried to gain control of my body.

The nauseating smell of the overflowing garbage bin nearby was working just as effectively as smelling salts. I gave a little snort.

Dottie was rubbing soothing circles on my back, and Jaya was standing close enough that I could admire her awesome new stilettos. They were black, with a shiny gold buckle and a pointed toe. Distracting me probably wasn't what she intended, but it worked.

I stood up and pointed at Jaya's foot. "I wish I could pull off shoes like that."

Anj came around the corner. "Are you okay?" she asked timidly.

Jaya smirked. "She's admiring my footwear. I think it's safe to say she won't pass out."

I ran a hand over my face. "One thing's for certain, I don't think I'm ready for marriage." My phone began ringing, so I pulled it out and answered without looking at the screen.

My boss, Crystal, yelled at me down the line. "Abi, where are you? I need you back at the office. Stat!" My boss always said 'stat' like she was a doctor or something. One of her many grating habits.

"I'm just returning from my lunch hour. I'll be there in five."

"Make it three!" Crystal screeched and disconnected.

I pointed threateningly at Anj as I backed toward the curb where my car was parked. "Don't open that message!" She gave me 'Who me?' eyes and pointed at herself. "I'm serious!" I warned.

A hiccup of panic passed through me at the image of my sister opening the message and seeing who wanted to meet me. I'm not sure if it was the thought of her knowing before me, or just knowing at all that bothered me more.

Anj laughed and called, "I'll see you at home!"

The only consolation was knowing Anjum couldn't lie to me. Ever. It had stopped her more than once from borrowing my favourite clothes. I just hoped it would stop her now.

I zipped through the stop light on Church Street just as the yellow turned to red and sped to the office. At this time of day in June, before the summer holiday-makers descended, traffic was light, with only two other cars on the road. One was Jerry from Parry Sound Mechanics doing the lunch run for the crew, and the other was a retired couple who had moved up last year from Toronto.

I screeched into my parking space and raced into the building to put out whatever fire Crystal called about.

She looked up from her phone and snapped, "Abi! What took you so long?"

I checked my watch. "Actually, I made it in two minutes. Thank God Bob didn't have a speed camera up today." Bob Newbolt and I went to school together, right up from kindergarten, but he told me if he caught me speeding one more time he'd have to finally give me a warning.

Crystal inhaled so hard that her nostrils flattened out. Then she released the breath slowly, and ran her hands through her long brown hair and shook it back over her shoulders. She really was very pretty when she wasn't scowling, which unfortunately was the expression she wore most of the time.

She crossed her arms and tapped the phone on her right elbow. Her eyes raked me from the top of my peacock blue headscarf, down my long black tailored blazer and wide leg black trousers to my square-toed black pumps . After several seconds, she seemed satisfied with her evaluation and gave a curt nod, appearing to relax slightly.

"You'll do," she said.

Why did I feel like I just passed a test? "For what?" I hesitated to ask.

"I just got a call. The CEO, Vice President of Human Resources and Vice President of Finance are coming for an inspection." By the time she finished, Crystal's eyes looked a bit wild. We're a small satellite office of a big Toronto firm, so having them come is a huge deal.

"Without warning?"

"Yes! Without warning! They'll be here in twenty minutes," she snapped, voice rising sharply. She took a deep breath and finger-combed her hair back again. "Everything should be in order, so there's nothing for any of us to worry about." She gave a little sniff. "Just routine, I'm sure."

My brows came down in confusion. "Do you want me to greet them?" I'm not management. I do ad campaigns and sales.

"No, I-" Her face puckered up like she just licked a lemon. "I need you to go to Reynolds Recycling. His contract is up for renewal."

I blinked.

Reynolds has been Crystal's pet for two years now. She signed them and does everything on their campaigns herself. No one touches Reynolds but her.

"Are you deaf?" she screeched.

I jumped. "No, just wondering where the paperwork is."

She snatched a manila folder off the receptionist's desk and held it out to me.

"The appointment is in twenty minutes. Do you know where it is?" Crystal flicked her hair over her shoulder. "He's an important client."

Reynolds was Crystal's most important client maybe, but they're definitely not our biggest. Not even in our top five actually.

"Yes. Out by the old Granger farm."

Crystal bristled. She hated when people used old landmarks like that because it reminded her she wasn't a local.

"Yes, well, don't be late and don't screw up! Report to me as soon as you get back."

I had to stop myself from saluting, because Crystal wouldn't take it in the spirit I'd mean it. Instead, I just nodded.

As I was backing through the door, though, I locked eyes with her, pacing back and forth and staring at me with her usual angry expression, but flashing through her eyes was ... fear?