It had been easy to bury her head in the sand when no one had known. They left their moments together behind and were friends on the outside. Just last week, Tia had mentioned that it was nice to see Cora laugh with someone.

God.

Hoping she wouldn’t see Alec, Frazer walked to his office and saw the desk Tia normally sat at empty.

“Shit,” she muttered.

“Looking for me?”

Frazer spun, hand at her chest over her thumping heart.

Staring at her with an unreadable expression was Tia.

“Tia!” Frazer tried a shaky laugh. “You scared me to death.”

The laugh died quickly as Tia simply gave a shrug. “Sorry.”

They stared at each other. It was absurd, yet Frazer had the urge to fidget under her gaze.

Yep, it was worse than her mother. Frazer liked her friendship with Tia, and Tia was obviously pretty fond of Frazer.

Yet Tia was Alec’s receptionist, with what seemed a motherly affection for him.

“Can we talk?” Frazer asked.

For a minute, Frazer thought Tia was going to tell her where to go. She let out the breath she was holding when, instead, she finally got a nod. Wordlessly, Frazer followed her outside and around the back of the main building. Smokers stood around, shivering slightly, with their breath and the smoke mingling to create a strange haze around their faces. Tia walked over to a far corner, away from any listening gossipers, and pulled out a cigarette, at which Frazer raised her eyebrows.

“Are you actually judging me?”

Frazer snapped her mouth closed.

Fair point.

Tia took a draw. The smoke billowed out of her mouth in a long stream, and Frazer resisted the urge to wave her hand around to ward it away. She wished she’d worn her jacket. It was cold and foggy. The type of July day in which you woke up to frost over the windshield and had to dig deep into your memory to remember how to deal with it.

How Frazer wished that this was her biggest problem of the day.

Tia was still eyeing her. “So. Frazer.” Frazer swallowed and Tia continued. “You’re sleeping with your boss’ wife.”

Not sure what to say to such an obvious statement, Frazer settled with what she hoped was a sheepish, regretful nod.

“When I suggested you approach her, it was because I thought you could pull her out of her shell, not into bed.”

God, Frazer was glad this woman wasn’t her actual mother. “I—”

“For how long, Frazer?”

She cleared her throat, looked away. “Three months.”

When she dared look up again, Tia was staring at her, cigarette smouldering near her open mouth that was circled in shock. Ash eventually fell from the end of her cigarette.

“Around that, anyway.” Frazer said, as if that could help.