Cora licked her lips. Her pager buzzed at her hip, but she ignored it.

“Okay. I’m in.”

CHAPTER THREE

Hump day drinks had been a habit for far too long.

It was a habit they should have probably broken after university, yet somehow, almost every Wednesday, there they were. Drinks and gossip in hand. They should’ve grown out of it by now.

Clearly, Frazer’s friends didn’t agree.

The bar they were in was clearly trying to be edgy. Everything was black and chrome, with dim lighting that was a welcome contrast to the bright lights of the hospital environment. It was new, the smell of fresh paint still lingering, yet full of people, the surfaces scattered with half-drunk drinks.

“To Frazer! Too stubborn to let the bosses bring her down.” Andy raised her gin and tonic to Frazer.

“That I’ll toast to.” Frazer said and clinked her glass against Andy’s, unable to wipe the beam off her face. Her cheeks were starting to hurt. She tried to toast Rob’s glass, but he was scrolling through his phone with one hand, glass in the other, hovering only vaguely in the general space before him.

“Rob.” Andy rolled her eyes at Frazer when he didn’t even look up. “Rob!”

He finally dropped his phone to his lap. “Sorry! Sorry. The new deal is closing, and I want to know the second it’s gone through.”

“Yeah.” Frazer furrowed her brow seriously and nodded. “You’ve really got to make sure those deals close. They won’t uh…close themselves.”

Rob raised his perfect eyebrows. But at least he’d stopped looking at his phone. “What’s my job title, Frazer?”

Frazer sought out Andy for help, but all she did was smirk. With a grimace and her hand waving vaguely in the air, Frazer said, “Deal…closing…market-share selling, uh, wonderfully dressed best friend?”

“Yeah. That. Exactly that.” He shook his head at her. “It may have taken Daniel two years, but at least he learnt.”

“He’s your boyfriend. He’s required to know.”

Andy snorted. “Nice try, Frazer.”

“What?” he asked. “And an over-a-decade-long friend shouldn’t?”

“Rob.” Frazer had definitely reached her drink limit for the night. She could hear herself whining. “You know I’m useless.”

“Lucky you’re pretty.”

Andy was still smirking at them both. “Speaking of useless, when are you going on a date, Frazer?”

“Oh God!” This conversation was one Frazer could happily do without. “Never, if you keep going on about it.”

Andy’s eyes shone as she leant forward, her teeth glinting white in the gloom. “What if I said I ran into your sister, who said you’ve been at home with your fish every night you’re not with us and that if you don’t get your arse into gear, she’s going to help us set up a dating profile for you?”

Frazer’s face fell. “Shit, you’re conspiring now?” When Andy did nothing but jut out her chin, Frazer sighed. “I liked it better when Jemma was my twerp of a sister who used to annoy you.” As she paused to sulk further, Andy’s words really sunk in. “An online dating site? Seriously?”