Hannah smiled. It had been a busy time. There was no denying that things were seriously starting to turn around for Ward now and public perception had gone through a major shift. They had since fallen into an easy partnership and had established a good cadence working together. There had been no more public missteps or stupid outbursts, and to his credit, Ward had been following her directions and guidance, and their work was paying off.

He seemed way more comfortable with the social media side now too, provided that whatever he shared was in line with and on-brand with his sports image.

While he rarely posted anything personal, he’d even taken the initiative to tag Frank’s coffee place one time, resulting in a deluge of fresh custom, and Hannah knew that helping his friend’s business meant way more to him than any personal online clout he’d amassed.

She just hoped all Frank’s newbies thought to bring cash.

Once the bulk of the messaging revolved around sports, didn’t encroach on his privacy or paint him as someone he didn’t believe himself to be, Ward was cool. So Hannah did her best to colour within those lines – and despite those initial false starts, all seemed to be working out.

After that little slip outside the podcast place, she was also doubly careful not to lower her own guard or reveal anything more about her personal life to him.

This needed to remain a one-sided game. Life in general seemed to have settled down too, much to her relief.

Despite (or more likely because of) her cringeworthy iMessage confessional, Rob had since completely ghosted her and she’d heard nothing from him regardless of his being in the city for the golf tournament.

And while a part of her heart broke all over again, and her ego was well and truly crucified, she also figured it was for the best. There was no future for them now, never had been really, and those recent overtures from him were surely just blatant attempts at an easy booty call while he was in town.

You were always my lucky charm.

Maybe the cat did her a favour after all.

Following a few promising nights out on the town with a couple of office colleagues, whom Hannah was hopeful might in time become friends, she and Ed next door had since fallen into a friendship of sorts too, which meant her formerly pitiful social life was also looking up.

And while they still hadn’t come face to face, at least these days there was an easy neighbourly camaraderie. Sensing that Ed was far more comfortable with anonymity since he’d never once suggested any in-person encounters, Hannah was careful not to force the issue.