She got up and found both of her hosts already sitting at the breakfast table. They both looked much more chipper than Mia felt. She hadn’t been as wasted as Amber or Lou, but she’d had her fair share. She wondered how Lou would describe her if she saw her now.

“Good morning.” Sheryl pulled a chair back for her. “Sleep well?”

“Very well. I could easily live in that room. It’s beautiful and so big and it has its own bathroom. What more can a girl ask for?”

“You’re welcome to stay here whenever you want. Call it a special Pink Bean employee perk,” Kristin said and, without asking, poured her some coffee. She knew Mia took it black and strong.

“It’s cheaper than giving you a company car,” Sheryl said. “And we definitely want to keep you, so we must keep you happy.” She winked at Mia.

“Seriously, Mia.” Kristin sounded as if she meant it. “The room is yours whenever you need it.”

“Thank you so much.” Mia would definitely take them up on the offer. The number of times she had just missed a bus, arrived home late, and ended up having a quick meal at the fish and chip shop below. “An hour of extra sleep in the morning will do wonders for my performance at work.” She smiled widely at them. Then her phone beeped.

The message was from Lou and it just read: Ouch.

Mia chuckled. “Someone’s having a rough morning.” She showed Kristin and Sheryl her phone screen.

“From Lou?” Sheryl asked. “You two seemed to be getting along well last night.” Of course Sheryl would have noticed.

“Let’s just say we set aside some of our differences. And Lou was pretty far gone.” She hesitated for a second, wondering if she should confide in her employers, even though the fact that she was sitting at their Sunday breakfast table clearly meant they were becoming friends. “She even asked me out.”

“She did?” There was genuine surprise in Kristin’s voice.

“I told her to ask me again when she was sober.” If Mia wanted advice on how to proceed next, she knew she would get a much more straight-forward answer from Sheryl than from Kristin. “I’m not even sure she will remember,” Mia said.

“She texted you. She remembers,” Sheryl said.

“Do you like her?” Kristin asked.

“Things are a bit, er, complicated between us.”

“So I’ve noticed.” Mia hadn’t expected such a sharp reply from Kristin. Maybe she had a headache as well.

“I do… like her,” Mia admitted. She remembered the flirty conversation they’d had last night. In fact, she’d run it through her head several times during the night.

“Then you should probably reply something,” Sheryl said.

Mia saw them exchange a glance.

“Things like this excite Sheryl a great deal,” Kristin said. “Please excuse her.”

“What’s more exciting than budding love?” Sheryl exclaimed.