Jan watched the whiskey as it dribbled into the glass from its bottle. Grabbing a Ziploc bag containing ice from the fridge, he dropped two cubes into the glass. They fell in the glass with a slush sound and Jan swirled it slightly, turning around when he heard footsteps.

Rhea walked into the kitchen with a robe and wet hair, and he assumed that she'd just freshened up after work. "You just got in?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, finishing the whole glass in one gulp. "You?"

"Immediately work hours were over," she said, pulling a glass out from one of the cabinets. "I mean, I love you but I'm not about to stay extra unnecessary hours."  She shuddered and Jan suppressed a smile.

"No one asked you to. Why are you so dramatic?" he asked.

"Whatever," she replied. "I could have waited for you though. I felt kind of bad for making Nasir drop me off then go back to get you."

"That's his job."

"But still." She grabbed a glass for herself. "He had some interesting childhood stories, though. Did you know that he has twelve siblings?"

Jan raised his brows delicately. "No, I didn't. Really?"

"Yeah. He's a Muslim from Nigeria and polygamy is a big deal in his country."

"Wow." Jan shook his head. "That's... intense?"

"Yeah."

Jan poured another glass for himself and a fresh one for Rhea. She murmured a thanks as she took it. "I'm so glad he came when he did, though. Got me away from an awkward situation with Elliot."

"Who's Elliot?"

She took a sip from her glass. "My 'colleague', we share an office and he's so annoying. He gave me major Jan vibes today."

"Huh?"

"Jan vibes. The broody, gang leader thing you have going on."

"Something is definitely wrong with you."

She threw herself on him. "I'm so tired. We just started work, how are we so busy?"

"That's a good thing," he told her.

"I know but... will you give me a massage?"

He pushed her away. "Leave me alone."

"Please?"

"Rhea, no"

"Pretty please with a few dollars on top?"

"No."

"Pl—"

"Shut up, Davis."

"Fine."

She pouted and went quiet for one minute and then, "You know you're supposed to treat me better, right? I am your best friend, your only friend. I deserve better."

Jan rolled his eyes. "So you say. Can you tell Balderas to submit the contract draft with Gavin Group tomorrow by eight?"

"Yeah, sure—" she cut herself off with a loud gasp. "Jan!"

"What?"

"The meeting was today!"

"Shit, Rhea. You scared the hell of me," Jan snapped.

"Come on, spill. How did it go? You got it right? Gavin Group signed with us?"

"Yes," he snapped again. "Why are you so... so mental?"

She rolled her eyes and clapped her hands. "So what are we still doing here? Let's celebrate!" She steepled her fingers together. "Don't give me that face, you're coming with me."

"Absolutely not. We have work tomorrow, in case you've forgotten."

Her face fell. "Oh. But you're coming with me to get food, I'm hungry."

"I'm going to bed."

"Nope," she replied with a shake of her head. "I'm not gonna let you be a sad loner and drink whiskey alone at home."

"You literally drank it with me."

"Doesn't matter." Coming behind him, she started pushing him in the direction of the stairs. "Go freshen up and join me, you big oaf. We're going to the diner and that's a command."

Jan sighed, Rhea made it so easy to hate her sometimes.

The drive to the diner was short, mainly because Nasir weaved through the streets like a demi god. Rhea was being her usual self, chatting her way through four different topics at once.  When they parked outside the diner, Jan was ready to tape Rhea's lips together.

"I don't know what I want," She said as they walked into the place. "I mean, I do but what if—"

"Rhea, shut up," Jan cut her off.

The waitress behind the counter smiled up at them when they approached. "Welcome to The Rusty Spoon. Have a seat, someone will be around to take your order."

Following her instruction, they took a seat in a booth farthest from the door. Jan relaxed into the leather seats and watched Rhea sift through the menu, nibbling on her lips with furrowed brows.

"Do you know what you want?" She asked.

"I think I'll just get the burgers with fries. It's simple, you?"

"I'll have whatever you're having."

It was as though he was waiting for them, because after they finalized they're orders, a waiter appeared by their side with a small notepad in hand. "Do you know what you want?"

"We'll both have the hamburgers with a side of french fries and two chocolate milkshakes," Rhea said.

The waiter took the order down. "I'll be right back with it."

Immediately he left, Rhea dived back into a rant that involved her co-worker and Jan didn't understand why she was so worked up about the guy. He tuned out of the conversation seconds later, instead replaying the meeting in his head again; much like he'd been doing all day.

It had felt so good to hand over those documents to Bryan Maxwell. So good. That was just a drop in the ocean of fraud Franc & Co was swimming in and it wasn't big but Maxwell knowing about those files was a small victory in a bigger victory. Getting him to sign after that had been too easy. Nobody saw a sinking ship and jumped into it, except fools of course. And one thing was certain, Maxwell was definitely not a fool.

"Are you listening?" Rhea asked but then continued even when he didn't reply. "So, he just kept ignoring me and it feels like he has a personal grudge against me. I don't understand, I'm practically—"

She was interrupted by the waiter who placed their food in front of them. "Enjoy," he said then turned on his heel and walked away.

Everything looked good but Jan felt like the fries were screaming his name so he grabbed a couple and stuck them in his mouth, smiling a bit when he realized they were nicely salted. Rhea was already three bites into her burger and it made Jan chuckle.

"Slow down, you'll choke." He took a bite from his burger then nodded. "This is good."

"Yeah," Rhea replied. "Way better than McDonalds."

"Don't shit on Donald," Jan said.

Rhea let out a short laugh, swinging her legs under the booth. "I wonder if the owner is around."

"Why?"

"He came around the office today, wanted to know if he could deliver pastries to the office every morning. Can he?" she pleaded. "I promise it won't go over a small budget."

Jan took in her wide eyes and rolled his eyes. "Sure, but talk to Balderas about it. We need our finances leveled seeing as we're about to go into business with Gavin."

"Okay, I will. How does that feel, by the way? Getting them to sign with us?"

"It feels good, I couldn't tell you how good. But it's just a start, I can't afford to let myself relax." He took another bite from his burger and paused to finish it. "Once they find out, they're gonna want to hit back."

"But you can at least celebrate, right?"

"What do you think I'm doing here? Seated in a shitty diner, eating cheap salted fries with you." He flicked his straw at her.

"Don't be mean," she said with a smile. "This place isn't shitty."

"Yeah, I know," he admitted. "I like the decor."

They finished off their burgers in silence and dug into their fries. Rhea's eyes were wide as she munched on them and Jan wanted to ruffle her hair just to annoy her a little and so he did.

"Stop," she groaned. "You irritate me."

"As you do me."

"There he is," she suddenly said, then pointed at a guy standing at the counter talking to the waitress.

"Who?"

"The owner," she replied. "Hold on, I'm calling him over."

"Wait, why? No—"

Too late. She let out a loud hiss that had other customers letting out irritated whispers. The guy turned around and noticed her desperate wave and he smiled a little as he walked over. Jan sank back into the seats with an annoyed sigh.

"Hey, Toni," she said once he came to a halt in front of them.

"Rhea, hey," he grinned at her. "Did you enjoy your food?"

"Yeah, the burgers were pretty amazing," she replied as she slurped on her milkshake. "Did you make it?"

He chuckled. "No, the cook does. I just do the baking."

"Thank him for me," she said.

"Sure," Toni replied then glanced at Jan. "Hi."

"Toni, this is my friend Jan and Jan, this is Toni," Rhea introduced.

Jan looked up at him for the first time as he said, "Hey."

"Nice to meet you."

Toni was a tall guy and Jan liked the way his skin glistened underneath the diner's bulbs and the way his teeth contrasted his skin. His bright smile gradually turned awkward and Jan realized that he was staring. He blinked and replied, "Same."

"Take a seat," Rhea said to Toni and scooted over to make room for him.

"I should really get back to work," Toni muttered, looking back at the counter.

"Ssh," she replied, dragging him by his arm. "You're the boss, sit down." And so he did.

Jan didn't pay attention to their conversation because he was running through Toni's features in his head. Something was off and there was a nagging sense of familiarity expanding in his mind.

He glanced at Toni again, watching as his lips curled into a smile in reply to something Rhea said and Jan's gut tightened. Even his smile was familiar. Toni looked up and caught Jan's gaze, shyly averting his eyes moments later. Jan decided that it was probably time to stop staring.

"Jan," Rhea suddenly called. "Toni doesn't believe that I ate twenty-five hot dogs in one sitting."

He rolled his eyes in reply and Toni asked, "She did, she really did?"

"Yeah, and then spent an entire weekend puking in the bathroom."

Toni cringed in disgust.

"But it was worth the two hundred dollars I won," Rhea defended, munching on her last fry. She pushed the plate away then glanced at Jan and his plate before snatching it up. "You know you're not gonna finish it."

"Just eat it, glutton."

"Rude." Rhea pouted then threw a fry at his face. "Try to catch it." The fry fell on the seat beside Jan and she groaned. "Come on."

Jan let out a chuckle as he caught the next one she threw and the next one, and the next one.

Rhea's pout deepened. "You're good at this."

"I'm good at everything I do, sweetie," Jan said with a sarcastic smile.

Toni was staring at them with a knowing look in his eyes and it made Jan want to roll his eyes because everyone gave him that look when he was out in public with Rhea. "Where's your restroom?" he asked.

"Just the door over there," Toni replied, pointing.

When Jan left, Rhea turned to Toni. "Catch." He laughed and shifted his head, trying to catch the fry she threw at him but it ended up on the floor. About four fries later, Rhea said, "You really suck at this."

"I know. Your boyfriend must have practice," he replied.

Rhea burst into loud laughter which had Toni and other customers throwing her confused looks. "Jan is not my boyfriend."

Toni's brows fell. "You sure about that?"

"Yes," she insisted. "We've been friends for forever."

"I think someone needs to tell him that."

"He knows and besides, he has the emotional range of a teaspoon."

Toni chuckled. "It's just really weird, you guys act like an old, married couple."

"Don't be fooled, Jan hates me." She laughed again. "Anyway, I talked to the person in charge at work and project pastries is a go."

"Really?" He beamed in reply.

"Yeah, so can you come around to the office tomorrow? We need to iron out the details and sort out batches."

"Sure, definitely."

"Okay. Ask for Rhea Davis, accounting department, at the front desk."

"I will."

Jan returned after that and the rest of the evening was spent catching fries and entertaining Rhea's intrusive questions. Jan really hated it here.