Off the Record (Record #1)(89)

In an endless sea of overindulgence, find time to indulge in something worthwhile and make an informed, educated decision for yourself. What matters to you in here, will matter to you out there.

Liz smiled to herself. She liked that he had enjoyed the article enough to post it up where anyone could see it.

“All finished!” Hayden said, rushing back to his desk. “I knew that wouldn’t take too long. Want to meet my friends before we head out, or are you beat?” He slung a messenger bag over his head and smiled brightly at her. She had forgotten how much Hayden always smiled. It had been her favorite part of coming into work. Even when she had been exhausted and irritable, he was there smiling away and brightening everyone’s day.

“I’d love to meet your friends. Lead the way,” she told him.

They walked around the corner and stopped in front of two side-by-side desks. Two guys in suits were seated in front of their computers. They looked as if they were intent on their work, but as she looked more closely she saw they were actually chatting online and playing some video game. Liz shook her head. Men!

“Phillip! Topher!” Hayden said, clapping one of the guys on the back. “Y’all, this is Liz.”

They both looked up at once and said hi. One guy stood and introduced himself. “Topher,” he said, extending his hand. Liz shook it. He was of average build and height, with really short curly brown hair and chipmunk cheeks.

The other guy she assumed to be Phillip stood next and shook her hand. He was exceedingly tall and skinny, with military-cut hair and crooked front teeth. “Nice to meet you,” Phillip said.

“Nice to meet you too,” Liz said with a smile.

“Glad you’re finally here. Hayden has been talking about getting time off all summer. We were pretty tired of hearing about it,” Topher said, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking.

Liz locked eyes with Hayden for a second and then she broke the look. He had been talking about her…

“Thanks for ratting me out,” he said, chuckling softly. “We were heading out. Are you guys still good for drinks this weekend?”

“Definitely,” Topher agreed.

“Depends,” Phillip said, leaning in close to Hayden and raising his eyebrows. “Is Jamie coming out with you?”

Hayden groaned. “That’s my sister, man.”

“So, is that a yes?”

“You’re sick.”

“We’ll see you out this weekend,” Topher said, smacking the back of Phillip’s head. “It was nice to meet you, Liz.”

“You too,” she said with a confident smile.

“Let’s get out of here,” Hayden said, glaring at Phillip, but Liz could see the humor in his eyes.

They left the building and walked out into the parking lot toward Liz’s car. Hayden slid out of his jacket and tie before they even made it all the way to where she was parked.

“Do you want me to drive?” he asked. “I know a place we can park your car near my sister’s place. Then you don’t have to try to navigate D.C. traffic.”

“Um, yes!” she said immediately. “Please drive me back through that madness.” She tossed him the keys and walked to the passenger side.

He laughed as he popped the door and sat down. “Geez, how short are you?” he asked as he adjusted the seat back for his long legs.

“You’re just tall,” Liz said with a shrug.

Hayden pulled out of the parking lot and started driving them away from the capital area. There was a surprising amount of traffic. Not that she was unfamiliar with traffic, but D.C. rush hour pretty much took the cake. Nearly forty-five minutes later, Hayden had the car parked in a street spot.

“This is as close as we’re going to get. Is this okay with you?” he asked, putting the car into park.

“Absolutely not. I want to go back out in that terrible mess for another hour, please,” Liz said with a laugh as she pushed her door open. “Get me out of here!”

“At least you weren’t driving,” Hayden said.

“A silver lining!” Liz opened the trunk, and Hayden reached in before she got a chance and pulled her suitcase out. He set it on the ground and rolled it behind him the whole way to the apartment, ignoring her objections.

They stopped in front of a brick building that looked like all of the other brick buildings it was attached to, but Hayden seemed to know where he was going. He pulled a key out of his pocket and let them in.

“Top floor,” he told her, motioning up the stairs.

She walked up five exhaustingly long flights of stairs as Hayden walked behind her carrying her suitcase. She did not envy him. Huffing, Liz finally landed at the top floor. She dropped her hands to her knees and caught her breath. Hayden appeared next to her with his ever-present smile, not even breathing hard.

“How are you not dying? I feel ridiculous,” she said, looking up at him.

“I run marathons,” Hayden said with a shrug.

“I play tennis and I’m dying.”

“Do you run up stairs while playing tennis?” he asked.

“Do you run up stairs in your marathons?” Liz straightened and looked up into his hazel eyes.

“Fair point. However, I do run over twenty-six miles.”

“Shoot me,” she said.