Ashley groaned and stretched her still sleeping muscles. She felt her knee pop and glared at the joint from afar. Not that it would notice the fierce look anyway. She opened her left eye and squinted at the daylight shining through the window. Someone forgot to close the curtains last night. Then again, they were both rather occupied last night so neither of them could be blamed for it.

She reached over to the other side of the bed and felt around, hands desperately trying to find the petite form of a certain blonde. When the only thing her hands felt was air, her closed eye quickly shot open and the brunette leaned up on her elbows to examine the rest of the room for her lover.

Looking at the other side of the bed again, a yellow piece of paper caught her eye. She frowned. That was bad. Ashley herself had used the trick with the note multiple times but never had she thought she would one day be at the receiving end. And yet here she was, nervous fluttering in her stomach and all. Poetic justice, if nothing else.

With heavy hands she opened the note and took a deep breath to calm herself, before reading it.

“Ashley,

Went to work. Didn’t wanna wake you. Feel free to use anything around the place. Put clean towels in the bathroom.

Love,
Spencer”

Ashley’s eyebrows almost joined her hairline and in a fleeting thought she wondered when exactly she had entered the twilight zone. This wasn’t what she was expecting at all. Not that she was complaining, but still.

“Next time don’t give yourself a heart attack, Ash.” She mumbled to herself and decided it would be a good idea to get up. Her store wouldn’t open itself, after all.

/*/*/*

“Hello.”

Beverly slowly raised her head, away from the novel she was reading by secretly hiding it in a folder and almost couldn’t believe her eyes. Uhoh, trouble. She swallowed and threw the person in front of her a small smile, before saying, “Good morning. Can I help you?” She asked in what she hoped was a professional manner. She probably sounded like a squeaky mouse, anyway.

“Is Spencer in?” Sam asked while glancing at the closed office door. The blonde had left her sweater at her room the other day and Sam figured she should return the item in person.

“Su-“ Beverly started but with a quick glance at the door, she decided a white lie might be in order. “Actually, no she isn’t. She’s at court.” The assistant said sweetly.

“Alright.” Sam muttered with raised eyebrows. She had a feeling the younger girl wasn’t being completely honest with her but what was she to do? Make a run for the office? “When will she be back?” She asked instead.

“When the judge closes the case?” Came the flippant reply. Couldn’t the woman catch a hint? It wasn’t rocket science.

“Okay. I’ll come back later then.” Sam nodded her goodbyes to Beverly and left. She’d come back another time after giving Spencer a call to check if she was in her office or not.

“Yeah, you don’t do that.” Beverly mumbled and shot up from her chair, almost running into her boss’ office. She took a look behind her to see if Sam was still in the vicinity and opened the door when she was sure the coast was clear.

“Beverly, haven’t you heard of knocking?” Spencer said, looking over her rim of her glasses. Had the poor woman knocked her head against the desk again? Clumsy was indeed one way to describe Beverly.

“No. I mean yes! Yes I have, Miss Spencer.” The assistant was flipping her head like a fish on dry land. “Just asking if I can go take my lunch break now.”

Spencer waved her off with a hand and went back to reading the case file in front of her. “Yes, yes. Be gone.”

“Thank you, Miss Spencer.” Beverly replied and left the office as quickly as she had entered it.