Running, Xavier arrived at the cubicles of the judicial assistants just as Stephanie was taking her bag and hanging it over her shoulder.
"Can I invite you to lunch?" asked Xavier. "There are so many things, God, that I would like to ask you and talk to you about."
With her lips twisted in a grimace that did not make her look any less beautiful, Stephanie had to decline her friend's invitation.
"I already made plans to have lunch with my boss," said Stephanie.
"Wait. Are you talking about Michael, your old boss, or Magda?" asked Xavier.
Stephanie narrowed her eyebrows over the bridge of her small nose.
"Sometimes I forget where I am," she said. "In this office, gossip circulates faster than dark coffee. Do they all know? That I now work in labor law?"
Xavier shrugged.
"At least the
