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“Ellie, are you okay?” asked Alison
“Yeah. Sure.” She sat at the table in Murphy’s with her friend. The guys, including Adrian, were at the bar. Even Harker had joined them to play pool.
They laughed and joked and flirted with the waitresses. The bartender seemed to save her flirting for Adrian. All Ellie wanted to do was go home but she had no home.
“You can stay with me. I’ll take the couch,” said Alison.
“No, thanks.” She smiled at her friend. “I’ll get a hotel.” She had money but she hated to waste it on that.
“What about staying at your mom and dad’s house.”
“It’s an hour away from where I work.”
“Take some time off.”
“I can’t. I was just given a new project. It’s going to take months to sort through all that data.”
“You should stay with Adrian.”
“No.” She glanc
