24: Just Plain Old Friendship

Being in a relationship with your best friends' brother was one thing but being in a relationship with a work colleague was a different matter altogether. Relationships within the office were usually frowned upon, but where else were you supposed to meet your potential other half if all you did was work then go back home?

Jason and I hadn't discussed what would happen if we ever did get caught in the workplace, but we were always careful. At least, I assumed we were.

"Did you eventually find something to get for your girlfriends' birthday this weekend?" Jakub asked Daniel one afternoon as we casually chatted while we worked away.

Daniel smiled and stood from his desk. "I think I found the perfect present" He grinned, looking like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. "I'm going to propose to her". We all exclaimed our praises and congratulated Daniel at the news. "Thanks guys. I'll just need to hope and pray she says yes"

"I'm sure she will" Madeline beamed. "I would love to hear more about it, but I've got to go into a meeting. Show me a picture of the ring once I'm back" Madeline smiled, before sauntering off to the meeting room.

"Considering it's a special birthday, her thirtieth, I wanted to do something big. We've been going out for almost five years now and I just wanted to show her how much she means to me" Daniel explained, his ears taking on a tinge of pink.

"That's so sweet" Yasmeen gushed. "Oh, to be young and in love again"

"They always say to enjoy this time of your life, right Rosie?" Daniel smirked my way.

My mind was in a world of its own, that I didn't realise what he had said "What?"

"You know what I mean" Daniel waggled his eyebrows. Yasmeen and Jakub snickered from their sides of the desk.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" I shook my head, confused at my team's behaviour.

"Daniel may or may not have told us about your little adventures in Edinburgh" Yasmeen giggled.

I turned to face Daniel, wondering what she meant. "Again, I have no clue what you're talking about. I was with you guys pretty much most of the time"

"Yeah, most of the time. But the rest of the time..." Daniel raised an eyebrow. I was assuming I was meant to finish the sentence for him.

"You spent your time with a certain someone" Jakub finished for him.

I could feel my face heat up. Did they know about Jason and me? Did Daniel manage to figure out what was happening between us? We had tried to be careful, but I guess we weren't careful enough.

I shook my head, feigning innocence. "And who would you be referring to?"

"I'm not surprised" Yasmeen smiled "I heard you and Jason got to share a room together. There's nothing like sharing room to get a little closer to someone"

I blushed furiously, wondering if everyone now knew that we had shared a room together. "It wasn't like that...I mean... nothing happened"

"Sure, nothing happened" Jakub laughed. "Have you even noticed the chemistry between you two? Its so obvious you guys like each other, even when you first started here. Now, you could cut that tension with a knife seeing you two together"

Was it possible to blush even harder? Because if so, that's what I was doing right now. I probably looked like a beetroot. "Well, I can promise you, nothing is going on between us" I said, scrambling for something to say to make sure our secret wasn't discovered.

"Well, not according to Daniel" Yasmeen smirked.

I crinkled my eyes at Daniel, who pursed his lips and pretended to get back to his work. "Hey, I was only reporting back what I saw"

"Which was nothing" I tried to clarify, but it was obvious no one was believing me.

I thought that would be the end of that conversation and that no one would bring it up ever again. Oh, how wrong I was. I was having my lunch in the staff room, as per normal, and chatting as I normally would be with everyone there.

Then Jason walked in, laughing at something a colleague was saying beside him, gave me a little smile and continued on his way to the fridge to get his lunch.

Daniel raised an eyebrow, to which I just rolled my eyes. Daniel was looking way too much into this, especially considering how careful Jason and I had been in hiding our relationship in the office. Matters were made even worse, when Jason took the empty seat beside me. This made Daniel grin even wider, which caught the attention of Jason.

"What's got you smiling, Mr Smiler?" Jason asked, blowing on his hot soup.

Daniel shook his head, pursing his lips "Nothing. Absolutely nothing"

"I must say, it's nice seeing the two of you together" Andrew grinned.

What exactly had Daniel been saying to people. Jason had echoed my exact thoughts aloud "What do you mean?"

"Well, I think its cute that you have been childhood friends and now you're working together. It's a charming story for the future"

Jason and I turned to each other, raising our eyebrows. They knew. They so knew. We had to take this opportunity to defend ourselves now before word got out. "I'm sure it would be but I'm still not sure what you're getting at" Jason replied, feigning innocence.

"From what I've heard from Daniel, you had quite the time in Edinburgh" Andrew smirked.

Jason and I turned to Daniel; whose face had taken on a tinge of pink. "I think Daniel may have been overexaggerating a little" I chuckled. "Yes, Jason is a childhood friend and that is what you saw in Edinburgh, just plain old friendship"

"Rosie's right" Jason agreed "It was just two friends, who were on a business trip. Maybe it's because no one has seen how we act outside of work, but that's how it is between us"

"Well, I think you two would make a cute couple" Andrew smiled.

"Why does everyone keep saying that" I mumbled.

"Well, I can assure you, it's completely platonic between us Andrew" Jason explained "You know how office relationships can be. I wouldn't want anything to distract me from my work. We are friends, nothing more"

I tried to hide my laughter as Jason explained all this to his boss. Andrew seemed to believe him so far. I was hoping that would be the end of that discussion.

"It seemed more than that to me..." Daniel mused.

"Maybe that's because you're so loved up right now. Daniel is proposing to his girlfriend this weekend" I announced, and that seemed to take the attention away from Jason and me. The whole room became abuzz with the excitement of Daniels news.

I sighed with relief, glad that I was no longer this lunch times subject and I could continue to eat my lunch in peace. Jason gave me a sly wink, seeming also thankful for the subject change. I just hoped we had convinced them enough to steer them away from thinking Jason and I were dating. We had to keep up the illusion that Jason and I were just work colleagues in the office and nothing more. That may be easier said than done.

"Okay, we need to organise something for your birthday coming up" Liz screamed down the phone at me. I had arrived back from work and was having a catch up with Liz on the phone.  Everything was back to normal between us, as I knew it would be. We could never stay mad at each other for long.

"I've told you before I don't want to do anything. I'm going to treat myself to a nice long lie in bed" I sighed in content as I flopped down onto my bed. It seemed like my favourite thing to do after work was lie in my bed or sleep. Was this what it meant to be old?

"Rosie, your birthday falls on a weekend this year, which fits in perfectly with our schedules. We are so doing something"

"Well, you're free to come over and watch me while I sleep because that is what I'll be doing"

"No you won't because I will drag you out of that bed and we will celebrate your birthday" Liz said with such conviction, I was tempted to make other plans so she wouldn't disrupt my sleep on my birthday.

"I'd like to see you try" I grumbled. Nothing could ever come in-between me and my sleep. "So, what's the latest?" I asked, hoping she would forget about whatever she was planning for my birthday. It had just gotten to a point in my life where a birthday was just another day for me. I had celebrated a few already, who needed another when you could just spend the day in bed after a long week at work.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you something" Liz shouted excitedly." Ian and I went to the carnival last weekend. I figured since you couldn't make it, I'd go with Ian instead. Do you remember when we used to go as kids? Going there just reminded me of all the fun we used to have. Well, that was before Jason ditched our group. But if he hadn't, then we wouldn't have become inseparable. I would even say we were the dream team". Liz laughed.

My stomach plummeted; my brain raked with guilt at my secret. I promised to myself then that the next time I saw her I would tell her. It wasn't something I felt was a conversation for the phone. "Were you not worried that you and Ian would get caught?"

"I think at this point, I'm so over keeping this a secret. If anyone did catch me, I would fight tooth and nail for Ian. I love him so much, that I'm ready to scream it from the rooftops." I knew exactly how she felt. It was the exact same way I felt about Jason. "I'll be telling Jason soon; I can't put it off much longer. Ian and I are going to tell him together. Ian has just been so busy at work lately, so the next time he's free, we're going to tell him"

"That sounds like a good idea. If you love someone you shouldn't hide that. I'm glad you're ready to tell Jason". It wasn't right for me to tell Liz to keep it a secret in the first place. Now that I knew how much of a toll harbouring such a huge secret took on a person, I sympathised with Liz. I also hoped that it would help when I told Liz my own secret.

"Well, someone's changed their tune" Liz laughed.

"Oh, yeah...well...I've just finished reading this romance novel and I'm feeling all the feels right now" I stuttered.

"You were always a hopeless romantic" Liz laughed. "I just hope we both get our fairy tale endings"

My heart raced, I just wanted to tell Liz everything there and then, but I knew this wasn't the right time or place. I knew we would have to speak face to face soon about all this. I hated lying to my best friend. On the other hand, I was glad Liz was going to tell Jason her secret too. I hated that I was also lying to my boyfriend, which wasn't exactly a great way to start a relationship.

"I think they only exist in stories Liz"

"Now, that's the Rosie I know and love. For a second there, I thought you had been abducted by aliens" Liz chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be as happy as I am one day. That's not to say you need someone else in your life to make you happy. I just know that it's something we always talked about as kids. We've always imagined getting married together and having kids together. Basically, I'm saying hurry up and find a boyfriend so that I can have someone to complain to about when Ian is annoying me"

"I'm sure you can still tell me all about how annoying Ian is regardless of my relationship status"

"That's true. But its not the same if you're not complaining back about how annoying your boyfriend is so we can compare notes". I snorted with laughter at that. Only Liz could think that way. "It sucks it didn't work out with Max, but I just know that there is someone perfect waiting for you just around the corner"

She didn't know how close to the truth she was.

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I swear Daniel is the biggest shipper of Jason and Rosie.

Lets just hope that Liz will also ship Jason and Rosie too...