Free Coffee in Common by Dee Mann

relations."
    Jillian shook her head. "I'm not worried, Dave. You have to remember, most men aren't like you."
    He clutched at his chest. "Argh, you wound me. Although it's true, of course."
    Everyone laughed. Dave had a well-deserved reputation. Every new female employee received a warning about him from one of the other females, although many times, the warning came with stories and the kind of praise for his attributes and talents that made the new girl want to sample for herself.
    "To tell the truth," Jillian said, "I really don't care if we just grab a burger and sit and talk all night."
    Shandra grunted. "You know that's not happening, girl. This boy sent you flowers after only talking to you. My money's on a fancy restaurant, some quiet place for drinks, or maybe the theater, then drinks, then a night-full of the hot and nasty. Yes! Jilli's gonna be gettin' dowwwwn ! Woo!"
    Her slow, sultry bump and grind elicited peals of laughter from everyone. Jillian could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.
    Time to change the subject, I think.
    "Anyone else have plans for tomorrow?"
    "Why?" asked Lucinda, one of the copy writers. "You inviting us all along on your date?"
    That brought more laughter.
    "What a great idea!" agreed Marie. "We can all meet him and share all the gory details about our girl here."
    Jillian groaned. "That is soooo not gonna happen. I knew I should've kept my mouth shut. This is what I get for blabbing to a bunch of mental misfits."
    Again laughter rang through the room as everyone congratulated themselves on their collective wit.
    Jillian rose to pour herself another cup of coffee.
    "Sounds like fun over here." Cathy O'Hara stuck her head full of long, burnished-red hair through the door." Am I missing a party or something?"
    Shandra explained as the others drifted off back to their workspaces.
    "Oh, that's right. I forgot about you leaving early for lunch yesterday. Okay, now I have to hear the story, too."
    Jillian didn't mind the re-telling. Cathy was older, thirty-two and married, and Jillian was interested in her take on the whole thing. She began again as Shandra waved goodbye.
    Cathy found her heartstrings tugged as the tale unfolded. When it was over, she sat quietly for a few seconds, then smiled. "Jillian…I have a good feeling about this."
    "Really? I mean, I've been having all these feelings that don't seem quite right yet. I hardly know him, but just talking to him makes me all warm and tingly. It sounds stupid, I know. Stereotypically girly, like every guy's impression of how we go all soft and mushy when they deign to talk to us. But I can't help it."
    She looked sheepishly at her boss, hoping she wasn't sounding too much like a kid caught up in her first crush.
    "Did I ever tell you how Mike and I met?" Cathy asked.
    Jillian shook her head.
    "I was twenty-three, a year out of college, and had been laid off from my first job when the company merged and downsized. Nobody was hiring, I was almost out of money, and my roommates were hinting that they couldn't carry my share of the expenses for very long. In short, I was miserable.
    "I had visions of having to move back to my parents' house in Chicago. I knew lots of people were doing it, but I hated the idea. Just the thought of it made me feel like a loser."
    Jillian nodded. As much as she loved her parents, she, too, never wanted to have to go back home to live.
    "I'd been making the rounds of employment agencies for almost two weeks without so much as a hint of a position. I was an English major with a minor in business, but evidently everyone and their sisters had also majored in English and seemed to be after the same jobs I was."
    She grimaced as she recalled that time in her life.
    "It was a Tuesday afternoon and I was waiting my turn at yet another agency. When I filled out the application, I indicated I'd consider any entry-level position in publishing. I was sitting and reading some trashy novel when I heard the woman at the desk