Check E-mail

Emily clicked into her inbox, sipping her coffee slowly, the warmth of it curling in her chest. The office was calm—only the distant hum of keyboards and murmured phone calls. For a moment, she let herself drift, basking in the simple pleasure of being seen.

Unread (2)

She tapped open the first.

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Email from: Eric Morelli

Subject: Meeting next week?

Hey Emily,

I was thinking—we’ve got that cross-department budget review coming up, and I wanted to loop you in early. You’ve always been sharp with logistics, and it’d be good to have your eyes on it before we sit down with the others.

Also… it’s just nice having you back. Things were quieter without you around. Let me know if you’re free for coffee sometime this week—not office coffee. Real coffee.

Eric

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Emily stared at the message a beat too long.

There it was again—subtle, nothing you could flag. But unmistakably personal. Real coffee. Not a joke. An invitation, neatly folded into business.

Her stomach fluttered, and she wasn’t sure if it was nerves or interest.

Then she opened the second.

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Email from: Martin Belkin

Subject: Welcome Back ;)

Hey hey Miss Davenport!

Glad to see you waddled back to us—kidding! But really, HR’s not the same without you parading that baby belly around. You back full time or just part-timer vibes now? Either way, we’ll have to catch up.

Quick thing—whenever you’ve got a sec, swing down to HR. There’s a little stack of post-leave paperwork with your name on it. Nothing urgent, but we’ll need it sorted before the end of the week. Some of it’s... sensitive, so best we go over it in person.

You still doing lunch in the break room? I can bring something nice. Maybe something a little… sweet? You always liked donuts, right?

Lemme know.

-Martin
P.S. I heard new moms need back rubs. Kidding. Unless…

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