The unsettled feeling she’d woken with only got stronger during the crowded bus ride to work, and she tried desperately to quell her nerves, telling herself that maybe this time nothing bad would actually happen. She had to stand on the bus, as usual, and she assumed her normal position of never really making eye contact with anyone else on board. Most of the people riding the bus at this time of the morning were either going to work like her, or to school, but there were definitely a fair number of weirdoes along, too. She was continually reminded of the fact that San Francisco was a very diverse city, with people of varying ethnicities, sexual orientations, and socio-economic classes, and Tessa was pretty sure she’d seen a really good sampling of them all in the two years she’d been living here and riding the city buses.

The bus left her off a block away from her office building, and she exited the stuffy, crowded vehicle with relief. She thought that even if she’d been riding these buses for a dozen years already that she would never really get used to the experience, and definitely not enjoy it.

As Tessa entered the building, she hoped that Peter would arrive home later today with good news about his job. He was hoping to find a better position that didn’t require nearly as much travel in addition to offering a regular salary, and had recently begun sending out resumes and doing some networking among the contacts he’d developed. She knew he’d had a couple of solid leads lately, though he had been oddly closed-mouthed about sharing too many of the details. Perhaps, she assured herself, he simply didn’t want to get his hopes up – or hers – and was waiting until he had more information before discussing any potential jobs with her.

Things in general had been sort of – off with Peter as of late, not that their relationship had ever been a normal one. But over the past few months Tessa had begun to feel more and more disconnected from him, had feared that he was deliberately keeping her at a distance, and not confiding in her about certain things. His increased absences were part of that, of course, but there were other factors, too. Like the fact that when he was away on a trip he didn’t communicate with her nearly as often as he used to, only emailing her every four or five days, and then only a few brief lines. Or that when he was home he kept himself closed off from her, claiming that he needed quiet time to do research or polish up a story. More recently the excuses had revolved around his search for a new job. The last time he’d been home – almost a month ago now – they had spent very little time together instead of going for their usual hikes or watching TV or Peter simply recapping his most recent trip for her.

Tessa didn’t want to think too hard about what all of this meant. With most any other man she would have suspected him of having an affair. But knowing all too well the extent of Peter’s emotional and sexual issues, the idea was almost laughable. Whatever was going on with him had nothing to do with an extramarital affair. She was, however, determined to get to the bottom of the matter, and vowed that they would have a long, involved talk as soon as he arrived home this evening – even if she feared she wouldn’t like the answers.

She was the first one of the team to arrive, as she was nearly every day. Tessa sighed a bit wearily as she booted up her computer and put away her cardigan and purse, wondering if she was destined to remain in this particular job for the rest of her career. It wasn’t that she didn’t like being part of the team – and the various little perks that came along with it – but there were days when she grew weary of doing the same sort of mundane tasks over and over. She would have greatly preferred being a PA for one of the executives here on this floor. Not only was the salary considerably higher but the position carried more prestige and responsibility, with some of the PA’s even traveling with their managers on occasion. But she also knew she would need a college degree before she could even think of applying for a job like that, and going back to school at this time just wasn’t in the cards. Her super-tight budget would never allow for college tuition and books. And, ironically, even though she and Peter lived in a cramped apartment in a questionable neighborhood, couldn’t afford to own a car, and ate a lot of cereal, ramen noodles, and peanut butter sandwiches to stretch their dollars, they now earned too much money for her to qualify for most grants or scholarships. It was a cruel sort of Catch-22.

Andrew arrived less than five minutes after she did, but she knew he’d likely been at the office until early evening yesterday, and had probably dealt with phone calls and emails after hours as well.

She offered him up a warm but businesslike smile as he passed by her cubicle. “Good morning, Andrew.”

He gave her a brief nod. “Hello, Tessa. First one in again, I see.”

Her cheeks pinkened and she gave a small shrug. “I got the early bus. It’s a bit less crowded than the next one.”

“Mr. Gregson is going to need some spreadsheets done today,” he told her briskly. “I’ll be sending the information your way shortly.”

‘What else is new?’ she thought grimly. It seemed that she spent three quarters of each day working on the complex Excel files that their boss relied on so heavily. But all she said in response was, “Of course, Andrew. Send them along whenever you like and I’ll get right to them. I don’t have anything else pressing on my schedule for today.”

“Good to know. I’ll email you the supporting data within the hour.”

Tessa knew that Andrew was nothing if not precise, and that he would more than likely be emailing her in less than the appointed time. She had a couple of other items to take care of before tackling the spreadsheets, and made quick work of them. She’d been at her desk for more than half an hour, even having grabbed a cup of tea, before any of the other team members arrived. Marisol was the next one in, yawning as usual and carrying an oversized coffee cup. Shelby was next, giving Tessa a little wave as she continued to chat with someone on her cell phone, giggling every so often with her chirpy laugh.

Gina and Alicia arrived a couple of minutes later, causing Tessa to grit her teeth in annoyance at their whispered conversations and sly laughter, and she wondered who this morning’s unfortunate victim of their vicious gossip might be. Gina gave her an overly-friendly smile, while Alicia greeted her with a saccharin sweet “Good morning.” Tessa tried to ignore how both of them none too discreetly checked out the dress and shoes she’d worn today.