Fake Date, Real Fate

I had just returned from the break room, clutching a fresh cup of coffee and mentally listing the reports I still needed to finalize, when my phone buzzed.

I glanced at the screen.

Unknown Number.

I hesitated, thumb hovering over the answer button. Then I swiped.

"Hello?"

"Isabella, darling!" a familiar, elegant voice purred through the line. "It’s Elise—Adrien’s mother."

I blinked. "Oh! Elise! Hi—I—" I sat up straighter in my seat. "I wasn’t expecting—"

"I know, I know," she said warmly, "and that’s entirely my fault. I’ve been meaning to call you for weeks now—can you believe it’s been over a month since our lunch?"

"Has it really?" I asked, caught off guard. "It doesn’t feel like—"

"I know," she cut in gently. "Time’s a thief. But I’ve been thinking of you, I promise. I should have reached out sooner. what kind of future mother-in-law lets this much time pass?"

My brain short-circuited. Future mother-in-law?!