Out of Context

This time I randomly grabbed books to make a pile, then randomly grabbed one from within, and randomly opened to a page

Among the Shrouded
Amalie Jahn

She raised an eyebrow, her hand on her hip.

“Okay, no. Not really,” he admitted.

“I knew it,” said Belinda, joining him in front of the machine. “What’s wrong?”

He felt stupid confiding in his boss but was powerless against her maternal nature. “Mia’s missing.”

“Missing?” Belinda gasped.

“Okay. Missing may be a strong word. But she’s not returning my calls and she hasn’t been into work all week. Apparently she requested time off and no one knows why.”

“Sounds like a mystery.”

“Sadly, I’m more of a comedy guy myself,” he said, unable to laugh at his own joke. “Anyway, I’m going to go talk to her father this afternoon to see what he knows about her leave of absence.”

“Good idea,” replied Belinda.

“Yeah, except I’ve never met him before and I know he wasn’t in love with the idea of us dating.”

“What’s wrong with that man?” she said, grabbing several orders from the service line.

“Not everyone’s a member of the Thomas fan club.”

She slipped past him with three plates of food on the way to the door. “Well, you’re talking to the president,” she said. “Don’t be nervous, Hon. Once he meets you, he’s gonna love you just like the rest of us do.”