A Well-Functioning Cubicle

By Holly Day

Jace Villin likes straight lines and clean surfaces. Life is so much easier when everything is in its right place, and he and his friend Felicity have a good system for the cubicle at work. They have a drawer each, one side of the bulletin board each, and they don't interfere with each other's territories. But then Felicity quits, and Jace has to share his cubicle with someone else.

Paxton Sallow promised himself never to work in an office again, but there are no job openings, and he has bills to pay. The job might be the most boring he's ever had to endure, but at least he can amuse himself with moving Jace's things around. It's amazing how upsetting a crooked label can be.

Jace doesn't know what to do with Paxton. He wants to snarl at him to respect his boundaries at the same time as he wants to run his fingers through his hair and kiss him silly. Paxton knows he should leave Jace alone, but he can't help himself. He wants to see Jace outside of work, but how will Paxton get him to agree to have a cup of coffee with him when he runs off as soon as he tries to ask him out?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Apr 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685500887

Holly Day

Holly Day and Sherman Wick are the authors of several books about the Twin Cities. Sherman Wick received his BA in history from the University of Minnesota and has been a member of the Minnesota Historical Society for several decades. Holly Day has worked as a freelance writer for local and national publications for over twenty-five years and teaches writing classes at the Loft Literary Center.

Book preview

A Well-Functioning Cubicle

By Holly Day

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2022 Holly Day

ISBN 9781685500887

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Gabi Cervenka and Leonie Duncan, thank you so much for your help!

A Well-Functioning Cubicle was written to celebrate National Flash Drive Day. On April 5th, inventors filed their patent for the first USB Flash Drive, and it completely changed the way we store data…though maybe flash drives soon will be a thing of the past with all the cloud storing going on.

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A Well-Functioning Cubicle

By Holly Day

Chapter 1

Jace Villin glanced at the clock and opened another email. He didn’t mind working in customer service—emails were the best way of communication, and Andrea, his boss, never asked or hinted of wanting him to work the phones. It was for the best. He didn’t do phones, unless he texted, of course.

He smiled as he read the email, a woman wanting a refund, and replied. He only used part of the copy and paste templates. They were so impersonal and he wanted the customers to know a real person was reading their emails.

Jace.

He blinked at Felicity. Hi. Looking at the clock again, he frowned. They shared a desk. He worked the early shift, she worked the evening shift, and she never arrived a minute early. What are you doing here? It was still forty-five minutes until she was to take over.

She cocked her head. I can’t come and see my favorite colleague?

Jace stared at her.

Okay, I wanted to talk to you.

A knot grew in his belly. About?

Had he done something wrong? He looked around the desk—neat as always, but he straightened the pen he had next to the notepad. His heart calmed when things were in their right place.

I’m quitting.

What? His voice flew over the room, and he winced at being loud. He didn’t do loud. To compensate for his outburst, he whispered, Why?

There is no future in customer service.

Jace didn’t agree. He believed there would be more customer service jobs in the future. More and more people shopped online, and there were always emails when people shopped online.

Jacy— He winced both at the name and the exasperated tone. —don’t you want more out of life?

He didn’t answer. He had a job where he didn’t have to talk to too many people. It wasn’t a high-paying job, but it kept him fed and he had a roof over his head. There wasn’t anything else he needed—other than cat food, and he could afford that.

She shook her head. I worry about you.

Why?

She waved a hand. Want to get out of here? We can grab a cup of coffee or, if you’re daring, we could go for a beer.

It’s a quarter past one. I still have forty-five minutes left on my shift. Or it was only forty minutes now. And you’re starting your shift soon.

She grinned. Nah, I’m not coming back.

What? Yet again his voice was louder than