Penelope was still trying to figure out how to make a graceful escape when Harry spoke up. "Do you have any plans right now? We're going to get dinner; you should join us!"
She had to turn him down. All she wanted was to go home. "I—"
"Ooh, you guys are going to dinner? Where? I'm starving," Trish butted in.
She had come down to clock out at the same time as some of the editors. They all murmured their interest in dinner as well once Trish was brave enough to say something.
The employees of this publishing house were a tight-knit group. It wasn't the first time some of them got together outside of work. The people who had families usually went straight home but the single employees frequently went out to eat or have drinks.
Penelope had been along to a few of these gatherings since starting to work here. She loved feeling like she was part of a team again but right now it really wasn't working out in her favor.
