Tessa Young and Trevor

Tessa Young and Trevor’s relationship is a friendship complicated by Trevor’s quiet romantic interest and Hardin’s jealousy. Their shared lunch hour brings them together at work, but when Trevor asks Tessa to clarify whether he should pursue someone else, she makes clear that she cannot return his feelings. The conversation ends with the two able to laugh as friends, establishing a boundary without erasing their warmth.

Workplace Proximity and Hardin’s Jealousy

Trevor’s office, which Tessa says has the best view, becomes an immediate point of tension when she mentions it to Hardin. He asks how often she is there; she explains that she has visited twice that week and that they eat lunch together. When Hardin reacts sharply, Tessa explains that Trevor is the only person she knows with the same lunch hour. Kimberly has been so busy helping Christian that she has not even been taking a lunch break. Tessa refuses Hardin’s suggestion that she change her schedule, insisting that Trevor is her coworker and leaving the matter there.

The exchange shows how ordinary workplace contact acquires a different meaning in Tessa and Hardin’s strained relationship. Hardin’s attention turns a shared schedule and an office visit into grounds for suspicion, while Tessa describes them as practical features of working together. Even in the car, his reaction interrupts the flow of the conversation: he delays moving when the light turns green until a horn sounds behind them. Tessa’s recollection that she should have waited to mention Trevor—or not mentioned him at all—conveys her awareness of how quickly the subject unsettles Hardin.

Trevor Makes His Interest Clear

At a later lunch in the break room, Trevor has saved Tessa from a microwave meal after receiving two plates of pasta by mistake. The setting is familiar and generous, but his manner changes as he runs a fingertip over a silver cuff link and says that Carine has asked him to attend Krystal’s wedding with her. He asks whether there is any reason he should decline. Tessa is unsure what response he expects and gives him room to explain.

Trevor makes the question personal: he knows Tessa and Hardin are on one of their off periods and wants to be certain that, if he accepts Carine’s invitation, he can give her his full affection without distraction. Tessa asks whether she is that distraction. Trevor answers that she has been since she arrived at Vance Publishing, explaining that he has been waiting in the background and wants his intentions to be clear before exploring a relationship with someone else. His admission clarifies that their lunches have meant more to him than simple collegial companionship, even though he presents his feelings carefully and without demanding a response.

Tessa’s Answer and the Friendship’s Boundary

Tessa apologizes, but Trevor reassures her that he understands and says he wanted to confirm his hopes one last time; earlier attempts to do so had not settled the question for him. The exchange is uncomfortable for Tessa, who feels both embarrassed for him and an urge to comfort him. She thinks of him as a gentler, more handsome Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice, an allusion that frames the awkwardness of his romantic appeal without making him the novel’s aggressive or obnoxious suitor.

Rather than leave Trevor uncertain, Tessa tells him Carine is lucky to have him as a wedding date. Trevor accepts the kindness and adds that perhaps Hardin will stop calling him “fucking Trevor.” Tessa is startled that Trevor knows about Hardin’s nickname, but the revelation becomes a joke rather than another confrontation: Trevor has noticed Hardin’s attitude, and the two share a laugh as friends, with no confusion between them. The scene does not establish whether Trevor ultimately accepts Carine’s invitation; it does establish that Tessa does not reciprocate his interest and that he can acknowledge this while preserving their friendship.