BEN
I pull out my phone eagerly, knowing Janie must’ve just received her gift.
Janie: Thank you, it’s gorgeous
Hm. That’s not exactly the reaction I was hoping for.
Ben: Where’s my selfie?
Janie: [photo]
I smile. She’s flipping me the bird. I can barely see her or the cubicle. But the decorator sent me photos in the wee hours. I know it’s a stunning makeover and I know it suits my new wife. Nothing cheesy, nothing obnoxious. Not too cheery. It’s classy, cool, low-key. Just like her.
Ben: Do you like it?
Janie: I do.
Ben: I can definitely tell that from the call, the FaceTime, all the photos, emojis and exclamation marks.
Janie: Ha. It’s very cool. Thanks again.
Ben: That’s all I get?
Janie: Shouldn’t have put “wifey” on the card.
Ben: Malarkey. I bet Ellie gobbled all the cute romance bits right up.
Janie: True, she did.
Ben: Then my work there is done.
Janie: K. See you Friday.
I frown.
I’m not sure which is bothering more, the fact that she wasn’t particularly moved by the gesture or the fact that I bungled it up further, making it sound like the whole thing was for Ellie.
Shit.
I pull up my message with my sister-in-law.
Ben: So, about the grand gestures
Wait.
I delete my draft message. I can’t very well ask Samantha for advice on how to win over Janie now. As far as my sister-in-law and everyone else in the world knows, she’s been won. Signed, sealed, and delivered, as seen on the pages of all the major tabloids.
Just as well.
I shake my head and tuck my phone away.
What the hell am I on about? I don’t need to woo this woman. I wanted to brighten her gloomy office. I did. End of.
“Why're you sighing like a ninny?” Nigel disrupts my silence in the back of the town car.
“Sorry?”
“You keep shifting in your seat and sighing. Bloody annoying.”
