Jana was nervous but also excited when she walked into the converted Victorian mansion housing the Think Canada office in Midtown Toronto. After she greeted the friendly receptionist, she sat in the lobby, waiting for Dr. Lopez.
“Jana, welcome! Wonderful to see you!” Dr. Lopez said as he came down a hallway. He looked so different here in an office setting instead of in Tanzania, or on her front porch. Still tanned from the trip (like she was), he was in his nonprofit executive director outfit instead of theboomer on safarilook. Chinos and a tweed blazer complete with elbow patches.
“Hi, Dr. Lopez!”
He greeted her with a warm handshake. “I do hope you’ll call me Sam now. Come. Let’s get the boring paperwork out of the way, then I’ll give you a tour and introduce you to the team. We’re a small group, which makes us so much like a little family. I think you’re going to fit right in.”
Jana followed him to her future office, a modern, sleek space on the second floor with a window overlooking the road. After Jana signed the necessary paperwork, he took her around the building to meet her new colleagues. The handful of friendly fundraisers, assistants, researchers, and managers seemed very nice and welcoming. She knew she’d need time to remember everyone’s name and role, but most were about her age, except for two women who were about a decade older. She did recognize a few names from papers she’d read. Overall, she was confident that she’d enjoy working with them.
This had been her last worry—would she get along with her new colleagues? Would they judge her? So far, no one seemed to know about Jana’s past reputation. Or if they knew, they didn’t care. She met her new research assistant, Andrew, a friendly man probably a bit older than her. He was from the Philippines and had worked for many years with an NGO there before moving to Canada. Personality-wise, he reminded Jana a bit of Tim, but with Nicole’s dry humor. Jana could already tell she would love working with him.
She sat with Sam and Andrew in an open meeting space to go over the current projects for an hour before they walked her back out to the lobby. A few other staff members were there with the receptionist, and they asked Jana her impression of Think so far. They were all still talking in the lobby when a man about Sam’s age and a younger woman came into the office.
“Zachary! Maria!” Dr. Lopez gave the man a handshake and kissed the smiling woman on the cheek.
Sam introduced the pair to Jana. Zachary Peterson was apparently one of Sam Lopez’s oldest friends. They were coming to collect Sam because they had plans in the evening. Jana knew Dr. Peterson by reputation—he was the head of international development at the University of Toronto and had been a top researcher in the field for years. Maria Peterson, his wife, was considerably younger than him. Maybe in her late thirties. She was effervescent and chatty and was clearly also close to Dr. Lopez.
“We want to hear all about your trip!” Then she smiled at Jana. “Oh, this must be your new second-in-command! I’m so glad you found someone!”
After some small talk, Maria looked back at Dr. Lopez. “I cannot wait to hear about Tanzania. I can’t believe I didn’t realize Iknewthe groom when you told me about this wedding! When I saw that picture Farzana posted on Facebook, I nearly screamed. I haven’t seen Rohan in eons!”
“You know Rohan?” Jana asked, surprised.
“Yes! From college! You know him, too?”
“Yes, he and the bride are old family friends.”
“Dr. Suleiman was at the wedding, too,” Sam said. “In the wedding party. It was quite the coincidence. The ceremony was spectacular. Imagine, the Serengeti sun shining on us all. There was even a giraffe watching the ceremony with us!”
She clapped her hands together. “A giraffe! How…immersing!”
“Here, let me show you.” Sam took out his phone and scrolled. Then he handed it to Maria. Jana didn’t see it—but she’d seen pictures of the giraffe at the wedding ceremony before. She’d seen the giraffe in person, too. “The flower girl is Dr. Suleiman’s daughter.”
“Oh, she’s just darling! Oh my god,” Maria said suddenly. “Is that Anil Malek?” She was pinching to zoom into the picture. “I knew him in college, too. I had no idea he and Rohan were still in contact.”
Sam looked briefly at Jana. “Yes, he was in the wedding party.”
Maria tapped the phone with her finger. “That’s a surprise! He married my friend Nadia right after college but he was unfaithful and got the other woman pregnant, if you’ll believe it.” She looked up at Sam. “It was quite the scandal in our college friend group.”
Jana’s fists clenched. She needed to get out of here before everyone discovered she was theother woman. She took one step backward.
“I need to have a talk with Nadia, though,” Maria said, not noticing Jana freaking out. “Last I heard, she was back with Anil. I suppose it’s romantic, like you and Farzana. Still, it’s somessy, you know? He’ll be stuck with thatother womanin his life forever because of that poor child. I’m sure nobody wants that.”
What?
Sam put his hand on Jana’s arm briefly.
Voice shaky, Jana asked for clarification. “What did you say about Nadia and Anil?”
“Oh, they’re back together. I saw a picture of them on her Facebook yesterday. I really should call her and say,Girl…what are you doing?Hey, maybe Nadia was at the wedding. Do you know her? Tall woman. Really beautiful.”
Jana’s knees shook. She took two more steps back. “No, Nadia wasn’t there. But theother womanwas. And their child, too. She was the flower girl.” Jana took a breath. “I’m the other woman.” Jana’s eyes went blurry. She turned quickly. “I need to go. I’m just…goodbye.”
And she walked right out of the Think office.
***
One five-minute conversation with a “desperate housewife” of academia gossiping about her college classmates had blown everything Jana had been happy about to smithereens.
