I watched the three men disappear. Rafael and the others were in their formal shirts and pants, with one of them even wearing a full suit. Rafael spent a lot of time networking with management every day, and Brian said it was the reason our team got more funding than others.
“It’s good for us,” Brian had said with a smirk, “even though he hardly seems interested in the team he leads.”
It had me wondering about corporate politics and what kind of team leader I wanted to learn from. And whether Rafael was the best person to help my career. While I wanted to think yes, I’d hardly spoken to the man in the past month unless you counted the mandatory meetings where I gave status updates. He never inquired if I was struggling or needed help.
Every evening that week,around five forty-five p.m., I found myself glancing at the elevators on my floor. Doors I’d seen Jonah walk out of in the past.
It had been a week since I’d turned him down about meeting him on Sunday. He hadn’t called me up to his office since then, and I suspected he was having some trouble dealing with my rejection.
But this was one instance where I couldn’t budge. I simply didn’t have more time to give... and lately it had me questioning myself and this strange secret relationship we were having.
Even though I hated considering it, I wondered if it was right to demand that my partner be happy with how little time I could spare him… If he needed more and I couldn’t give it to him. I hung my head, unable to deal emotionally with the idea of letting Jonah go.
I turned in my chair and my gaze fell on Stacey’s empty chair.
She’d shown up to work today, and even then, she hadn’t sat at her desk. She’d been in meetings most of the time, and when I ran into her in the hallway between meetings, she didn’t meet my eye. Worried that I’d done something wrong, I asked if we could talk, but she brushed me off again.
Nothing made sense, and I was ready to give up on her. I’d finished the design document, and Rafael had been happy with it. I was due to present it at a meeting this Friday, and I felt obligated to talk to Stacey first.
“Stacey,” I called when I saw her in the women’s restroom.
Stacey was washing her hands at the sink. Her complexion was paler than usual, and dark circles underlined her eyes,which were red-rimmed, as if she hadn’t slept in days. She looked up, frowning, her expression wary.
“Hi, Lexi,” she said curtly, her eyes darting away from mine.
I put a hand out to stop her from leaving. “Is everything okay? Are you okay?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound like I was badgering her.
Her hands were trembling slightly as she dried them on a paper towel. “Yes,” she said flatly, but her voice was filled with a sort of raw hurt.
I blocked her path again, noticing the tension in her posture. “The official presentation of the design is this Friday. The meeting where we’re supposed to show management all the improvements we’ve made to the software.”
“Yes,” she replied, her tone icy. “Good luck.”
She tried to move past me, but I held my ground.
“I know it was assigned to you, and Rafael changed it to me …” I paused, not wanting to mention it was because of her absences.
“I noticed,” she said, her eyes narrowing. Her shoulders were stiff, and she crossed her arms defensively.
“Anyway, I’ve written it up. If you can take a look at it and it seems right to you, well …” I hesitated, thinking about the higher-up management teams who would be at the meeting. “I want you to present it to the management.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Why?” she asked, suspicion creeping into her voice. She uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips, accentuating her slim frame.
“I know it was something you were looking forward to doing. And I’m not sure why you couldn’t do it, but I don’t want to steal that opportunity from you. You deserved it. You thought of most of the features in our new design. I just wrote it up based on our conversations.”
She eyed me again, her expression softening slightly, the corners of her mouth twitching, as if she wanted to smile, but didn’t quite trust herself. “That’s fairly … generous of you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
I shook my head. “We’re a team. We work together. I wanted you to know that I picked up the slack when you were out of the office, but it’s still your work. It’s still a product of your mind. You deserve to present it.”
She hesitated, setting her coffee cup down on the counter, the steam curling up and disappearing into the air. “Lexi … someday, I’ll fill you in on what happened. But for now, I want you to know that I appreciate the offer.” She hesitated again, her eyes searching mine for sincerity. “I’m not sure if I can present it this Friday, but I’m totally fine with you representing the team. I know you’ll give credit where it’s due.”
I smiled, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. “Thank you.” I hesitated, feeling more than a little worried for her.
She patted my arm, her touch surprisingly warm. “Thank you, Lexi. There’s a lot more to you than I gave you credit for. Thank you for being a decent human being.”
Saying that, she walked out of the restroom, her footsteps echoing off the tiled floor.
I stared at the door after she left, wondering what was going on in her life and why she wasn’t comfortable confiding in anyone. I hoped HR was helping her.
