You underestimate me
@theanswerisno:
I have to. Because your greatness knows no bounds and any estimates I have would therefore be less than what you are.
@pancakesareelite:
Are you flirting with me?
@theanswerisno:
I blasted your goat into the ocean and now you’ll have to swim back, haaaaaaaa.
It was Neema’s turn to pick a game, and to my surprise, it wasn’t Dungeons & Dragons. For years now, whenever it was her turn, she’d pick D&D. Between her enthusiasm and Shaun’s love for her enthusiasm, the game went on for hours too long. I enjoyed it on most days, but after a twelve-hour workday, I was relieved when she picked Azul.
“I know, I know.” She unpacked the game with a big sigh. “But I’m tired. I’ve been throwing up all week, and this is all I have capacity for right now. Rose brought along her set, too, so we can have two groups.”
I stood and helped prepare the second set.
“We can split up the couples so there’s no cheating.” William playfully shoved Rose out of his way.
It was hard not to notice that everyone was coupled up. I was the third wheel, then fifth wheel, and now the seventh wheel. There had always been a quiet loneliness, but it was louder now since Claire’s husband, Dean, started joining game night and after Rose and William hooked up.
Still, William had a point. Whenever Shaun played beside Neema, he played in her favor. As did Dean with Claire. The onlytwo who fought tooth and nail were Rose and William, and the winner was truly anyone’s guess.
Rose, Claire, and Shaun joined me at the board I set up. Neema, William, and Dean took the second set beside us.
The conversation flowed easily between them. I’d always been more of a listener than anything else. I didn’t mind it. They lived interesting lives, and I looked forward to their updates.
“How’s work going? My office is still boring.” Shaun picked up a tile I needed.
“Work’s awesome. This set was from them. There are some perks to working for a board game production company.” Rose beamed. “How about you? Anything you’re not telling me? How’s work? Still saving lives, Dean?”
“Uh…” He shrugged. “I treated a child for a fake cough today.”
Dean was a favorite doctor among the moms. I swore they brought their kids to his practice just to be around him.
“Hannah runs now. So all I do when I’m not working is run after her.” Claire huffed. “I haven’t even been able to read.” She turned to me, always noticing when I hadn’t contributed to the conversation. “Lincoln? How’s your new office mate? Still driving you nuts?”
I shook my head before I’d even had the chance to formulate a sentence.
“You’re sharing a space with someone?” Rose’s mouth made a perfect O.
“I haven’t told them a thing. See! Not even about who she is,” Claire said, and then squeezed her eyes shut. “Crap.”
“Who is she?” Shaun asked as though it were a simple question. I suppose for most people, it was. For me? It felt as though sharing anything about anything would somehow put me at risk.
But this was game night. Game night was safe. I repeated it to myself like a mantra.
“Elizabeth Gordon-Bettencourt,” I said, forcing it out of my system… and admittedly, relieved that, when I thought of her now, it was because someone else brought her up. A totally reasonable reason to be thinking about my employee.
“Why’s that name sound familiar?” Dean asked, his arm snaking around Claire’s waist.
“Already on it,” Rose said, whipping out her phone. A second later, her eyes widened. “I remember her. She’s the heir to GB Productions. She must be a million—billionaire. Is she awful? I was always jealous because Oscar Lenard admitted to having a huge crush on her.”
“Oscar Lenard,” William grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Stupid, pretentious vampire.”
“She’s not awful,” I said, ignoring the thing my heart was doing. I should get checked out for pericarditis or something. “She’s… uh… actually really nice.”
