Zoe
I walk into work with a little pep in my step after last night’s text exchange with David. It was short, but somehow left an impression on me that I thought a lot about before I went to bed. It’s so weird, not knowing who he is, but knowing at least one of my friends thought he was cute makes me feel a little bit better about the situation.
I have to admit, though, the unknown kind of excites me.
Once I’m at my desk, my mood must be noticeable because Jana is quick to catch on.
“Oh, okay, it’s like that today, huh?” she asks, pointing her finger up and down at me as I hum a little tune to myself. “What’s put you in such a good mood?”
I jump at the chance to tell her all about the guy I matched with last night.
“So, my friend’s brother is involved in this start-up company that’s creating a blind-dating app. I joined yesterday, and I already have a match.” I smile big with a shimmy of my shoulders.
She places her hands on her desk and leans toward me. “Did you sayblind-dating app? Why haven’t I heard of this until now?”
“It just launched yesterday, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what to think. I just signed up to help him out because he’s like a little brother to me.”
“How does it work?”
“You add your friends to your account asaccepted judges, let’s call them, and they get to choose whether they think you’d like the guy or not. It’s pretty cool how it works.” I reach for my phone to show her when David walks toward us.
“Are we actually going to work today or just gossip?” He approaches my desk with his arms crossed.
I side-eye Jana, then let out a sigh and reluctantly give him my attention. “Good morning to you too. How can I help you?” I fake politeness.
“Did you work on those drawings I asked you to do yesterday?”
“Of course I did. Should I be worried you aren’t doing your part? You seem awfully concerned about what I’m doing. Should I feel the same way about you?”
His jaw tics, and I have to admit, it makes me a little happy to see I’ve gotten under his skin.
“My part is already done, which is why I’m asking you for yours so I can include it in mine. Can we head to the conference table to go over what you’ve completed?”
“When I’m done with my conversation, sure. Why don’t you go wait, and I’ll be there in a moment?”
I turn back to Jana, and it takes all my power to not laugh out loud at the way he stomps away.
“You know he’s only like that with you, right?” Jana points out.
“Yay. How did I get so lucky?” I roll my eyes. “We’ll continue this later. If you want to download the app, it’s called Mystery Match. I’ll show you how to add me when I finish with the dipshit over there.”
I gather my drawings and walk over to the conference table, laying out the two he liked yesterday and the new one he asked me to blend together in front of him to judge, rip apart, or whatever evil thing he has planned to absolutely ruin my day.
He doesn’t say a word as he picks up each one, examining them, then moving on to the next. I have to take a deep breath and look away before I open my mouth and say something that might make this situation worse.
After a few minutes of silence, he pushes the new drawing toward me. “I was right. The blend of the two is perfect. We’ll present this to Christina on Friday. Can you please put together the marketing package with colors and fonts to be used?”
“Friday? What about the marketing plan? The budget analysis and the timeline? And when did we decide what I’m doing and what you’re doing?”
“Christina already told us why she chose us to work together. I’m the numbers guy, and you’re the … girlie part.”
I sit up straight and place my hands on the table in disgust. “Girlie part? I’m more than just a girlie?—”
He holds his palm up to me. “Just stop. Those were her words, not mine. If you have an issue, bring it up with her. And everything else is already done. I’ll forward it to you so you can familiarize yourself with it, but that’s my role in all of this. Your role was to make it pretty, which you did very well.”
He gets up and walks away, leaving me scratching my head, thinking that was meant as a compliment but also a slap in the face.My role was to make it pretty?Why do I feel like that’s all he thinks I can do?
I walk back to my desk, set my papers down, and open my laptop. Just like he said, his presentation is in my inbox, like he was sending it as he walked away. Sometimes, I wonder if he’s a robot and not an actual human being. If he was truly able to get all of that done, I’d be shocked.
