Ugh, hiking. Morning hiking. The only thing worse than being outside is being outside in the morning. And the only thing worse than being outside in the morning is being outside in the morning doing exercise. And the only thing worse than being outside in the morning doing exercise is doing it withhim.
“Why would I have anything ‘appropriate for hiking’?” I ask, mocking his deep, well-spoken tone. “Why would anyone sanewantto go hiking?”
He lets out an irritated groan. “Just suck it up, Hastings. I would quite happily do this without you.” His jaw clicks as he pushes off the desk; he’s gettingagitated with me, so I relent, not in the mood to feel the wrath I’ve seen his poor-performing team members receive. It’s annoying that people actually respect him, and that he’s able to put his foot down without being labeled bossy.
“Fine, since Mr. Catcher said you really need my help to execute his dating world domination plan, I guess I’ll help you out.” I triumphantly shrug, taking my first sip of coffee. “But if you turn up in those weird barefoot toe-shoe things, I’m going home.”
He shoots me a fake smile as he stands to leave the office. “I’m so looking forward to it.” His fingers curl around the edge of the doorframe. “Open or closed?”
“Closed.”
He breezes off, leaving the door wide open.
5
Eleven Months Ago
The only movement I’d done in the past three hours was standing up and waving my arms around to trigger the motion-sensor wall lights in the office. I was meant to leave at 5 p.m. to meet William for dinner, but Susie had the majority of Fate’s marketing team working to finish aspects of a full class on female entrepreneurship. She was presenting at a prestigious university’s careers fair the following day, including visuals, worksheets and a history of Fate’s most successful campaigns to date.
Hannah was putting the finishing touches on the graphics for the presentation, while I pulled up photographs of and statistics on a vegan ice-cream collaboration pop-up event we did in 2016. I’d worked with Hannah fairly regularly for the past few years, and having someone as talented as her on hand had been a lifesaver on several occasions. Katherine, the marketing team’s latest intern, sat opposite me looking bored out of her mind. It was monotonous and mentally tiring work, but she didn’t have the “if I get fired how will Iafford rent” fear motivator. She lived with her parents and had traveled into the city to spend this evening replacing the ink in the printer.
William never liked me working late, but whenever I brought work home it almost always escalated into some sort of argument about not spending enough “quality time” together. Even if that “quality time” was just watching him watch football.
My phone dinged with a message:
EB: Any chance you’re still at the office? I’m working on the stats for tomorrow’s meeting and need to pick your brain.
GH: Still here. Send me what you have so far and I’ll take a look.
EB: Already en route.
My fingers froze on the keyboard. I scanned my desk, taking in the mess littering the gray surface, particularly the remnants of a day-old sandwich I’d eaten for lunch. Using a notepad as a dustpan and brush, I slid the crumbs and the plastic wrapping into the waste bin near my feet. Turning my computer monitor off so I could see myself reflected in the black shiny surface, I smoothed my hair down at the front and ran the back of my forefinger below my eyebrows, wiping off the shadowed mascara prints showcasing a long day of screen-staring. The last time I’d seen Eric before this was at our introductory one-on-one just under a month ago, where I took him through my day-to-day duties. I discovered in the meeting that his job spec list did not match up with mine.My laundry list of random tasks was double the length of his. I guess that made sense, seeing as I’d been in the role longer. I’d accumulated a lot of other responsibilities without dropping older ones. I assured myself it was a good thing. I noticed, though, that he did ask a lot of questions. Our emails had devolved into text messages when I realized it would be easier for him to reach me with quick one-off queries that way.
The glass door hissed as it slid open.
“Hey,” he said as he entered, shooting a warm charm-slicked smile at Hannah and Katherine before finally landing on me.
“Hey,” I replied in my most nonchalant voice, not taking my eyes off my screen.
I could feel the confusion practically radiating from Hannah. A wave of guilt washed over me, flushing my cheeks scarlet red. I took a deep breath and sucked down the idea that I was doing something wrong. Eric chose to come here; I didn’t invite him. So why was Hannah glancing wide-eyed back and forth between the two of us as if she should have a bucket of popcorn on her lap?
“You’re here late,” he stated, walking over to my desk.
“So are you,” I said, clearing my throat of any tonal inflection. I spun my chair toward him and crossed one leg over the other.
“True, but I’m the new guy, and trying to look good to Dharmash. Surely you’ve earned a five p.m. cut-off by now?”
I sighed. “Marketing dating apps is a noble cause that waits for no woman.”
He looked at me with that same slow, assessing stare he had given me when we were first introduced. I held his gaze for a second then swiveled back around to face my desk, suddenly noticing how much dirt was in the spaces between the letters of my keyboard.
“Sorryyyy.” Hannah winced and drew out the word as if she’d just interrupted a G8 Summit. “Grace, can I just get your final approval on this slide before we head off?”
“Uh-huh!” I stood up, turning to Eric. “Gimme one sec.”
Becoming suddenly self-conscious about the way my shoes sounded crossing the carpet, I stepped around our cluster of desks to look at Hannah’s screen. Leaning across her desk, I barely took in what she was showing me as I could feel Eric’s steely eyes continuing to assess me as he stood casually with his hands in his navy trouser pockets.
“Yep, looks great.” I shot them both a slightly awkward but warm smile. “Good job, guys. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
