I jumped again, clearly lost in my thoughts. “Stop doing that!” I yelled at him.
He stood in my doorway, shoved his hands in his pockets and snickered. Literally snickered. “I’m sorry, it’s too much fun. I’m pretty sure green M&M’s don’t have the same sugar content as the others,” he said, as he moved up behind me and stuck his hand under the dispenser.
The toy dropped seven M&M’s into his hands and he handed me four of them.
He popped the three green ones in his mouth, flashed me a smile and left.
My heart thudded hard against my rib cage.
THIRTEEN
ANNA
There was a time when she’d had a best friend. But she had to switch homes and never saw her again. She stopped making friends after that.
The Lobby
It was happening.I was going to do it. The plan was set. All I had to do was execute.
Step one: Hide behind the oversized palm plant in the lobby. Check.
Step two: Wait for Claire to get off the elevator. Any second now.
Follow her on her way out of the building for lunch. Should be fairly easy.
Casually bump into her once outside. Not too hard, I hoped.
Engage in harmless chit chat.
Ew. Chit chat.
No, I could do it. I could make chit chat. How hard could it be?
Finally, the weather is cooling down. Am I right?
Traffic was a mess today. How about for you?
Oh my gosh, I love your blouse.
These were things I could say and not sound like a weirdo. I knew that because I heard people say them all the time. Then, hopefully, Claire, the receptionist from 301, would pick up the conversation. We would talk and then I would, ever so casually, suggest a get together.
Are you heading out for lunch? How about I join you?
No, that was too pushy.
On your way to lunch?
Too open ended. It didn’t imply I wanted to go with her.
And I did want to go with her. I wanted to eat lunch with her and talk about her job. I wanted to find out what she cared about. If she had a boyfriend. Did she live on her own or did she still live with her parents? What did she do for fun?
Most importantly, I wanted to know how she and her boss interacted.
Did they share personal stuff? Was the office casual or more formal?
Had her boss ever shown up drunk at her home on the anniversary of his wife’s death?
Okay. That was pretty specific. Best to stay off that topic.
