As the others began to drift off, I lingered, eyeing Simon, who was now completely ignoring me, showing the boys something on his phone. Daniel said goodbye.
‘Remember, he’s married and he’s got a reputation,’ he said as he was leaving.
I wanted to know more about the reputation, but I was watching Simon. ‘See you Monday,’ I said.
At the end there was Simon, Greg, the accounts manager, Ian, one of the other interns, and me. We were talking about the worst summer jobs we had ever done. I was careful to put my hand across my glass as more wine was poured. ‘Spoilsport,’ said Simon and then continued his story of working the bar at a golf club in Martha’s Vineyard as the Bernie Madoff scandal became public knowledge, and people got up and abandoned their tables during lunch service. We all hung on his every word, and then Simon suggested to the men that they go on to a casino.
I was not invited. I went home alone, feeling humiliated and foolish.
The mixed signals continued for weeks. I couldn’t understand it. Simon would often join me for lunch, but I noted he went for lunch with another intern, Gina, too. Daniel was my only confidant. ‘Be careful,’ he said. ‘Don’t you think it’s weird what he’s doing?’
I tried to act innocent. ‘What?’
‘Come on. He’s trying to play you off against each other.’
‘That’s ridiculous, I like Gina.’
‘I’m sure she’d say the same about you, but why don’t you go for lunch with her if you’re such good pals, instead of waiting to see which of you he’s going to choose? Greg told me there was a girl here last year who had the hots for Simon, and one day she called in, handed in her notice and wouldn’t give any reason. Everyone thinks he rejected her. He enjoys the flirtation, but he’s married. He has a kid.’
‘So? That could mean anything. Anyway, I’m hardly going to give up a job like a lovesick puppy. I don’t even have the hots for him.’
‘Sure you don’t.’ Daniel did not believe me.
56
At work, I continued to excel, often staying late, or at least being seen to stay late to get Simon’s attention. Sometimes Iwouldget it. A report due at the end of the week would be on his desk on Wednesday morning. He would come over to my desk and perch on the end of it. ‘Well, well, star girl, ahead of schedule as usual. When do you sleep?’ I’d laugh and then he might or might not invite me to the newest, shiniest lunch venue. We would discuss work mostly, but sometimes it would get a bit more personal.
‘I cannot understand why a beauty like you hasn’t been swept off her feet by some knight in shining armour,’ he said to me one lunchtime.
I wanted to point out how archaic his attitude was, the idea that women needed a knight, but it was all light-hearted. I wanted to find out more about what he got up to away from work. ‘What do you do to unwind after a week at the office?’ I asked.
‘I do my best to stay out of the house. The chores are endless. We have a gardener and a cleaner, but Adanna insists I repaint the nursery for the new arrival.’
‘She’s pregnant?’ I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
‘Not my idea, I can assure you. I thought she was on the pill, but you women are tricky little creatures, aren’t you?’
Poor Simon, his first child was only a year old. It was hardly fair of his wife to plunge him back into more sleepless nights so soon.
‘I have an apartment nearby,’ he continued. ‘I used to rent it out but now I stay there at least two nights a week to get some sleep. Adanna is furious about that, but you understand how full-on this job is – I need to be on the ball.’
I sympathized and agreed that Adanna should have consulted him before getting pregnant again.
‘You’d never do that, would you, Lulu? Trap a man?’
I laughed. When Mum called me Lulu, I hated it, but the way he said it made me feel kittenish.
A week later, there was a group outing from work to a Billie Eilish gig in the 3Arena on Saturday night. I didn’t find out until I heard Gina talking about it on Friday.
‘Oh,’ I said, in the break room, pretending I knew all about it, ‘are we picking up the tickets there or does someone have them?’
She hadn’t seen me and faltered, ‘I don’t know –’ but somebody else said, ‘Simon must have them, he booked them.’
‘Cool,’ I said, swinging my hair back and moving on. I was hurt. Almost the whole team was going.
At clocking-off time that Friday, Simon passed my desk. ‘How’s my favourite little worker bee? Looking forward to the gig tomorrow?’
My heart leapt. I decided to play dumb. ‘What gig?’ I asked.
