Mary was in her late fifties, a single mother who was never late for work and had been with Jameson Porter for nearly fifteen years. She was always dressed meticulously, nary a hair out of place or painted fingernail chipped, and she was also a well-known office gossip who often said the wrong thing for the situation. But she was bighearted and meticulous and hardworking, and so her wagging tongue and occasional lack of tact was overlooked.
She set the flowers down on my desk, the wide rainbow of tulips completely obscuring my view, and I shifted my chair over so I could see past them. “These beauties are for you. From upstairs.” I knew that meant the flowers were from the consultants and strategy group (Matt’s team), who occupied the floor directly above ours. “So how are you doing, honey? We’re so glad to have you back.”
“Thanks, Mary, it’s nice to be back. And I’m doing well.”
“You sure look it. Especially for someone who can’t remember anything.” She laughed. “I’m kidding, hon. Honestly, how could you forget us?” I smiled as hard as I could.
My second in command, Brooke Ingram, came up behind Mary and caught my eye. Brooke is two years older than me, and I was hired after her. I’d heard she was none too pleased when I was brought on—she had wanted the director job, but the partners felt she wasn’t quite the right fit—but if that had been true, she got over it fast. She was great at what she did and I trusted her implicitly.
“Hey, Brooke,” I said, and Mary turned to look behind her.
“Oh, hey there, sweetie,” Mary said to Brooke. “I didn’t see you there.” Then Mary strode over to my desk and pulled me out of my chair for a hug, which lasted about five seconds too long. I finally disentangled myself, Mary’s perfume lingering between us like a scented cloud, and straightened my suit jacket. Brooke tapped on her watch a couple of times and I nodded. “Thanks for bringing the flowers, Mary. But I need to go into a meeting with Brooke, so I’ll talk to you later?”
“You bet. Have a great day, you two,” Mary said, smiling as she exited my office. Then she leaned her head back in and lowered her voice. “I’ll try to hold back your calls.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I’d like to take my calls.” I smiled and Mary winked before turning to leave. I would probably have to go out later and explicitly tell hernotto hold my calls. Mary was the type who believed she knew what people needed better than they did. She blamed it on having too much “mother energy.”
“I should have had four kids,” she would say. “But because I didn’t, you’ll all benefit!”
“Thanks for the rescue,” I said to Brooke, who had taken a seat in one of the chairs in my office. I pushed the vase of tulips to the very far side of my desk. “I’d forgotten about Mary and her overabundance of helpfulness.” I laughed but then stopped when I saw Brooke’s face.
“Seriously?” Concern was etched on her brow.
“I’m joking!” I said. “But I probably shouldn’t do that, right?”
“Probably not.” Brooke laughed.
“So, what have people been saying? About me.” I cringed, waited for her answer.
She shrugged but looked uneasy. “That your memory isn’t what it used to be.” She paused. “Is that true?”
I sighed. “It’s true.” I had decided there was no point in trying to fake anything or hide the issue. It would only fuel the rumors and I didn’t need to be putting out those sorts of fires along with everything else. “For some stuff. But my work memory seems okay. So far I remember everything about this place.” Brooke smiled, looking reassured.
“Or almost everything,” I added. “I don’t remember Matt. At least not my boyfriend Matt.”
Now her eyes widened, but I could tell she already knew. “You can drop the act. I know you know. Everyone knows by now, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, there has been some chatter,” she said. “But it will all die down, now that you’re back. Don’t worry. There’s plenty of gossip fodder around here. You’ll be old news soon.”
“Hope so,” I said, a frown settling on my face.
“I, for one, couldn’t care less about your relationship status. I’m just happy to have you back.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at her. “Especially for keeping things running smoothly while I was gone,” I said, and Brooke seemed pleased. I glanced at my computer screen. “And judging by my nearly empty inbox, plus all the calls you handled the past couple of months, I owe you a lot more than a thank-you.”
“You would have done the same for me,” she said with a shrug. “But there’s a Kate Spade bag I’ve been eyeing.” We laughed, and then she gave me a serious look. “But don’t do anything like that again, okay? We need you here. I need you here.”
“Don’t worry, I will always choose practicality over fashion from this point forward.” I stuck one of my legs out from behind my desk. “See? Flats.”
“Whoa. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in anything less than three inches,” she said, then narrowed her eyes comically. “Are youreallyLucy Sparks?” She laughed but then slapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh, not cool. I’m sorry. God, I’m as bad as Mary.”
“Stop,” I said. “You are far worse than Mary.” Then I winked at her and she laughed, hard.
“Brooke, I’m used to it. I promise you. This is one of those situations where it’s hard to know what to say, so don’t stress.” I raised an eyebrow and glanced at the balloons, and we both laughed at the message.
“There was a flurry of emails about those balloons,” she said, still chuckling. “It was a tough race between Congratulations and Yay!”
“Well, Welcome Back would also have worked.” I gave her a wry smile.
