“That’s great!” Bridger clinked his glass to mine. “So, fill us in.”
“As you all know, I didn’t want to move, but it isn’t easy to find another job so perfect for me. I really was afraid of having to make a choice, so instead, I focused on creating a department that would function well, without putting myself at its head for the long term. There was a woman who had been in another department there for ten years, and I learned she’d been very disappointed not to be put in charge.”
Our sandwiches arrived just then. Not one or two but a platterful of the two types cut into quarters and a stack of small plates and napkins. Jenna set it all on the low table in the center of our conversation grouping. Smirking. “Chef said to tell you only because it’s the daddies, and not to tell anyone else. He is also emailing you a survey to get your thoughts. So…no charge.”
“Jenna, you’re the best.” I picked up a piece of the nicoise and admired the golden baguette and the colorful filling. Took a bite, chewed, and swallowed.
“We love you, Jenna, but Chef may be the best.” Jovan waved a piece of the Italian special. “Maybe you can share the title.”
I might not have been the one who skipped lunch. Or perhaps the food was just that good because all conversation died until the platter lay completely empty. My personal policy of never doing surveys would go out the window on this one.
Full of delicious food, a second drink in my hand, I fully relaxed for the first time in a while. “Did you get a chance to visit Collared while you were there?” Bridger asked.
“I worked. Period.”
Fearing that if I took one moment longer than necessary, the powers that be would consider me settled in the position, I’d worked at top speed to get the office up and running. Which meant long days, late nights planning, and generally running myself into the ground.
“Must have been hard on you.” Jovan studied me. “How much sleep did you get? Your bags have bags.”
“Not nearly enough.”
“Eating badly?”
Having a doctor daddy in the group was great in most ways. Not so much the discerning eye when someone treated themselves badly. “Everything badly. No balance whatsoever. All I wanted was to get it done and make sure I’d be able to come home.” To my house, my friends…everything. And Hal? He hadn’t said he was little, but I got that feeling.
I fished in my pocket, looking for a protein bar I thought I’d stuffed in there earlier, but my fingers closed around something else. I pulled out the unicorn bracelet from the man I’d rescued on the side of the road.
“What is that?” Bridger leaned closer and tilted his head. “You didn’t tell us you met someone. Not at Collared…but somewhere?”
“You won’t believe it.” I launched into the story of Hal, holding my audience captive until I finished.
None of my friends spoke for a few minutes. Then Bridger said, “You rescued a little. How cosmic is that.”
I reminded them that he had not said that he was, but I thought there was a good chance. “And I’ll never see him again anyway. I mean, what are the odds?”
Jovan cleared his throat. “Ernie, my little, has a friend named Hal who works at your company. Makes me wonder.”
Made me wonder too. About to slip the bracelet into my pocket, I put it on my wrist instead. I would wear it to work, hoping if I did run into the right Hal at work, I’d seem safe.
Just please let him be in a different department.
Chapter Three
Hal
I hit my snooze four times before finally rolling out of bed. The exhaustion of the past few days hit me hard. It didn’t help that the night before, I kept thinking about the daddy I ran into when I had a flat.
I probably shouldn’t be referring to him as “the daddy,” but I never got his name. He knew my name because I said it during my babbling story time when I let no detail of my recent struggles go unspoken. I even told him how I wished I could one day have a cat. It was pretty embarrassing in hindsight, but at the time, it took such a weight off my shoulders.
It wasn’t until I drove away that I realized I didn’t have his name. What would I do with it, anyway? If his name were Bob, I’d look upBobon the Internet and see the forty-two million people out there with the same name. I’d be in no better position than I was now.
Maybe it was better this way. I’d built him up so much in my head, there was no way he’d live up to those expectations. No man could.
After the world’s quickest shower, I bolted out the door and toward my bus, stopping long enough to grab what ended up being crappy coffee from a cart next to the stop. Buses weren’t my favorite, but if I could avoid driving in the city, I was going to.
Despite its bitterness, I drank it all, needing the caffeine as I counted the stops to my office. The commute wasn’t bad and was shorter than to my old office. The noise and crowds were going to take some getting used to, though. I strolled into work with time to spare.
I didn’t know very many people yet but gave slight waves as I wandered to my cubicle and started my day. Most of mycoworkers waved back. The culture of this office was good like that.
