We both looked up.
He was standing in front of us.He held a stained coffee cup in his hands.Both the cup and the saucer were liberally sprayed with droplets of coffee.There was a white milk stain on the cuff of his oversized jacket.His hands were shaking until the cup rattled against the saucer.He steadied them both with some effort.
“Americano,” he said to Ace.There was a pause.“I think.”
Ace eyed it suspiciously.“Thanks, Keaton,” he said.“Actually, I guess the meeting took less time than we thought.I’m going back to my office.Sorry about that.You could, uh… drink it yourself, I guess.”
Keaton looked entirely crestfallen.
“I’ll take it,” I said gruffly.I stood up and removed it from his hands before he could protest.
Ace was giving me an odd look.
“Um, but, sir, don’t you prefer sugar?”Keaton asked.Damnit.He’d actually listened to Fernando.
“Right,” I said.I cleared my throat and marched back to my desk.“Bring me the sugar pot.”
I made sure I kept my back turned to the door until I heard Ace leave through it.Only then could I sit down and face forward again.I couldn’t meet the damn man’s eyes.
“Here,” Keaton said.He put the sugar pot down in front of me.He still looked miserable.“Sorry.”
“You can look up the operation manual online,” I said.I was glad he had left the pot instead of trying to put the sugar in for me.He would probably drop it from a height and splash coffee onto my laptop.“The model number is on the front of the machine.”
It was supposed to sound encouraging.It didn’t seem to come out that way.Keaton blanched further and nodded.He scurried over to the machine and studied it.
“I’ll learn it inside and out,” he promised.“You’ll be able to rely on me.I mean it.I’m going to figure it out.I just – I wasn’t expecting to start so quickly, that’s all.”
I frowned.“You have somewhere else to be?”
“N-no!”Keaton replied.He blushed pink.It was something of an appealing color.“I just mean I wasn’t expecting to be – well, to be thrown in at the deep end.You see, I like to do my research and prepare for things properly – I like to be organized – it’s just today I was only prepared for an interview –”
I held up a hand to interrupt his constant words.“Good.”
“Right,” Keaton said.He cleared his throat and nodded.“Good.”
There was a long pause.
I watched him.
“Um,” he said.
“You can go,” I told him.The question was unspoken but I understood it.
I wasn’t quite sure that being unprepared was the problem.He didn’t seem to understand the most basic of non-verbal cues.
Maybe the amount he talked was a clue as to why.
He rushed back to his desk and closed my doors behind him.I looked over at the coffee machine.It was a mess.So was the cup he’d given me to drink.
I pushed it aside and resolved to pour it away after a suitable amount of time.
I cleared my throat and tried to remember what I was supposed to be doing next.The office seemed rather cold and empty all of a sudden.Very silent.
So silent I could barely hear myself think.
I shot a glance towards the closed doors.I could almost see him behind them.Sitting at his desk.Flustered.Hair sticking out in every direction.Glasses sliding down his nose –
I shook my head.Why was I thinking about this new secretary so much?Feeling guilty about our last meeting would have to stop.He clearly didn’t remember me.I was the only one who needed to move on.
