ANNIE:You’re so much more than my boss. You’re my….
ANNIE:Line manager.
I can’t believe it. Calling him my boss hurt his feelings. I find this absolutely delicious.
ANNIE:My…mentor
CONNOR:Can you stop
ANNIE:My fearless leader
CONNOR:Trying to focus here
I sneak a glance at him. I sense his defenses weakening. I can’t say for certain, but it feels like he’s trying not to smile.
ANNIE:My…. overseer?
CONNOR:Friend would have been fine, for the record
ANNIE:Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer…my inspiration?
CONNOR:Get back to work
ANNIE:Really getting some mixed messages here
ANNIE:Should I be following your orders or not?
CONNOR:OK that’s enough
CONNOR:Settle down
ANNIE:Yes BOSS;)
In the end, Connor never agrees to come with me, only asks me the name of the hotel they’re staying at, and then ten minutes after that, gives me an address and instructs me to tell Shannon and Dan to meet us there after work. I feel a huge wave of relief, both at the fact Connor is coming, and that he has once again swooped in to make the plans. Maybe this night won’t be a disaster afterall.
—
In general, Fridays can only ever go one of two ways. It’s either extremely quiet because most people have already checked out for the weekend, or it’s manically busy while people overcompensate for all they didn’t accomplish earlier in the week. Today, it’s the second one. I’m shocked when I look up from my spreadsheet to see Ben shucking on his backpack. It feels like I blinked and lost four hours.
“Have a good one,” Ben says to me, pushing in his chair.
“You too. Up to anything good this evening?”
“Nah,” he says with a crooked smile. “My friend bailed out on me last minute so I’m just going to head home.”
“Oh, that sucks—” I stop when I realize he’s referring to Connor. “Sorry.”
Ben laughs, patting me on the shoulder as he passes. “It’s all good. You two crazy kids have fun.”
“Where is Connor, anyway? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Hiding from Brad in the sound booths, I think.”
“Ah.”
He salutes me and then is gone, his bright head of hair bobbing down the corridor.
My phone buzzes, Shannon’s name flashing across the screen. I texted her earlier with the details of where to meet for dinner. She’s only just replied.
