“It was Nicholas’s idea.” Arthur leaned back in his chair, closing his laptop. “It’s a slow day and I don’t have much on the schedule. You might consider going today.”
“Thanks, Arthur.” Jay tried to sound upbeat as she walked out, privately wishing that she could have postponed the lunch until after she’d gotten back.
So you could sit and stew at your desk?
She had always wondered if she should have asked Annica out for coffee to thank her after her orientation, but her demeanor didn’t exactly invite confidence, and any overtures of friendliness that she had tried to extend that went beyond bland corporate professionalism had been rejected, so eventually, she had stopped trying because it was making her feel pathetic.
Nicholas referred to Annica as “the automaton” at home, which was just another example of the way he demeaned the women around him. When she’d told him that was cruel and that if he did it too often, he might call her that to her face, he’d said “beep beep” in a dead monotone.
Don’t think about that, she thought, shoving that thought from her head before a nervous laugh could escape her.
She scooted her chair over an inch, tilting her head so she was hovering in Annica’s periphery. Her eyes flicked in her direction and she reluctantly removed her headphones. “What?”
“Do you want to do lunch today?”
Her eyebrows came together and her mouth pursed. For a moment, it almost looked like a sneer, but it disappeared so quickly that Jay wondered if she had imagined it. She typed out something on her screen and asked, without looking at Jay, “Why?”
Oh my god, she’s going to say no. How humiliating.She straightened her mug and candy dish, trying to speak around the nervous lump in her throat. “For the offsite? It’s supposed to be next week, but I’ll be on PTO. Arthur suggested we move it up,” she added, embarrassed at this feeble attempt to inject authority into her request.
That seemed to sell Annica on the idea. She minimized the window on her screen that she had been typing into. “Okay. We can get sushi.”
Jay wasn’t really in the mood for the inevitable oshinko or avocado rolls, but since Annica seemed to know what she wanted, she wasn’t going to argue. She was mostly just relieved that she hadn’t refused point-blank to go. “Do you want to go now?”
“Give me an hour. I’m working on something for Mr. Beaucroft. We can go at noon.”
“Okay,” Jay said. “An hour it is. I can’t wait.”
Annica put her headphones back on.
She kept them on until 11:59, when she abruptly grabbed her purse off the floor and stood up without any pretense. Jay, who was going through a document, looked up, startled. She barely had time to lock her computer and bolt down the hall as Annica headed for the door.
As they went through the main work area, she threw a glance towards Nicholas’s office, noting with surprise that his desk was empty.He must be at another meeting. She was relieved. That was a good sign. Maybe they were starting to see him as less of a liability. The news that the board had been considering replacing him had been a terrible shock.
She turned back to Annica cautiously. “I don’t think we’ve ever gotten lunch before.”
“You haven’t been here very long.”
“No, I guess not.” Jay started to fold her arms, then caught herself and lowered them to her sides.What does that have to do with getting lunch?“I grew up here, though.”
“You look like you grew up here.” Making a face, she stepped around a spill on the sidewalk, bumping against Jay. She didn’t apologize. “I grew up in Ridgeview. It’s different.”
“Oh, my favorite vegan restaurant is there. Ridgeview’sreally nice.”
“Not the part I lived in. It was a real dump. I hated my apartment. One of my friends referred me to this job. She works in Acquisitions, under Stacey. Her name’s Samantha.”
Jay shook her head, though the name sounded familiar “So you live in Hollybrook now? Do you like it?”
“I mean, it’s a job. The pay is competitive enough and the benefits are good. But nobody wants to be a secretary forever. My goal is to be in management.”
She stopped walking. They had arrived at Dragon Sushi. Jay looked at the sign and then at Annica, smiling uncertainly as the bell clanged over their heads to announce their arrival.
Did she . . . just insult me?
Maybe she hadn’t meant it the way it sounded, she told herself, not really believing it. Standing behind Annica in line while she ordered something called “the dragon roll” and observing her posture, Jay thought she seemed almost angry. It reminded her of how her mother would come home in a bad mood when the tips were bad, as if her problems had to be everyone else’s.
As she and the cashier hashed out toppings, Jay tried to remember if Annica had ever told her about anything about her personal life at all.
“What can I get you today?”
