“Why?” Ela asks. “He’s always been polite to me.”
“That’s because you don’t work under him,” Derrick says.
“No, I agree with Ela here, he’s always struck me as a gentleman.” Ted’s wife nods thoughtfully. “He sent flowers when I had our last baby. He didn’t even sign the card, but I knew it was him.”
“And a ‘get well’ basket when I had an emergency appendectomy last year,” Amaya adds. “The card was also unsigned. That man just doesn’t like the attention.”
“There was an unsigned ‘welcome’ card and gift basket for me on my first day...” I say, my voice trailing off as the realization begins to sink in. “I just assumed they were from corporate.”
“No, they were all from Riverton,” Ela says with a small, knowing smile. “The company florist let it slip that he handpicks all the cards and gifts and has them billed to his personal account. Corporate would never approve it.”
Just when I thought I didn’t have another thing to add to the reasons I like Theo, he goes and surprises me again.
“See, now lay off him,” Leon says.
“Yes, Dad,” Derrick says.
The table laughs, but I don’t miss the quiet respect underneath it.
The trivia host cuts back in. “Round Two—‘Famous Rides and Roller Coasters’!”
Leon grins and slides the answer sheet toward me. “Your category, princess.”
“P-princess?” I sputter, my heart hammering against my ribs.
He gestures toward my hairstyle. “The side buns. The white dress. You’re giving full Princess Leia tonight.”
“Oh.” I laugh, touching the meatball buns. That’s right. It wasStar Warsday at work. I’d forgotten.
The host’s voice cuts back in over the mic: “Question one! Opened in 1959, this Disneyland attraction was the world’s first tubular steel roller coaster?—”
My pulse quickens as laughter ripples through the table, and everyone starts shouting guesses, debating between Matterhorn Bobsleds and Space Mountain.
Glancing to the empty space at the edge of the table, I wonder if Theo would be just as competitive as I am. And if he’d be giving us a running commentary on how bad some of these questions are. What would he even order to eat?
“Kaori? What do you think?” Leon asks.
I shake my thoughts and return my attention to the table, everyone looking at me expectantly. “Sorry, I think it’s the Matterhorn.”
Come on Kaori, get it together, I think to myself. I need to be focusing on trivia right now. Not Theo. We have a trivia crown to defend.
Eleven
It’s Friday again. My phone buzzes on the desk, the screen illuminating Anya’s notes on the Medusa’s Fury project file I should have put away ten minutes ago. I don’t even have to look to know who it is. My heart does a little jump anyway.
Theo
I’m back. What time is trivia again?
I relax into my chair, glancing at the time on the top of my phone screen. Derrick, Andy, Leon, Ted, Amaya, Jamie, and Ela are likely already gathering in the lobby waiting for me. I should head down. It’s a few minutes after five. But first, I text Theo back.
Kaori
Are you serious?
Theo
Yes. My plane arrived thirty minutesearly.
