He was making a grim face, getting some rice. “Yeah.”
“You don’t seem excited.”
He raised his eyebrows, like that was an understatement. “Media,” he said.
“Like, interviews?”
He nodded. He didn’t seem to want to talk about it. Cherry tore off a small piece of naan and handed him the rest. (Tom’s blood sugar was fine.) He took a samosa, then dropped the other one onto her plate. “Is it okay if the dumpster sits out there while I’m gone?”
“Yeah.”
“They’ll come and empty it, but I paid for the whole month.”
“That’s fine.” Cherry was eating.
Tom took a bite. He covered his mouth. “This is so good.”
“I’m sure they have great Indian food in Los Angeles,” she said.
He raised his eyebrows again—again like there was more to say, but he didn’t want to say it. “So what’s happening at work?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You said the other night that things were going your way.”
“Oh...” Cherry hadn’t meant at work. “Yeah, things are good. We’re, um, prepping for the grand reopening of the railroad museum—finally.” It was a massive project. Tom had worked on the early stages, before he quit. He’d designed all the signs; they were fantastic.
“Oh, geez, that took long enough.”
“You know how Meg is. Everything had to be perfect.”
“I do not miss Meg Jones,” he said.
Cherry laughed. “That’s not saying anything—you don’t miss anyone.”
Tom had never been a great fit at the ad agency. Too independent. Too introverted. Too talented for his own good. By the time he quit, he’d hated his job so much, even his best work relationships were strained.Thursdayhad become a hit in the nick of time—Cherry had worried that he’d just walk out of the office someday. Or that he’d get fired.
Tom was smiling down at his food. “That’s not true.”
“Matt brags about you now to new clients.” Matt was Tom’s old boss.
“Hebragsabout me?”
“Oh, yeah.‘That logo was designed by the creator ofThursday. Do you knowThursday? They’re making a movie out of it.’”
“He’s acharacterinThursday,” Tom said in disbelief. “He’s Jake That Shitbird.”
“Iknow that.” Cherry was laughing again. “I don’t thinkMattknows that.”
“I swear people don’t see themselves in the comic because they can’t actuallyseethemselves... I could quote Matt and draw an uncanny caricature of him, and he’d still think I was writing about some other asshole.”
“I doubt that Matt has readThursday...”
“I want to say that he can’t read,” Tom said, “but I’ve seen him read his profile inCommunication Artsmagazine, out loud, several times to several people.”
Cherry laughed through her nose. She had a mouthful of saag. Cherry got along fine with Matt. Better now that Tom was gone. After her last promotion, Cherry had started managing the relationship between the railroad and Tom’s agency. Everyone on both sides was painfully aware that her husband was the most valuable and the most difficult person on the team. Cherry’s job gotmuchsimpler when Tom quit. Even though the work suffered.
“I’ve got pictures of the museum setup,” she said. “Do you want to see?”
