Lowe stepped forward as if to hug me, but I waved her off because that’s all it would take to get me going, and if I started I had no idea when I would stop. I’d already embarrassed myself in front of her once; I drew a hard line at a second time.
“No, no. Thank you, I’m okay. A lot has happened in the last week, and I think it’s all about to hit like a sledgehammer.” I let out a droll huff.
The brunette stepped forward on a pair of tan, gravity-defying heels with her hand held out, likely to stop me from embarrassing myself further. “I’m Beulah Holmes by the way, head of legal. We haven’t formally met, but I signed your contract.”
My contract. I wonder if she knew about the monumental headache I’d had the last three months because of my goddamn contract.
Deep breath, Marnie. Deep breath.
I took her hand and shook it, unable to stop a small grimace creeping up my lips. “Hello, sorry, this is really unprofessional. I’m not normally like this.”
“Don’t worry about it. First days of work are always hard. I was a wreck too, especially as Penn also strong-armed me into working here, and I knew nothing about baseball.” She rolled her eyes. “He can be very persuasive when he wants to be. I do know more about baseball than I did a year ago though.”
“I’m certain I’ve forgotten everything I knew about baseball.” I gave a small groan of support. “Not that it was that much to begin with.”
“You’ll remember. I’m sure Penn will have a series of pop-quizzes lined up,” she laughed.
I looked between the two of them, and it was clear from the expressions on their faces that they weren’t joking.
“A baseball pop-quiz?”
Lowe nodded with a sigh. “Yeah, he loves them.”
“Oh…” I replied, then wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Anyway,” Lowe started before the silence became awkward. “We’re your welcoming committee.”
A flash of my first day at N.A.S.A. when my new supervisor had handed me a stack of papers fifteen inches thick and told me to get reading because he expected a report by the end of the day – this was not that.
As much as I didn’t want to be here, I could admit it was kind of nice.
“Thank you.” I smiled genuinely at the happiness on her face. “I appreciate that.”
“It’s usually a bit busier, but…” she trailed off apologetically. “You’re probably used to being busy.”
“No, no. It’s good that it’s quiet.” I chewed a little on my lip. “It’ll give me time to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing.”
“It was kind of why we wanted to take you out.” Lowe’s hand flicked between her and Beulah. “And we’ve been so excited to have you come here; to meet you properly.”
“Really?” My eyes widened with surprise at her enthusiasm, along with Beulah’s effusive nodding, and my cheeks flushed in a good way. I definitely wasn’t at N.A.S.A. anymore.
“Yes, really. So what do you say? Coffee?”
Seeing as I was about to stifle a yawn, there was no way I was passing up the offer of caffeine. But something about these women made me want to go anyway. They were warm, welcoming, and instantly likeable. They also exuded an effortless type of glamour which wasn’t present in my corner of Houston either. Even in their jeans and tees you could tell they were the type of women who stood out, whether they wanted to or not.
“Sounds great,” I replied, mustering as much enthusiasm as I could. Plus, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do about my job, nor did I have any idea on how to do it, so perhaps they’d be able to shed some light on that particular problem.
“Awesome!” Lowe clapped her hands together, her blue eyes shining with glee. “There’s a great place just outside the stadium, along the river.”
“Sounds perfect.” I hadn’t yet got around to taking my coat off, so I grabbed my purse and slung it across my body before following them out.
“How do you like your apartment?” Beulah asked with a smile as I fell into stride next to her.
My mouth opened and closed. I was still a little speechless at the welcome surprise I’d had when I’d arrived on Saturday. The Lions had provided living accommodation as part of my job package; I was expecting an apartment somewhere close to the stadium, something slightly basic, comfortable, and clean. But I’d forgotten I was no longer funded by government dollars, so I wasn’t prepared for the level of luxury and coziness I’d beengiven in an apartment so high I could probably touch the stars if the windows opened.
In short, it was incredible, and made soaking my hand that much easier. I’d spent my first night with a bottle of wine from my new wine wall – yes,wall– looking out on the twinkling lights of the city from my bathtub, while trying not to think about how the afternoon had played out.
My apartment was going to be hard to leave.
