Page 4 of The Office Games
“Stop talking to me.”
“Is that a new dress?”
Yes.I bite my lip and focus on the climbing numbers above us.
“Regardless of what happens today, I think you’re brilliant.”
“Your compliments won’t make me hate you any less.” I finally snap. “And if you think that five seconds of flattery will make me forget how much you’ve tried to sabotage me since I started working here, it won’t.”
“Sabotage you by being a better marketer?”
“Thanks for reminding me why I was ignoring you.” I press the floor button repeatedly, as if that’ll make this ride go any faster.
“Is that a hickey on your neck?” James leans closer.
“Maybe.”
“Since when are you dating someone?”
The doors open before I can tell him to mind his business.
If we were on friendlier terms, I’d tell him the truth about losing a fight with my curling iron this morning.
“Someone special wanted to kiss me for good luck.”
“I see.” He clenches his jaw. “How nice.”
“It was.” I step off first, feeling him right behind me.
“Well good afternoon!” Mr. Adeleman greets us in his office. “Come on in and have a seat on my brand-new couch!”
James and I exchange glances.
Mr. Adeleman hasn’t had furniture in his office for years. The only things in this room are a bean bag and a freezer. The latter is where he keeps a personal collection of popsicles.
There’s also a floor-length picture of him from his younger days, a sharp contrast to the frail grey-haired man standing before us today.
“You know, it’s not every day that I’m making a decision on who will step into my shoes.” He pauses. “I wear a size eleven in shoes, you know? They don’t make good leather shoes like they used to.”
I force a smile, bracing for one of his long, rambling stories.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about my company,” he says. “It’s called Magnolia Marketing. I named it after my favorite tree…My favorite tree is a magnolia, you know?”
We say nothing.
We just stare at him.
“Well, Mr. Calloway and Miss Stone,” he says. “I’m sure you want me to get to the point, so I won’t make you wait. I’m very happy with the work you both…”
His sentence hangs in the air unfinished, and he stands still for several seconds with his mouth hanging open.
“I’m proud of both of you and all you’ve brought to my firm, and this was an incredibly hard decision, but…” He looks between us, and I swear I’m tempted to grab his neck and shake the decision out of him.
“I have to go with the woman who toils tirelessly, knows marketing like nobody else, and she—well,he…James Calloway.”
WHAT? “Sir, did you mean to say Taryn Stone?”
“Don’t be upset about this Miss Stone,” he says, walking over to his freezer. “Your time will come, and I bought you a box of red popsicles as a consolation prize today. I used to work as an ice cream man, long ago. Back then, there were no refrigerators…”