Page 14 of From That Moment
“And…he blamed you.”
“He either blamed me because I was the one testing the software, or because I’m a woman. Or maybe he simply doesn’t like me. I don’t know, but I had nothing to do with it. I don’t even know why the guy was fired. It’s none of my business. My job is to get the work done and try to enjoy what I do. And despite Benji and theSharkcomments that he likes to spread around, I do like my job.”
“That’s good. I don’t know if I could like a job where I had to be on guard all the time.”
“Considering you’re only visiting our branch for six months and you’re going to be the new guy for a while, I would assume you’d also feel on guard.”
I shrugged before taking another bite of my salad. “I’m used to fitting in where I need to. And if I don’t, I make do.”
“That must be nice.”
I shook my head, smiling. “Sometimes. And other times, I’m the loud, annoying brother that my siblings make fun of. It works. We all find our places.”
“Maybe. Or perhaps we’re stuck in this egocentric, esoteric world where we don’t know where we are, and we’re left to an existential crisis.”
“That was a lot of big words, and I’m very confused now,” I said, laughing.
“Well, I try.” She smiled then, her eyes brightening. I liked it when she smiled like that, it meant that it actually hit her, rather than her pretending in order to make everybody feel better.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down at the readout, smiling again.
“You mind if I take this real quick?” I asked, and Paris shook her head. I answered, pulling back from the table so I could go outside and not annoy everybody with my phone call.
“Hey there, babe,” I said, walking out of the building. I noticed Paris staring at me as I did. I waved before standing right outside the glass windows. Our table was right on the other side of the windowpane, and if I talked loudly enough, I had a feeling that Paris would be able to hear everything I said. Not a big deal, I just didn’t want the whole building annoyed by me talking on the phone.
“Hey there, love.”
Love? Since when did she call melove? We weren’t quite at the whole love stage, at least I didn’t think so. Neither of us had said it, and while I was enjoying our time together, I wasn’t ready to take the next step. I might joke a lot, but I was actually slow in determining certain aspects of what I wanted.
That might not be the best reaction for most people, but it usually worked for me.
“I’m on a lunch break, what’s up?”
“I was hoping you were on your lunch break. You brought your own, right? Or did you want to meet up quick?” she asked, her voice warm.
“I brought my own, but I ended up needing to take a coworker out for lunch. Kind of a bad day, so we decided to get out of the office and breathe for a bit. My salad is fucking good, though.”
“Oh? I wish I had known that. I could have met up with you guys.”
“Sorry, it all happened kinda fast. We’re still on for dinner tonight, right?” I asked.
“Yes. Well, give Benji my love. Or at least tell him hi.” She laughed. “Got to go. Talk to you soon. Bye, babe.”
“Bye,” I said to silence. She had already disconnected.
I hadn’t had a chance to correct her, and now I felt like a heel. Even though Paris and I were just friends, and there was nothing romantic between us at all, Allison didn’t like Paris. She didn’t like the fact that I hung out with women at all. And she didn’t like that she had been late to our date, only to show up and see Paris and me having a drink together. Later, she had yelled, ranted, and I had apologized. It had probably looked bad from the outside, but I hated the fact that she didn’t trust me.
So, it was my job to make sure that whatever I did now, she could trust me at all times.
I shook my head, stuck my phone into my pocket, and went back inside to finish my salad.
“Allison?” Paris asked.
“Yes.”
“Is she upset that we’re eating lunch together?” At my look, she continued. “She wasn’t a huge fan of me from what I could tell after our impromptu drink that night.”
“Ah,” I began. “No, she wasn’t too happy.”