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Vivian stayed late to try to make up for the tasks she failed to complete during the day. Her stomach started growling, but she ignored it. She would eat soon enough. She just wanted to finish this report for a group of their investors.
“Knock, knock.” She looked up to see Emma holding a brown paper bag.
“Hi, Emma. What do you need?”
“Probably the same thing as you do—food.”
Vivian glanced at the clock to see that it was already seven. “What are you still doing here? I told you, you don’t need to work late just because I do. I always work late, and I don’t want to keep you away from Lily.”
“Actually, she went home with Nathan and Miriam. They’re doing a sleepover.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good, then.”
“Anyway, you should eat. You look starving.”
“It can wait,” Vivian murmured.
“Yeah, but I have food right here. May as well eat it when it’s hot.”
Once again, Emma took a seat uninvited across from Vivian. She opened the bag to reveal burgers and fries. They smelled delicious and Vivian was hungry. She reluctantly took a burger and bit into it.
“What’s the catch to all this? You know that if you need something, you can just ask.”
“I just want to get to know you better, Vivian. I don’t have any ulterior motives.”
Perhaps she was foolish to believe her, but Vivian found that she did. “Why me? There are plenty of other people here—ones much friendlier and more approachable than I am, I might add. Why not make friends with them.”
“Oh, I am. I just want to be friends with you too.”
Vivian sighed. “We’ve been through this, Emma. I don’t do friends.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just eat your fries and tell me about your favorite movies.”
Vivian mentally examined the question as she ate a few fries. Surely, it couldn’t hurt to tell Emma that. It was an innocent enough question. It wasn’t going to lead anywhere Vivian didn’t want it to. She just needed to keep this situation under control. She could do that. Right?
Vivian could not, in fact, keep the situation under control. Lunches with Emma quickly became a routine. Dinners less so, because Emma had to get home to Lily, but on the occasions when they both happened to be working late, Emma brought Vivian supper too.
Vivian had long ago stopped trying to protest these visits. She looked forward to them more than anything else in her day.
“So, how is Lily doing?”
Emma grimaced. “She was crying again today. I’m considering moving her over to Miriam’s school, just so that they can be together. She hasn’t really made any other friends.”
“Traffic is a problem, though, right?”
“Yeah, it would mean half an hour of traffic to get her to school and another half hour to get back here. I’m not sure if I can make that work.”
“If you need to come in later, we could arrange that.”
Emma looked up at her from over her chicken noodles. “But everyone works the same hours. Surely, it wouldn’t work to have me an hour later than the rest of the office.”
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since you mentioned the travel issues, and I believe we could make it work. I usually stay late anyway, so there wouldn’t be a problem with our hours not intersecting there. As for the mornings, I reckon I can survive an hour without you. Why don’t we try the modified hours for a few weeks, and it if works, you can go ahead and move Lily.”
“Seriously? That would be amazing! I can’t believe you’re even considering it.”
“Something you should know about me—if you have a problem and it’s within my power to solve, you’d be best off bringing it to me. I can’t promise to solve it every time, but I can certainly try.”
“Nathan said something to that effect, but I didn’t realize quite how accommodating you’d be.”
