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She points her spoon at me as she eats her yogurt. “I’m glad they picked you; you seem chill.”
I thank her and eat my chicken wrap, not knowing what else to say.
“So, met Mr. Grinch?” Marie asks, winking at me.
Emon laughs and shakes his head. “Don’t scare her away yet,” he says before taking a bite out of his sandwich.
The last thing I want to be doing is gossiping on my first day. Besides, the kitchen isn’t too far from my desk, which sits right outside his office in a more secluded area of its own. It wouldn’t be impossible for my boss to pass by and overhear our conversation.
So I aim for diplomacy instead.
“I did. He was very professional.”
Marie snorts, and Emon seems like he’s biting his cheek to keep himself from laughing.
“He’s notthatbad. I mean Katherine lasted years. You’ll be fine.” He gives me an encouraging smile.
They’re making me nervous. I’m feeling out of sorts already, first because of Harvey, and something tells me working for Damon won’t be a walk in the park.
The two of them banter, and I chip in here and there. They don’t pester me with too many questions.
After lunch I head back to my desk. Katherine lets me answer the phone and shows me templates for generic monthly reports that I’ll need to draft for Damon. Basically, the legal and scientific departments add their pieces of advice and information to the reports.
She tells me that Damon will most likely want me to add my expertise to save time. This is where my degree will come in handy.
Five o’clock arrives in a flash, and my anxiety ebbs for the first time today as I drive home, speaking to Layla on Bluetooth. She’s currently traveling the world with her fiancé, something they wanted to do before they marry and have kids.
“Gia told me your new boss is hot. Do tell...”
“Why does it matter?” Gia can be such a gossip sometimes.
“It doesn’t. But life would be so boring if we didn’t appreciate beauty.”
“I miss you, you know.” I do. It’s been four months already, and she’s not coming back anytime soon. Sure, we connect online, but it’s not the same.
“Me too, Gemma. I swear, some days I want to throw Flynn over the cruise we’re on and feed him to the sharks.”
I laugh. “Still want to marry him?” I then ask seriously, hitting a traffic light.
“Unfortunately, yeah. This wedding is fun to plan. He’s stuck with me. I love his British accent too much to let him go. How’re things with Harvey?”
“They’re good.”
My mouth feels dry from the lie. I hope I sound convincing enough to be off the hook. If she knew about our issues, she’d tell us to get out of town... to travel. It’s something I always longed to do, but ever since the accident, I’ve put those plans on hold.
Before we hang up, I tell her to have fun. Then silence weighs dangerously over my head, looming like a dark cloud.
I used to have fun. I miss going on adventures, being in nature, taking risks.
Harvey lost something post-injury, but in a sense, so did I.
I lost a part of myself too. And now I’m unsure how to navigate this next chapter in our lives.
My thoughts are crucially loud in my head by the time I get home—until I think of summer, something I look forward to. I used to love winter, when I could ski hours away from Chicago, though it’s been a while. Going without Harvey would feel like an insult, like I’m ditching him for something that was our thing.
Though, now that I think of it, everything that was our thing no longer is. So what’s our thing now? Is that why we’re at an impasse?
When I walk through the front door, I’m beat and tired, so I change right away into a light gray vintage T-shirt with pale jeans. Then I put leftover macaroni in the oven and head over to Harvey’s room.
