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He held up his hands. “Enough said.” He reached into his pocket and handed me a five-dollar bill. “Allow me to buy you a replacement. You’ll need the caffeine before our meeting.”
“You’re on Artemis, aren’t you? I think I remember your voice from some of our meetings,” I said, stupidly holding the money.
“You remember my voice?”
I nodded and tried to play it cool. “You have a nice voice.”
“Um, thanks. I’m actually in the accounting department in the New York office, but I manage the budget for Artemis. I’m here in an escort capacity for Melvin. Uh,escortsounds bad.” He looked down, flustered, and his embarrassment was cute.
“To make sure he doesn’t mess up?” The words were out before I could think, and I tried to bite my tongue to keep from talking more.
“Succinct. Yeah, I mean I’m here making sure his trip goes smoothly. Keep him on track,” he finished. “I’m Shane.” He held out his hand for me to shake, and I looked down at mine, full of someone else’s coffee and someone else’s money. He smiled and pulled his hand back. “And you are?”
“Ana,” I said.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ana.”
The elevator doors opened again, this time on the twentieth floor. Istepped into the hallway and looked back. “Aren’t you getting off? There aren’t any other lit buttons.”
“I was supposed to get off on fifteen,” he answered. He winked as the doors closed.
I took a deep breath, then headed for Patrick’s cubicle. Apparently, it was my turn to be embarrassed.
“Hey, Ana!” he said as I walked up, then stopped, catching my expression. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I just met the boss and the surprisingly cute guy with the voice, and he drank my coffee,” I said.
“A guy with a voice drank your coffee? Didn’t the pandemic teach you anything? Cute or not, don’t share drinks.”
“No,” I said, flustered. “The boss drank my coffee. I didn’t get any.”
Patrick gasped. “But not mine, though, right?” He quickly took the cup from my hands. He scanned the side, and his face lit up when he sawPatrickwritten on it in Sharpie. “Yes! Patrick’s little mocha made it safely,” he cooed.
I slumped forward and rested on the side of his cubicle. It was a lot nicer than mine had been. Patrick’s was decorated like a living room—he’d wallpapered it, and he had his own rug. There were antique knickknacks, framed artwork, and even a modern little plant display. “He took my coffee from me because he thought I was an intern or something,” I said. “Then the cute guy gave me money. The meeting is in half an hour. What do I do?”
He sipped his coffee while he thought. “Don’t be yourself. You know what I mean,” he added hastily when he saw my expression. “Censor yourself. Save your caustic commentary for me over drinks.”
I blew out a breath. “I’ll try, but he’s already on my last nerve. Who steals another person’s drink?”
“And the other guy gave you money? What for?”
“For more coffee. He said I needed caffeine before the meeting.”
Patrick nodded. “Sounds like a good guy. Like me. And Joseph.” That was Patrick’s husband. “I want to say that if you follow your original plan, it’ll work out fine. But honestly, after that, it probably won’t. But don’t make it worse. Just go down there and tell him you’re you. Respectfully. Then it’s up to him to be the good guy or not. Try not to talk too much and remember that addingsirto the end of an insult doesn’t make it respectful.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’m doing it.” I straightened my back and walked toward the elevator.
“You got this!” he called after me.
Easy for him to say. He already had his male privilege, and he had gotten his coffee intact. That put him way ahead of me.
I approached the elevator cautiously. Knowing my luck, it would be filled with everyone Ididn’twant to see. Fortunately, my second elevator ride was much less eventful than the first. When I got back on fifteen, I clung to the strap of my messenger bag as I made my way to the Artemis meeting room. Outside the door, I counted to ten to get my nerves together, then walked in. It was a big room, with the seats arranged in a horseshoe configuration with a big screen and podium near the front. It was mostly empty, except for Melvin, who was fiddling with his phone, and another guy I didn’t recognize. He was rail thin, a bit sallow, and wore a sour expression. And of course, Shane, who was surrounded by wires. Melvin and the skinny guy didn’t look up, but Shane smiled and nodded, though he looked annoyed.
“You can collect coffee orders from the team in about fifteen minutes,” Melvin said, still not glancing my way.
I closed my eyes briefly and hung on to what Patrick had said. I cleared my throat. “I’m part of the team—”
Shane swore under his breath and dropped the cable he’d been fiddling with.
