by Hazel Kelly
She scowled at me before hovering her spoon over the last scoop. “What do I get if I go four for four?”
“If you go four for four, I won’t sexually harass you at work every day next week.”
She stuck out her bottom lip, pulling her whole face into a frown.
“You’re not going to get this one, though, so don’t worry.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked.
“Because I know you.”
She cast her attention down to the last scoop, which was a faint shade of yellow. “And if I don’t get it right?”
“You might as well leave your panties at home.”
Her eyes bounced between me and the mystery flavor. “I’m still going to try to guess it. You know that, right?”
“Of course. Your competitive nature is one of the things I love most about you.”
She froze when I said the “L” word, and I berated myself for letting it slip. Not only had I cut it from my vocabulary long ago, but I hated that stupid, cursed word more than I hated anything.
Margot broke our eye contact and took an ambitious bite of the last flavor, her mouth puckering when the sour taste teased her tongue.
I tried it myself, preferring the citrusy sweetness to the richer flavors.
“It’s good,” she said a few bites later. “But I admit I’m a little stumped.”
My mind reeled with places I might steal her away during work hours…the copy room, the supply closet, the emergency exit stairwell…
“I’m getting some sort of citrus,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s lemon or lime.”
“Correct.”
Three bites later, she looked more confused than ever. “Ugh. Just tell me.”
“It’s calamansi.”
She furrowed her brow. “What?”
“It’s a citrus fruit from Southeast Asia.”
“You’re making that up.”
“I swear I’m not,” I said. “It’s a little smaller than a ping-pong ball and looks like a round lime.”
The corners of her mouth twitched towards a frown. “Never heard of it.”
“I figured.”
“Guess I’ll be leaving my panties at home, then.”
I smiled.
“Even though we have a ton of work to do this week,” she said. “Assuming I don’t get fired first thing Monday morning.”
“I already told you, you’re not going to get fired.”
She leaned forward. “How can you be so sure? At the theatre, Dick looked at me like he never wanted to see my face again.”
“He’s just touchy because of the scandal with the last intern. I’ll set his mind at ease. I promise.”
“I can’t tell if you’re genuinely not concerned or if you’re so worried you’re trying to fake me out so I don’t freak.”
“Does it matter?”
She leaned an elbow on the table. “I don’t want to lose this job.”
I slid an upturned palm across the table.
She laid her hand on it and brought her eyes to mine.
“Let me handle things with Dick,” I said, squeezing her hand.
“Okay.”
“Good.”
“What about Matt?” she asked. “We have to tell him.”
“If you want to tell him right away, I’ll back you up, but I’d rather spend some time being us without his input for a while. Just until we find our feet in this whole new world.”
She craned her neck forward. “Was that a Disney reference?”
“Do you still sing those songs in the shower?”
She leaned forward and dipped her spoon in the cake flavor. “Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll find out.”
I laughed. “So what do you say? Can we keep our secret a while longer?”
“Sure,” she said, bringing her bite towards my lips. “I’d like that.”
T H I R T Y F I V E
- Margot -
Izzy left hours earlier for her Sunday matinee, and I wasn’t expecting company, so when the buzzer rang, it took me by surprise.
“Hello?” I asked, leaning my face near the intercom.
“Oh good, you’re home. Can I come up?”
I recognized Matt’s voice instantly and buzzed him in before unlocking my door and leaving it open a crack.
When he arrived, he set the reusable grocery bag he was carrying down on the floor and pulled me into a hug. “Hey.”
I gave him a tight squeeze, surprised at how happy I was to see him.
“I’m glad I caught you,” he said. “It’s been too long.”
“Has it?” I let him go and reached behind him to swing the door shut. “Maybe time just moves slower now that you’re married.”
“Hilarious,” he said. “Hey, can I borrow your phone charger for a sec?”
“Sure.” I pointed to the socket beside the toaster where it was plugged in. “That explains why you didn’t call first.”
“I never call first.”
“You should.”
“Thanks, Mom,” he said, unplugging mine and putting his own in its place. “But I pay for my own plan these days so the phone is for my convenience now.”
“You mean Kelsey’s convenience?”
He shrugged. “Basically.”
“So what’s up?” I asked, slipping my phone in my back pocket.
“I brought you a care package,” he said, walking over to the bag he brought. “From the folks.” He hoisted the colorful bag onto my kitchen counter.
“That’s nice.”
“I was over there crunching some numbers for Dad yesterday.”
I furrowed my brow.
“He’s trying to figure out if he can afford a boat.”
I rolled my eyes. “More like looking for any excuse to hang out with you.”
“Yeah. I figured that out pretty quick once I got there.”
I rocked up on my toes. “Do you know what they sent?”
“Are you suggesting I might’ve raided your care package before bringing it to you?”
“Did you?”
“Yeah,” he said. “But only because there are perishables that I had to put in the fridge last night. And I promise I only added to it.” He pulled out a Tupperware container full of brownies. “These are from Kelsey.”
“Awesome. It’s about time my being officially related to her paid off.”
“And Mom and Dad sent wine—” He started unloading the bag onto the counter. “Some cheese and crackers.”
“Fancy,” I said, turning a block of Camembert over in my hands.
“And a selection of gift cards.” He spread them on the counter between us like a Vegas dealer.
I slid them out of the fan one by one, reading each as I went. There was one for Starbucks, Amazon, and Melt Shop, my new go-to grilled cheese place. “Wow. How thoughtful.”
“I think they miss you more than they’ve let on.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Mom didn’t stop asking questions about you the whole time we were having lunch, and she seemed pretty annoyed that I couldn’t answer any of them.”
“So now you’re here and full of questions?”
“I don’t know if I’m full of questions, but I know you can’t eat all that cheese by yourself.”
I laughed and slid the Emmental to one side. “That’s your favorite, right?”
“It’ll do.”
“Make yourself comfortable,” I said, nodding towards the small table.
“I take it you don’t do much entertaining,” he said, pulling a chair out while I loaded everything into the fridge.
“Are you kidding? I could barely host a game of checkers at that table.”
“How’s the roommate?”
“Great.” I closed the fridge and grabbed two plates. “I actually went to see her show for the first time yesterday.”
“And?”
“She was incredible,” I said, carrying the plates and cheese over to the table. “Like, Meryl-better-watch-her-
back talented.”
“Wow.”
“And she’s super easy to live with,” I said, retrieving the crackers and a knife. “Way more low maintenance than me, anyway.”
“Who isn’t?”
“Good one.” I sat down across from him and unwrapped the block of cheese between us. “Help yourself.”
He sliced some cheese while I opened the family-size box of Ritz my mom sent.
“And what about work?” he asked, setting some cheese on my plate. “You running the place yet?”
“Not exactly. But I’ve been learning a ton, and my boss has been trusting me with more and more responsibility.”
He stacked some cheese on a cracker. “That’s good. And you’re enjoying it?”
“Yeah. As much as a person can enjoy something they have to do to pay the bills.”
“I know the feeling,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Speaking of which, you’re not behind on anything, are you? Because you know you can come to me if you need a spot.”
“I’m fine, Matt, thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I’m making ends meet, and when I can’t afford to do something, I try to let that spur me on instead of getting despondent.”
“I’m proud of you,” he said, his eyes smiling.
“Thanks,” I said, slightly embarrassed that he would say that when I hadn’t done anything other people my age don’t do every day. “It helps that I’ve been volunteering at the homeless shelter around the corner.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Reminds me how lucky I am to have a fridge stocked with wine and cheese, for example.”
“Be careful,” he said. “You have to keep your distance from people who are down on their luck and don’t have anything to lose.”
“I can handle myself.” I felt a buzz in my back pocket, slid my phone into my lap, and smiled as I read Landon’s text asking me to a Knicks game the following weekend.
When I looked up, Matt’s eyes were large and accusatory. “What was that about?”
“Nothing.” The word came out more sing-song than I intended.
“Are you seeing somebody?”
I scrunched my nose.
“Margot.”
“Maybe.”
He shook his head.
“What?” I asked, annoyed at his obvious disapproval.
“You’re supposed to be branching out and meeting people, not getting hung up on some guy.”
“You’re not the authority on what’s good for me. Besides, you’d like him. I know you would.”
He folded his arms. “Doubtful.”
“Where do you get off? I’ve made a fraction of the mistakes in life that you have.”
“Not when it comes to guys.”
“Boys,” I said. “That was the problem. Those other people I dated were immature boys.”
“And this guy’s a man, is he?”
“Yeah,” I said, holding his gaze. “He is.”
“He better not be fucking ancient with talk like that.”
“So what if he is? Do you really not trust my judgment?”
“Of course I trust your judgment,” he said. “It’s the men of New York I don’t trust around my little sister.”
“I’m not little anymore.”
“Do Mom and Dad know you’re seeing someone?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t tell them before I told you. And there’s nothing to tell, anyway. The whole thing is sort of new and—”
“So it’s not serious?”
“Not yet,” I lied, since it seemed like the only thing I could say that would make him calm down.
“Good. Because the last thing you need is to get swept up in someone else’s life when you’re trying to make your own way.”
“Says you.”
“Seriously, Margot. There are a lot of shysters in this city.”
“Like people who try to micromanage their grown-ass sisters?”
“Point taken,” he said, raising his palms as a truce. “As long as you know I’m only concerned because I care.”
“Why don’t you show me you care by trusting me for a change?”
“I’ll try,” he said, barely able to choke out the words.
That’s when I knew Landon was right. My brother wasn’t ready for me to be serious about anyone, let alone his best friend.
T H I R T Y S I X
- Landon -
Enough days had passed since our run in at the theatre that I figured Dick must’ve come to his senses and decided that he could trust Margot and me to keep things professional.
Not that we’d done that. I was putting my hands on her every chance I could get, taking bold and irresponsible risks to do so. They were the kinds of risks most guys probably got out of their system in high school, but I’d never had a girl in my life worth sneaking around for. Until now.
“You wanted to see me?” I asked, stepping into Dick’s office Friday afternoon.
He leaned back in his tall chair, folded his hands over the top of his round belly, and waited until I closed the door to speak. “I’m calling time’s up on your office romance, Landon.”
“Excuse me?” It was a pathetic attempt to buy time, but reversing out of the room with pistol fingers and pretending I’d never come in didn’t seem like an option.
“Sit down.”
I did as I was told but maintained an air of ignorance, believing any physical show of weakness or guilt would spell instant defeat.
He shook his head like he’d just called me into the principal’s office. “You and I both know I can’t have you mixing business and pleasure this way, not after our recent troubles.”
“Which are irrelevant.”
One of his bushy gray eyebrows arched. “First of all, I decide what’s relevant. And second of all, I considered letting it go. I did. I’m not a monster. I know office flirtations happen, but this thing with you and the new intern has obviously gone beyond that.”
“With all due respect, she’s a full-time employee now,” I said, hoping to make the situation seem as far from foul play as possible. “You promoted her yourself.”
“Which is exactly how I’ll fire her if you don’t put a stop to these shenanigans.”
I clenched my jaw. How dare he fucking sit there and judge my personal life! The guy didn’t know a single goddamned thing about me apart from the fact that I showed up on time every day and outworked every single person in my division. Hell, I could say the same thing about Margot.
“Seriously, Landon. You know the rules, and as a trusted mentor, I hope you know my advice is coming from the right place.”
Who refers to themselves as a trusted mentor? I certainly never called him that. “What advice?”
“End it. End it as soon as possible,” he said, his tone suggesting a lack of alternative options. “For the sake of your career.”
I kept my eyes on him but didn’t say anything. I feared if I did he would see how much this was hurting me. Besides, it wasn’t his business how long I’d been crazy about this girl or how much more brightly the sun shone since I’d let her into my life. All he cared about was the company’s reputation, which was under scrutiny for reasons that had nothing to do with us.
“If she’s really the one, she’ll understand,” he said, splaying his fat fingers on the desk between us. “Trust me.”
“And if I say no?”
He sighed. “It’ll be the last time you ever say no to me. That’s for damn sure.”
I raised my eyebrows. Was that a threat?
“I don’t want to fire you,” he said, tilting his head like he pitied me. “That’s why we’re having this conversation.”
I swallowed.
“But I’ve fired better talent than you, and it will be no skin off my nose.”
Yeah. Definitely a threat.
“And I assure you, if you give me no choice, and Margot gets the break of her life because of it, it’ll destroy your relationship anyway.”
I couldn
’t tell anymore if his threats were coming from a genuine place or if he was just getting off on playing puppeteer, haphazardly swinging the strings that controlled my fate. “You’re being unreasonable, Dick, this—”
“No,” he said, lifting a palm. “Unreasonable is earning the company’s trust and then betraying that trust by encouraging us to invest time and resources in someone to suit your personal—and completely inappropriate—agenda.”
“That’s unfair. She’s a brilliant hire. The best in years.”
“I know,” he said, raising his chubby hands in the air. “She’s almost as good as you.”
She was better, and if he couldn’t see that he was a bigger idiot than I thought.
“But I don’t want to have this conversation again.” He leaned forward. “Frankly, you’re lucky we’re having it at all since my gut is telling me to just let her go.”
I stuck my tongue in my cheek and bit down on it.
“The only reason I didn’t jump straight to that option is because I think she’s too proud to mope around the office after you break up with her.”
Unlike Dick, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how she would react to something like that. Breaking up with her had never occurred to me. Even in those cowardly moments when I’d chosen to give her space, permanently distancing myself had never been an option in my mind. She’d always been one of the few constant, good things in my life. And I was reluctant to believe this shit was happening right when we’d finally gotten so close to something solid.
“If it were any other girl,” he said. “I wouldn’t waste my breath.”
I pressed my lips together, trying to decide whether I should tell him to go fuck himself or just walk out.
“But like you said, she’s a good hire, and I know you’ll do the right thing,” he said. “Especially when this little hiccup is the only thing standing between you and a promotion.”
Unbelievable. Suddenly, dropping a few F-bombs seemed like more than he deserved.
“I’ll give you the weekend to sort it out,” he said, extending his arms like he was handing me an invisible gift. “I know these personal matters are a bit sensitive and require intelligent timing.”
I squeezed the armrests of my chair.
“Fortunately, that’s always been a strength of yours.”