A Break in Communications

Chapter 3

Anna

I jumped out of my skin when I turned out of the stairs and found Lucy Masters standing at my apartment door, leaning back with a casual look on her face, phone up to her ear nodding along, and I dropped my bag by my side, slipping from my hand and hitting the floor with a soft thump.

“ Lucy? ” I put my hands up. “What the hell are you—how did you get here?”

She smiled wider, signaling for me to pause. I bristled, squeezing my hands by my sides, and she spoke into the phone. “Don’t worry, just my friend. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Mm… mm-hm. Love you too. Bye now.”

See you tomorrow? Love you too? Unless she was the type of daddy’s girl who had to visit her family every day after work, which I highly, highly doubted, she was seeing someone. That someone in their right mind would date Lucy Masters, I couldn’t get my head around, but more pressingly, was she planning on ditching her partner to spend the night at my apartment?

She hung up, slipping her phone back into her pocket, and she beamed at me, hands in her pockets, kicking one foot up against the door behind her. “So, we’re on a first-name basis outside of work?”

“What—” I scowled, mostly at myself. I’d been so stunned I’d let Lucy slip out of my mouth instead of Masters, and now I felt gross. “Don’t dodge the question, Masters. How the hell did you get here before me? How do you know my address?”

“I looked it up. You’d be surprised how easy it is to find these things.”

I glowered, picking up my bag. “Well, great. Now we have a stalking case. Can you get lost?”

“I already set out the terms and conditions, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me that.” I sucked in a sharp breath. I was not letting her goad me. She wasn’t getting a rise out of me.

She smiled sweetly. “Baby girl?”

She was getting a rise out of me. “Get the fuck out of my sight, Masters.”

“Give me the documents, and I will.”

“Absolutely fucking not. Get your own path to the office.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What kind of executive communications director doesn’t share documents for an important task when it’s needed for the firm?”

“Me. Now get lost. ”

She frowned. “Darling, I know you can’t get over me, but… you do realize this is bigger than a little competition between us, right? This is a delicate case, and if we lose it because of this, it’s not going to reflect well on you.”

I glared, squeezing my fists tight. “And it’s going to reflect well on you if you’re following me to my house?”

“Do you want to bring it to higher management? Talk to Berg? I’m trying to get the documents to save one of our biggest clients, even if I have to follow you around begging. I’d be willing to try it.”

Ugh… she was winning, and I hated it. I had to stop and pull myself back out of the bubbling anger in my skull, think logically.

Even if I didn’t like it, I knew Lucy was damn good at her job. If we both worked on the Gould and Stephens event, we’d retain the account for sure. All I had to do was make sure that credit went to me—that I positioned myself as the leader on the project. And I had this advantage, so I’d take it.

“Fine,” I said, my voice low. “On conditions.”

She raised her eyebrows, a smile on her lips. “That’s exciting. You’re setting conditions now?”

“I’m not giving you the documents. But you can ask me for anything you like off them, and I’ll tell you.”

She laughed, once, short and sharp, and then she said what I never would have expected, which was, “Deal. Works for me.”

Seriously? No bartering, no snarky commentary, no back-and-forth? I stared at her for a second before I said, “Okay… great. So we have a deal, and you can get lost.”

“Mm… I don’t think so. I’m putting in extra hours tonight. So if I need you to tell me what’s in the documents, then I’ll have to stick around to get it done.”

“Masters—go get a life.”

She laughed. “Like you weren’t planning on working all night too, darling?”

Ugh. She had a point. “You’re not staying the night at my place.”

She beamed. “We made a deal.”

Dammit. We did. Why did it always end up feeling like she was winning? I sighed, hard, pushing past her and unlocking the door. Easier to just let her have it at this point, I guess. “Back-to-back people sleeping on my couch. Why the hell not. Just don’t make a mess.”

“Home sweet home,” she said, following me inside, setting her laptop case down on the kitchen table, looking around. “Not a lot of Christmas cheer here.”

I snorted, throwing my bag onto the sofa and hanging up my jacket. “And you live in Santa’s workshop.”

“You don’t even have a tree? We put up the tree first thing in November.”

Lucy did not strike me as a Christmas decorator type. Probably the partner did the decorating while she criticized, and she called that decorating together. “Well, I guess we can head to the Christmas tree farm together and pick out the perfect one for my holiday home.”

She stretched her arms out over her head. “Is that an invitation, Preston? I know a really cute place upstate, they do little gingerbread-themed drinks too.”

I glowered at her. “How do you have the time for that bullshit?”

“It’s a matter of what you make time for. I squeeze that bullshit in, because I care about beautiful things. Let me know if you want to go have our Christmas tree date.”

I wrinkled my nose, kicking my shoes off. “Don’t make me vomit, Masters. I’m taking a shower. You can drink water from the tap and sit at the kitchen table, and aside from that, don’t touch anything.”

She walked to the window, touching it and immediately violating our contract. “Some string lights here would really add a little magic and character.”

“I’ll string you up,” I muttered, grabbing my pajamas hung neatly on the door on my way into the bathroom.

Surprisingly, though, she was behaving herself well enough when I got out of the bathroom, sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop open in front of her, and she’d used a glass, but other than that, she was just drinking water that came from the tap.

“What’s your wi-fi passcode?”

“Who the hell calls it a passcode? ”

She tapped on her keyboard. “It says that’s wrong. Is that sentence case, all lowercase?”

There was nothing that could shake this woman… I went to the kitchen, turning on the espresso machine. I’d need it. “Cumberbatch. All lowercase.”

She looked up. “Like Benedict?”

“You invite yourself into my personal life, you see my personal life.”

“Big fan?”

“I’m a big fan of you closing your mouth. It’s easy to remember.”

She smiled wider. “Big Sherlock fan growing up?”

I felt my face prickle, turning away. “You have three more questions allotted tonight. Is that one of the ones you want to ask?”

“No, ma’am. I already know the answer from seeing you blush. An espresso for me, please.”

“I didn’t offer.”

“I didn’t ask.” She paused. “Wouldn’t want to use up one of my three questions, after all.”

I laughed.

Why the hell did I laugh? I didn’t think anything had ever been so mortifying in my life. I wasn’t laughing at Lucy Masters’ jokes. How humiliating was that? “God, I wish you’d leave,” I said, trying to cover it up like I was just laughing at her, and I set about making her an espresso. For whatever God-forsaken reason. “Ethiopian or Guatemalan? Do you even know what that means?”

“So you’re a coffee connoisseur, Preston. I had no idea. Which one is your favorite?”

I liked the Ethiopian and didn’t want her to drink it, so I said, “Guatemalan.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to use up your favorite. Ethiopian, then, please.”

Son of a bitch. “You’re down to two questions, by the way.”

“Dammit. I’ll have to be more careful.”

Maybe making her an espresso was worth it.

I made myself a macchiato and an espresso for her, both with the Ethiopian coffee beans, and we sat down to where she said, “Tell me what files you have on Gould.”

Oh, she was playing it like that, was she? I opened my laptop, pointedly not looking at her. “That’s not how we ask nicely, is it?”

“No, it isn’t. Now tell me.”

Fine. I could play it like that. “All kinds of files.”

“Name the ones you’ve looked at.”

“No thank you.”

She smiled wider. “If you don’t, I’m going to move closer to you every time I ask. Do you want me on your lap this time, Preston?”

I sipped my coffee lightly, suppressing a smile. “Not particularly. One question left, Masters.”

“Ah, Christ.” She rubbed her forehead, laughing. “You’re not making this easy for me.”

“Mm-hm. Do you realize I don’t want you here?”

“No. I thought you loved me. Name the files we have on Gould.”

We went long enough like that, me dodging everything I could, that I was drooping with sleep heavy in my eyes by the time I gave up, and I rattled off a nominal few things from the documents—info from deep dives on Matthew Gould and what might have helped win him over, as well as some details around his work the last few months and what he might feel like was going above and beyond—and I finally shut my laptop at the end of the night, standing up feeling like I was made of lead.

“I’m going to bed,” I said, covering a yawn. “There’s not a lot of food in the apartment. Go out if you want something to eat, and don’t come back.”

She shut her laptop, raising her eyebrows at me. “You haven’t eaten since lunch.”

“I’m not hungry. If you are, you know what to do. Goodnight, Masters. Sleep on the couch.”

“What do you do for breakfast?”

I stopped, looking back at her, studying her for a second, before I said, “Typically just eggs, with toast or grits or something, but I’m not picky. That was your last question.”

She smiled wider, standing up. “I know. Goodnight, Preston.”

I glowered. Why did it feel like she’d won?

Probably because she was the one who’d muscled her way into my apartment. I barely got anything done, with her sitting there drilling me for information from the documents. Annoying to say the least… guess that was her tactic. If I wasn’t giving her what she wanted, she’d get in my way until I couldn’t get anything done either.

So I wasn’t totally sure why I went to bed in a better mood than usual.

∞∞∞

Good mood flatlined in the morning, when I woke up to knocking at the door, and I rolled out of bed muttering curses. Should have realized she’d go out for breakfast and just bang on the door until I let her back in. Maybe I should have rappelled from the window instead. She’d left her laptop here, as well, so maybe I could have gone through it—

But I got to the door, and I threw it open, saying, “What do you—” but I cut off there when I saw Mom there wearing one of her ugly Christmas sweaters, looking at me wide-eyed. Didn’t typically open the door yelling at her. I felt myself flush. “Mom? What—what’s going on?”

“Hi, honey. I just thought I’d come by and check on you. Veronica mentioned how late you got home the other night, and I was just in the neighborhood and also I was wondering if I should bring anything to your party today?”

I took a long breath, letting it out slowly. “Did Veronica not say anything about that party…?”

“Oh, she did. Told me how awful it’s going to be there. There’s no way I’m letting my sweet baby go to that alone.”

Son of a bitch. Did nothing work with this woman? I put on a smile. “I think I’ll really be okay, Mom, it’s just… you know…”

My life was a never-ending nightmare, because that was when I heard the door open behind me, and Lucy’s footsteps coming out of the bathroom, and Mom’s eyes moved past me, going wide as a look of fiendish delight spread over her features, and now I thought maybe I’d go out the window without rappelling. Lucy’s voice came from behind me. “Oh, you’re up,” she said, and I whirled back on her.

“Lucy—”

I was making it worse. I didn’t realize I’d first-named her until I saw that glint in her eyes. “Good morning, Anna,” she said, looking past me. “And you’re Anna’s mother?”

Her shirt from last night wrinkled and looking casual with just the shirt against her pinstripe pants, along with noticeably not wearing a bra this early in the morning, did not help the situation. At all. No way Lucy knew what my mom was like, and yet—

Mom was just about glowing when she responded with, “ Lucy? Oh—it’s so wonderful to meet you, Lucy. Please, just call me Maria. Or just Mom.”

I was going to kill them both. I cut in front of Mom, blocking her view of Lucy, my head spinning. “Sorry—she’s my coworker—we have a big project going on and we were working late together last night.”

Mom beamed. “She’s beautiful, sweetheart.”

I pursed my lips through the most patronizing smile anyone had ever given. Pity Guinness wasn’t here to record it. “I’ll pass the compliment along, Mom. I’m sure she’ll love it. Please don’t show up to the party, okay, Mom? I mean it, you’re not supposed to be there and it’s going to be very very boring.”

Lucy had it out for me—what the hell else was new—because she leaned against the doorway next to me, smiling sweetly at Mom. “I didn’t realize Anna was so shy with her family. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“ Masters… ” If it weren’t for the witness present, I’d strangle this woman to death right now. I turned back to Mom with the best smile I could summon up, which was, to put it frankly, bad. “Listen, Mom, I’ve got to get to work soon—”

“So you two work together, Lucy?” Mom said, absolutely glowing. She looked like a fangirl meeting her favorite actor at a convention… I felt like I’d had too much to drink at that convention and was going to hurl. Lucy beamed.

“Ah… yeah. That’s how we met. You know how it is—couple of workaholics.”

“Masters. Stop talking to my mother.”

Mom giggled—straight-up giggled into her hand. “That’s so like Anna… oh, Lucy, it’s just—it’s just so nice to meet you. How long have you two known each other?”

“Two years. August 31 st was when she transferred into my department.”

Why—did she know that off the top of her head? I shot her a look, but she wasn’t giving me the time of day. Mom sighed happily.

“That’s so sweet… I’m so glad.”

“Me too,” Lucy said. “Say, Mom—”

“ Do not, ” I started, but I’d have more luck convincing the world to stop spinning.

“—don’t you think this apartment would look nicer with a fresh Christmas tree? I’ve been inviting Anna to a tree farm upstate, but she’s always too busy with work, but maybe if I invite you too, I can get her to relent.”

I put a hand to my head. I should have just given Lucy the documents. Should have walked away. Should have quit my job and moved to the mountains to become a monk. Mom looked around wildly, like she’d just found out she’d won the lottery.

“I… I think that sounds like a wonderful time,” she said, practically breathless. “A whole family bonding experience.”

I strained a smile. “You know Lucy isn’t a part of our family. She’s my coworker.”

Mom gave me a scandalized look. “Veronica—no—Anna—you do not need to be so shy. I’m your mother.”

“I’m not shy. ”

Lucy put out a hand to Mom. “Let me see your phone? I’ll give you my number, and we can coordinate it.”

“Oh—of—of course,” Mom said, about as breathless as if a celebrity had offered her an autograph, fumbling her phone over to Lucy, who was on a murderous rampage this morning, because she lit up at Mom’s lock screen. “The Hague. Have you been?”

I hadn’t thought Mom could smile wider. Apparently she could. Christmas magic. “Oh… oh, not in some time now, but… but oh, yes. My cousin Eliza moved there and we’ve gotten to visit a few times, it’s… have you?”

“Not to the Hague, but it’s on my list,” Lucy said, which I would have bet three kidneys was a lie. “I’ve been to the Netherlands, but only passing through on the train. You’ll have to tell me more about the Hague next time, okay?”

That did it. I was fed up with this. I strained a smile at Lucy. “I’m sure my mother would love to talk all about it, but for now, don’t you need to get back to someone waiting for you at home, Masters?”

Lucy didn’t even bat an eyelid, barely glancing up from where she put her number into my mom’s phone, a sentence I never thought I’d dream up. “I already told Grandma I’d be spending the night with you, darling. Don’t worry.”

Grandma? That was what she came up with? Jesus, Mom would buy it, too.

Mom bought it, smiling sweetly at her. “Oh—do you look after your grandmother?”

“As much as I can,” Lucy said, finishing putting her contact into the phone and handing it back. “I work almost as much as Anna does, so I can’t exactly be there full-time, but I do what I can. She basically raised me, it’s the least I can do.”

God, talk about backfiring. I closed my eyes, breathing out slowly, and I gave up, letting Mom take the conversation, where she said, “That’s so sweet. Oh, that’s just wonderful, it’s… well. Oh, no, I should really be letting you both get ready for work and everything, but Lucy, it’s just so wonderful to finally get to meet you, Anna’s talked all about you—”

“Oh—have I?” I said, raising my eyebrows so far they probably started contributing to pollution of low-earth orbit. Lucy faked a bashful smile.

“Ah… only good things, I hope.”

“Oh—just the best things,” she said. “Okay, Anna, honey, I love you, I’m proud of you—”

“Mom—”

“And I’ll see you later today, okay?”

“Please don’t. ”

“Bye, sweetheart,” she said, giving me a hug, and she glowed in Lucy’s direction. “Bye, Lucy. I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon,” she said, and I bit back my murderous instinct for long enough to close the door and hear Mom’s footsteps walking away, but it backfired, because Lucy took the opening to give me that self-satisfied smile and say, “Your mom’s lovely.”

“ Why the hell are you telling her we’re a couple?”

She raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t say we were a couple.”

“What—you really implied it. And Mom’s already been—” I raked my fingers back through my hair. “How did you even know she’s been champing at the bit looking for me to date someone?”

She blinked, all faux-innocent. “Well, I know that now.”

“Fuck off. Also, looking after your sweet elderly grandma who raised you? Fuck off straight back to the Hallmark Channel with that bullshit.”

She gave me the kind of smile you gave a toddler throwing a tantrum over something dumb, which just made me want to rip my hair out. “Glad to know you think I’m that sweet, darling. Do you want me to call up Grandma now and prove she exists?”

“I—” No way she was telling the truth. I felt my face prickle. “You live with your grandmother? Really?”

“You’re so invested in my life story. That’s touching. My father threw me out when I came out as a lesbian at sixteen, and Grandma took me in. She’s restricted to her wheelchair these days and has a hard time preparing food for herself, so I help out.”

I… couldn’t tell if this woman was serious. I also had no idea she was a lesbian… if she even was telling the truth. The whole office knew I was bisexual since a well-intentioned Pride event gone wrong last year—though everyone took it well—but if she was a lesbian, she’d managed to escape my fate.

Ugh—I’d be a too-kind dupe if I believed her wrongly, or I’d be a heartless monster if I called her a liar wrongly. Like a stupid version of Pascal’s Wager, I guess I’d accept it. I pinched my brow. “Okay… okay. That’s very lovely. Really thought you were on the phone with a husband or something last night. My… apologies… for assuming.”

She gave me an astonished look, mouth open, for a second, before she said, “You didn’t think I was straight, did you?”

“What—how was I supposed to know? I don’t go around assuming everyone’s gay—”

She shook her head, smiling, half-laughing. “Wow. You know what they say about assuming.”

“Shut up. I need to make breakfast. And you need to—”

She gestured to the kitchen, which—had dishes out in it. Since when? I’d been so focused on the unfolding catastrophe that I hadn’t even clocked it. “Already made you breakfast, dear. Why do you think I asked? Hashbrowns and grits and I’ll cook some eggs for you now, as soon as you tell me how you like them.”

She wasn’t serious. Really? Really? How… humiliating.

I had no idea what the hell she was getting at here. All I knew was that I was sick to death of her winning every step of the way.

I massaged my temple. “Sunny-side up. I’ll go take a quick shower. I expect them done perfectly and timed for the exact moment I sit down.”

She didn’t miss a beat. “Will do, Preston.”

One day— one day —I’d get the upper hand. Or die trying.

I’d bury that woman if I had the chance. I knew she’d do the same.