A Break in Communications

Chapter 4

Lucy

I was so desperately in love with Anna Preston.

It had been two years and ninety-seven days since she’d first walked into our office, and it had been like a divine revelation seeing her for the first time, not bothering with all the fake smiles and politeness everyone else put on. A sharp look of deathly seriousness, cool eyes taking in every detail of the office and everyone she was working with, not saying anything more than she needed to, just short and to-the-point greetings, and I’d felt my heart beating so fast it felt like it might have burst. When she looked at me and just held eye contact a second, coolly appraising me, before she put out a hand for a handshake and said, Anna Preston, nice to meet you, I’d thought maybe I’d pass away on the spot.

If there was a god, then there wasn’t now. Any artist had to retire after creating their true magnum opus. Anna Preston was ambrosia, an indulgence before divinity itself, her dark voice the honeyed nectar of the gods.

And she didn’t like when I tried to be nice. It hadn’t taken long to realize she spoke in sarcasm and dry barbs, and she only responded when I did the same. And when she started antagonizing me, started pushing me demanding I let her take lead with projects insisting she could handle them better, I couldn’t help myself from joining in, and—well, one thing led to another, and we were lifting things off each other’s computers, she was cornering me in the hallway and refusing to let me leave, and I was pinning her against the wall or into her chair while it was just the two of us in the office, each demanding things of the other.

When I’d found out she was bisexual, I almost had a heart attack. And I’d never have forgiven myself if I didn’t at least try—this was the most beautiful and perfect woman ever designed by the heavens, sent to drive Aphrodite into a jealous rage—so I tried flirting with her a little.

For an entire year. And here we were now, and it turns out the entire time, the woman thought I was straight. Heard me talking to Grandma and thought it was my husband.

But it didn’t matter. Just because I couldn’t in a million years have Anna didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the game, the back-and-forth. I desperately wanted this promotion to the executive’s office, but mostly because if I didn’t get it, then Anna would, and she’d go setting her sights higher and spend more time away trying to leave to a higher office. Whereas if I got the promotion, she’d probably come storming into the office every morning to demand something, and against my better judgment, that sounded like bliss.

So one way or another, here I was, delicately laying a perfectly cooked egg down on the plate as Anna came out of the bathroom, wearing a dress today—with the holiday party after work today, we had a little more flexibility and were told to dress nicely, and Anna in that fitted black dress with a turtleneck collar, long brown waves still damp around her shoulders, I wasn’t noticing a single thing at that party except for her. I set the plate down in front of her just as she sat at the table, tapping a cappuccino next to the plate with it, and she arched one perfect manicured eyebrow at me.

“Did I ask for a cappuccino?”

I leaned sidelong against the table, kicking one foot up over the other, all casual-cool as best I could manage with her dark eyes glinting golden in the low light in the kitchen. “That’s not what you say when someone gives you something, is it, Preston?”

She settled in at her seat, tapping the egg with her fork. Making sure I cooked it right. As if I wouldn’t when it was for Anna Preston. “I might take neat espresso with my breakfast.”

“Every time you come in with your own coffee in the morning, it’s a cappuccino.”

She arched her eyebrows at me again. “Staring at me every time I come in, Masters?”

“Better be used to it. Everyone’s going to be staring at you when you go in today dressed like that.”

“Uh-huh. Hm. Thanks for the breakfast, I guess. I didn’t know you knew how to cook.”

She complimented me. Couldn’t have been less direct, but she complimented me. I thought I’d pass out. I sat down at my own chair across from her, my breakfast a little colder than hers by now, but as long as Anna Preston had her breakfast hot and ready the way she liked it, all was well in the world. “Of course. I cook for my grandmother. Or should I say, my husband?”

She looked away, a pink flush creeping in over her cheeks. She always did that when she got something wrong—which was so rare as to be a little treat seeing this, avoiding eye contact, shifting how she sat, that cute little blush. “Look, I apologize for having assumed.”

“Aw, well, if we’re all apologizing and moving on, then I forgive you, sweetheart.”

She wrinkled her nose, picking up her coffee. “Maybe I should wonder if you poisoned this.”

“I even made sure I made it with your favorite coffee beans, and you still can’t thank me?”

She faltered. “Ah…”

“Your mother would be very disappointed, I’m sure.”

She snorted, hanging her head, and it was a small wonder I didn’t scream and jump up and down at making Anna Preston laugh. “Really?” she said drily. “ I’ll tell Mom? ”

“Mm. She clearly thinks very highly of us both.”

She took a second summoning up her force of will, and she strained a smile at me. “Thank you for breakfast, Lucy, darling. ”

I saw the gates of heaven. My brain short-circuited, and the only thing present in my mind was aimless screaming. I kept myself from falling out of my chair and having a few heart attacks on the floor, and I smiled flawlessly back at her. “You’re very welcome, darling.”

“Ugh.” She broke, going back to her food, but I was pretty sure it was a little smile at the corners of her lips.

Ah, god, she was beautiful.

Luckily I always kept a change of clothes and some makeup in my car—I’d learned the hard way from a mortifying coffee spill early on in my career—so I was able to go grab them from the trunk and go back to take a shower, since Anna was kind enough to let me back inside. Just a regular workday outfit, nothing on the level of Anna Preston in that dress, but not in a million years would I be mad enough to think I could match her anyway. I took a minute applying a little more makeup than I usually did, and when I stepped out of the bathroom, I leaned against the wall at the end of the hall, flicking my hair back and getting a look from where Anna was packing her bag up.

“What, are you expecting camera flashes?”

“How do I look?”

“Ah…” She looked me over once, and turned back to her bag. “Hideous. You look like you just stumbled in half-starved from the wilderness.”

“Oh, perfect. That’s the hot look right now. Let me know if you need some style tips.”

She rolled her eyes, but I swear she was smiling a little. Maybe it was wishful thinking. “Go to work, Masters. We’re not driving together.”

“Oh, we’re not? Carpooling is so environmentally responsible, you know.”

“You are not leaving your car at my apartment. Go…” she started, punctuating each word as she closed compartments on her bag, “to… work.”

And maybe it was fate that, even though we were environmentally wasteful and didn’t drive together, we arrived at the office at the same time, Anna’s car pulling into the lot behind me, and I may have dawdled a little bit at the elevator so that the doors would open right as Anna was coming into the hall behind me. I stepped in, leaning in the doorway to keep the doors open, and she rolled her eyes as she stomped inside, shoulders hunched, hands in the pockets of her sleek black coat.

“Get a personality outside of me, Masters.”

“I do. Together with my loving husband.”

“Shut your mouth.”

The elevator took us up to the floor with our office, where Sean was already there at the reception desk, talking to the receptionist Gloria, neither of whom were usually here before me and Anna, Gloria wearing a sweater top with her hair up in a bun and Sean wearing a tacky tweed outfit that looked like he was dressed for a 1920s Christmas party instead of the modern day. Sean turned to us, and he lit up seeing the two of us coming in, which was how I knew he really was close to retirement—nobody in the office lit up like that very often.

“Anna, Lucy, good morning, you two—can I see you both in my office for one second?”

The dickhead didn’t say anything about how nicely she was dressed today.

Anna raised her eyebrows, folding her arms. “Both of us? In one room? I was kind of hoping I’d gotten away from her.”

Sean waved her off. “Relax, relax. You’re not in trouble. This is a good opportunity.”

Anna pursed her lips. “Can’t do it one at a time?”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Boss’s orders, Preston, dearest.”

“Ugh—stop that. Fine, fine, we’re coming.”

Sean had always loved his trees, so I guess it was no surprise his office was the first to get dressed up with the Christmas festivities, no less than three miniature Christmas trees stocked in places. Sean sat down, gesturing us to the chair across the desk, and he folded his hands on the desk.

“Change of plans for the work party,” he said. “I personally, and cordially, invited Matthew Gould around to join us.”

That was… unexpected. Anna raised her eyebrows high. “Tonight…? Why? Are we supposed to be selling him on something?”

“No, just… just… meet him. The two of you. Make sure he knows you two are the ones at the head of his case as things move forward. I don’t know if you two saw in those documents about his kids, but he’s, ah—” He tugged his collar. “He’s had some issue with the… lack of diversity at our organization.”

I hadn’t gotten much about his family out of Anna. As far as I knew, he had two kids, both in their late twenties, both married, the elder with a kid, but all signs pointed to them both being able-bodied white women. “Jessica and Charlie? What about them?”

Sean sat up straighter. “Well, just—they’re both married to women. Apparently Matthew Gould is a big proponent of diversity and LGBT because of them, and he really cares a lot about these things, so—the fact that he’s going to meet the two of you and find out the two women who are top performers on this case are a couple, I think it will really build some rapport and alleviate his concerns about diversity.”

Ah. I guess Kelcey had been in early today, too. That woman couldn’t keep gossip to herself for her life. Anna went marble-white, blinking slowly, clutching the arms of her chair, before she said, “Mister Dobbs, we are… not… a couple.”

He put his hand up, clearly embarrassed. “It’s quite all right, really. This is an inclusive workplace. Just—remember—please, that the open office, it’s, well—even if it’s just the two of you, well, it’s not a private space…”

Anna looked like she’d pass out. I kicked one leg over the other, leaning back in my chair, and I put a hand up. “Our apologies for the mishap. We won’t do anything inappropriate in the office.”

“ Lucy. ” Anna whirled on me, shooting me a look that—I didn’t think I’d ever seen her this red. She looked cute like this. Especially calling me Lucy. Made my heart do a little dance every time she did. I played innocent, batting my eyes.

“What? We won’t. It’s just the right thing to do.”

“Oh my god—”

“Thank you,” Sean said, speaking too quickly. “I told him about you two—power couple keeping this place running half the time! The future is female! He’s looking forward to it.”

I was going to pass out. The thought of someone describing me as Anna’s girlfriend… I felt lightheaded and dizzy in a way I wasn’t used to, my heart skipping every few beats. Anna made a sound in her throat.

“You… you told him… what?”

Sean sat up taller. “Well, I want it to be very clear that I believe in the two of you. There’s rules around workplace dating, but, well—you two know the rules. I think you know all the rules, actually.”

“Sean, we are not dating, ” Anna said. Sean shifted uncomfortably.

“Well, I won’t… talk about it, but, er—it’s gotten around a bit, anyway.”

Oh—the whole office thought Anna was my girlfriend. That I was Anna’s girlfriend. I couldn’t get my head around the thought, just fixating on Anna’s girlfriend like it was the center of my orbit.

“Masters…” Anna turned to me with a desperate look. I put my hands up.

“Don’t look at me. You’re the one who sat on my lap.”

Anna and Sean both made approximately the same sound in their throats. “You wouldn’t get out of my chair,” Anna said weakly, her face beet-red now.

“And instead of bringing another chair over, you sat on my lap facing me—”

“ Lucy, ” she blurted, a hand to her face. Sean cleared his throat loudly.

“Well—I just wanted to set expectations with everything. Thank you both again for your help with this project, I’m glad you’re working together so smoothly.”

Anna hung her head, mumbling something inaudible. I stood up, smiling his way. “Thank you, Sean. I promise we won’t get into any inappropriate behavior. Good luck with work today. Anything Anna and I should know before we get in?”

A quick, simple daily briefing helped take the edge off Anna’s mortification at least a little, but she was still hunched into herself when we got out of the office, cheeks still tinged red, and she shot me a look when we shut the door behind us.

“ Masters. Why are you telling everyone we’re a couple?”

I blinked innocently her way. “I didn’t say we were a couple.”

“You’re going to be the death of me, Masters,” she groaned, clutching her forehead. I suppressed a smile as best I could.

“Fighting the rumor is only going to give it more traction, darling dearest. Let’s just go along, deprive it of oxygen, and if it helps win Gould over in the process, all the better.”

She glared at me. “What exactly is your game plan here, Masters? How does this play into your promotion?”

Promotion? Oh… right. Aiming for the executive role. I didn’t feel like trying to explain that was the furthest thing from my mind right now, so I just winked at her instead, and I said, “A magician never reveals her secrets, Preston.”

“Fuck off. Go get some work done. Or don’t. Fuck it all up, see if I care. Done with seeing your stupid face today, Masters.” She stormed off, shoulders hunched, and I watched her walk away thinking how pretty her face was in profile, too. She really was divinity. Too sinfully beautiful for heaven and too divinely radiant for hell, left to grace the earth with every celestial footstep.

I guess I needed to get some work done today.