Page 88 of All's Well that Friends Well
“Explain further,” I manage to get out, setting the mug back on my desk with a littleclink.
“You asked me to observe you today,” she says matter-of-factly. “I’ve been observing. You rarely say hello to people, did you realize? So I do see some places for improvement.”
I just bet she does.
“I also see some places I could be of help as your assistant—your regular assistant, not just your PR guru,” she goes on, completely ignoring the fact that I’ve choked on tea and probably now have chamomile in my lungs. “Although am I really doing PR work if it’s notpublicrelations? It’s more intracompany relations, isn’t it?”
“Call it what you want,” I mutter, clearing my throat a few times. Then I gesture to the door. “Go home for the day, Miss Marigold. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Because no matter how well I’m acclimatizing to her presence, there’s a civil war being fought in my mind and mybody and my heart. I’m very tired—and yet being around her right now is like being attached to a live wire.
She seems able to tell that I’m struggling, because this time she doesn’t protest. She just looks at me with concern and then nods, picking up her notebook and tucking it into her pink bag.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” she says.
“Tomorrow,” I say, trying to keep my exhaustion from my voice. “And no need to come early. Just clock in at the normal time.”
She nods again as that furrow in her brow grows more prominent. Then, with a wave, she leaves.
When I pullinto the parking lot the next morning, I’m not the only one arriving. Josh, the guy who may or may not be dating Marianne, has just gotten out of his car, so I give him a nod.
Juliet said I don’t say hello to people. I can’t remember if she’s correct or not—which means she probably is.
Josh’s surprised look confirms this theory, and I do my best to hide my grimace so it doesn’t suddenly seem like I’m frowning at him.
But good grief. What’s wrong with me? Why do I never say hello? It’s not like it’s hard.
So I greet Susan as I pass the HR office, just a brief nod of acknowledgment. When I spot the guy Juliet told me about shuffling tiredly into his cubicle—Dell, whose wife can’t stick to a budget—I say hello to him too, nodding curtly.
“Dell,” I say.
Dell’s eyes go from half-closed with sleep to wide awake, like he thinks I’ve just summoned him to be laid off.
Heat creeps up my neck, and I’m not sure why—embarrassment at the attention people pay when I speak to them? Shame that I haven’t done this before? But I can feel my ears turning red, no matter the reason, and I thank my lucky stars I don’t pass directly by anyone else.
Because I think—crap.
I think I’ll probably need to start greeting people. Just suck it up and open my stupid mouth and speak. The idea puts a bit of a stomp into my step, and it’s with this attitude that I enter my office—only to find something that makes me feel even more irritable.
Juliet is here already, but she’s not alone.
There’s a man with her, close to my age, maybe, and he seems vaguely familiar. He looks up as I enter and gives me a wide, perfectly white grin, pushing golden hair away from his forehead.
“Luca, right?” the man says, holding out his hand to shake mine. “You’re looking better than last time we met.”
Ah. “The cake pan,” I mutter. He was there that day when I first met Juliet. So even though it’s the last thing in the world I want to do, I shake his hand.
“I’m Felix,” he says, still grinning good-naturedly at me. There’s a large cardboard box on my leather sofa, and Felix gestures at it. “I just came to help Jules carry some stuff.”
Juliet beams at him, a million-watt smile I almost miss because the name is still ringing in my ears.
Jules.He called herJules.
“You know you’re always welcome,” she says now, laughing and swatting him playfully on the arm. He catches her hand, twirls her around like they’re dancing, and thenpulls her close, tucking her under his arm and squeezing. She yelps with more laughter, and he laughs too, and I?—
I throw up in the back of my throat.
“Sorry,” I say through gritted teeth, because I think my jaw is clenched so hard it will shatter. “Remind me how you two know each other..?”
