“Too late. She’s got the guy in the coffee shop now.”
“KENNEDY! I’m seriously going to throw a stapler at you next! Wait, what guy in the coffee shop?”
“Whatever. Look, if Lexi doesn’t want to be dicked down by the hot Uber pastry guy, pass him my way.”
I’m saved from the stupidity when Kennedy’s phone dings. I finally say, “I’m going back to work. This is giving me a headache.”
“Hey,” Kennedy stops me, reading her text. “The guy at CyberSales wants to know if we’re coming to the industry mixer tonight. Do you guys want to go? There’s free booze until eleven and food.”
“Is that the one at the new brewery?” Dani asked, grabbing her phone to look. “Oh, it is; come on, Lex, you can fucking WALK there from your place. I could crash after, and we can watch those stupid movies you love.”
“I’ll think about it. Which actually means I’ll think about a way to get out of my prior commitment.” I used my butt to push open the door to the creative department, trying to run away from this conversation. “It’s a solid maybe, okay?”
“Come on! It’s a work function and you can be out by like eight. You need a few drinks to deal with your mom, anyway.” I wave, wishing the door would close just a little faster. She knows about my life outside of work and how crazy my family is. “What does Jesus need on a Thursday night from a hot single chick living in the middle of Los Angeles’s art district?” She yells as the door creeps to a close. “I’ll be at your place at five!”
I stop just inside the door and take a moment to soak in the blessed silence. It’s been a long week, and I just want it to be over. I take a few deep, calming breaths and head to my cubicle, dumping my stuff onto my desk while not spilling my coffee.
Kennedy clamors in behind me and bee-lines it to the new guy’s desk. Her fake giggle grates on my last remaining nerve, and I’m sure I hear her invite him out to the mixer. Good, maybe there will be enough guys to keep her company, so she leaves us alone. With any luck, the guy Dani wants to set me up with will get sucked into the Kennedy vortex and leave Dani and I to do all the drinking and dancing we can.
I slide into my chair, enter my password, and open up a file I’d been working on all morning.
I’m playing around with color variations when my mind drifts back to the coffee shop and how weird the timing of all that was. One minute, I’m breaking up with Marc the Narc, and then I’m looking into the prettiest steel-blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I snicker and shake my head. I don’t know why I’m bothering to daydream about him. I’ll never see him again, and I don’t have time for that right now. Kennedy can try her shot with him if she wants to go hunt him down.
Sometimes, I wish Ididhave time for things like meaningful relationships. My dating life has been one train wreck after another. I doubt I could land anyone who looked like that guy, and if I did, he’d be a dick. Those soft, sad eyes and a pretty smile, though. Maybe I should have given him my number. He’s probably married with three kids and cheats on his wife. Besides, even if he is single and interested, it would lead to heartbreak and sadness—especially once he met my family. Daydreaming is fun, though.
“Oh good, you’re back!” Sam yells out as he jogs down the stairs. He’s a health nut, and even though his office and the meeting rooms are four flights up, he insists on jogging up and down the stairs whenever he needs to talk to us. Some days, I wonder if he knows how the speakerphones work.
“Yeah, went to my dealer next door,” I say without looking away from my screen. I hold up the flash drive for him, and he laughs as he sits on the edge of my desk. “Dani left the prints here. Is that a new project I’m taking on or just because my desk is the first one you hit?” I point him to the large envelope sitting beside him.
“Awesome. Let me see what we’re working with.” He rips open the envelope as I continue to work. “I’ll be putting you on this job since it’s a higher priority.”
“Do you want me to stay on the branding for the weed company at the same time? No big deal either way.”
“We’ll put the cannabis company on the back burner for right now; the owner’s still deciding on the name. I’ll update that in the system tomorrow.”
He flips through the prints, stopping on a few to give them a little extra attention, then sticks a business card to the edge of my monitor.Barton Photography. Boring name, but it’s to the point—terrible logo, though.
“Should have used Silian Rail.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing, a movie quote for super nerds.”
“Another papyrus joke I don’t understand? I don’t think you’ve worked with much of Barton’s stuff yet; he’s good and a good guy. The website and password to download the shots and anything he didn’t print off are on that card. Keep it with you in case you work offsite.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I do that all the time. I’ll put those on the client database.” I turn back to the computer and then look back at Sam. “What about the tasks already on my radar?”
“I might hand your open tasks off to Kennedy to close out, at least the ones where the design is approved. The rest will go to the new guy to give him a turn in your crazy layouts.” He turns and looks across the room at where Kennedy is continuing her flirty giggle that could peel paint off the walls. Sam rolls his eyes so hard that his hat nearly falls off.
“Kennedy, do you have that presentation done yet? Because if you don’t, I’d appreciate it if you take your social life off-hours and stop scaring the new guy.”
“God! I’m just trying to make him feel welcome!”
“And I’m just trying to run a business, not a dating site.”
I cover my mouth to hide the giggle as I watch Kennedy stalk back to her desk. This is why I love Sam. He’s cool enough to let us get away with a lot, and if one person is ruining it, he doesn’t let it affect how he treats the rest of the team. He’s right on the cusp of sixty, so it’s a surprising mentality. Then again, he grew up around the Los Angeles art scene.
“So, whatisthe new project?” I ask, taking another drink and tucking the business card into my desk drawer.
