Paul’s lips twitched in a grin.
“You find this funny?” Rage churned in the acid of her stomach.
“Calm down, Sylvie. You’re right. But the old guys are on their way out of this place. You’re on your way in and up. All the way to the top if you’re able to focus.” He crossed his legs casually, as if the strain of their conversation had no effect on him whatsoever. “I want to help you. What do you need to make this work?”
Sylvie looked to the ceiling tiles for answers. As if there’d be a list of helpful things she could ask her boss for pasted up there. “I’d like to reduce my teaching timetable. Slightly.” She couldn’t push it too far. “Then I can dedicate some regular hours to edits and fulfill the leadership task you set me in September.”
“Wonderful. I’ll talk to Elaine and see what we can do to cover your hours. Shall we say three hours a week?”
Sylvie blinked, surprised by how easy it had been to secure Paul’s support. “I could probably make that work.”
“Very good. Have a good rest of the day.” And he was gone.
Sylvie sank back into her chair. Freeing up her time was one thing, but she had to get the head space to make this work. She’d given her book no time at all since the start of term, since Ade had turned up with her gaggle of students.
By the end of the day, Sylvie dragged her tired, aching bones home. In the dusky commute, she wandered across Place Jean Jaurès as the street lamps glowed orange in the falling light. At the far end of the square, she noticed a familiar silhouette, headphones in, hunched over a book, lost in her own world, and blocking out the overwhelm of the city’s sounds and sights.
Sylvie approached the front of the table and waved, so she didn’t startle Ade.
“Hi.” Ade pulled on her ear buds, her face lighting up when she recognized Sylvie.
“Hey, you. Don’t you have a home to go to?”
Ade’s smile faltered. “I’ll get there eventually. I just wanted a warm drink.” She gestured to the empty chair beside her. “Will you join me?”
Home beckoned Sylvie. But the fatigue that had weighed so heavily on her shoulders as she walked up to the square had lessened. “Why not? It’s Wednesday. We’ve made it through half the week.” She raised her hand to the waiter and ordered a glass of wine. “You got me into some trouble earlier.”
Ade’s eyes widened in shock. “Me? Why?”
Sylvie grinned. “Nothing to be worried about. I’m just teasing. I had a visit from my boss asking me how I’d been spending my time recently. I had to confess to being a little distracted.” There it was. That flutter in the pit of her stomach whenever she spent time with Ade, such an enigma of a person. “You look different today,” she said, looking at Ade’s asymmetrical jacket, a much more feminine look than Sylvie had ever seen her in before.
“Do I?” Ade looked down at herself.
“You do.” Sylvie stayed in the pool of Ade’s gaze for a moment longer, unwilling to tear herself away.
“What did you mean about being distracted?” Ade asked.
Sylvie blinked slowly, not yet willing to admit to the depth of disruption that Ade was causing to her usual focus. “I had to cancel a few plans on Monday to take the boat out with you.”
“Right.” Ade nodded, guilt written on her face.
“Paul was fine with it.” Sylvie waved away any further awkwardness. “He was worried about me not meeting book deadlines. But to be honest, it all worked in my favor. Now I have some free periods from next week to get my head down.”
Ade mirrored her relief. “That sounds like a decent outcome.”
“How was your day?” Sylvie asked, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for them to download their days to one another. It was as if their friendship wasn’t in its infancy, and their souls had known each other far longer than each of them was able to articulate.
“One of the best. Checklists at the marine center. And I almost had the place to myself.” Ade’s eyes shone with satisfaction. “Greg turned up right at the end, but he’s no trouble.”
“Sounds pretty perfect.” Sylvie raised her glass. “Here’s to making it to Wednesday.”
The mid-week hump didn’t seem like such a hill with Ade sitting by her side. Her company buoyed Sylvie’s mood, and a contentment settled somewhere inside her stomach.
It was a strange situation in which to find herself, developing a connection with the American PhD student. But she couldn’t deny the strength of it. She’d been drawn across the square by a magnetic desire to hear Ade’s voice, to observe her static movement, and sit with Ade in her repose.
The force of Sylvie’s feelings scared her, but she couldn’t do anything about it except dwell in it and watch the evening pass by. She turned the key in her mind to lock away the doubt and rested in the contentment she’d found with Ade. Her worries would keep for another day.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
