“No, it is. I just realized I’ve been talking this entire time. I must be boring you to death.”
“Not at all. Your family is much more interesting than mine.”
She lifted a slice of pizza from the pan and placed it on his plate, then served a slice for herself. “Tell me about them. What was your life like growing up?”
Normally, Craig would say something like, “It was good,” or “I had the perfect childhood.” These were his standard phrases, and people were satisfied by them because they didn’t want to know more. Oftentimes, it felt like people were waiting for him to stop talking so they could go back to talking about themselves.
It wasn’t that way with Rose, and he suspected she wouldn’t be satisfied with a simple answer. She would try to analyze him, and beyond that, her being so forthcoming made him feel like he needed to reciprocate.
“My mom and dad both worked at a software company.” He took a bite of pizza. The cheese burned the roof of his mouth, but he didn’t care. It was too good. He took another bite.
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, fancy. Tech jobs run in the family.”
“Not exactly. My mom was a secretary and my dad was a janitor.” He paused, waiting for her to react or look disappointed, but she didn’t say anything. “They were with the company from the beginning, and stayed on as the place became huge. The CEO loved both of them and offered to pay for me to go away to private school.”
“No way! Like boarding school?”
He nodded. “Starting from age ten, I spent most of the year living in Massachusetts.”
Her jaw dropped. “That’s so far away! You must’ve missed your parents so much.”
He had, but being the eldest child, he’d never wanted to show weakness. “It was a great education, and I got to know a lot of kids from important families. Eventually, it paid off. I got into Princeton.”
She took a bite of her pizza crust and set the rest down. “That’s impressive. Your parents must be so proud.”
He nodded. “Yeah. They are.”
Rose sat back, her smile fading. “That’s so much pressure for a little kid though. Did you feel like your family’s success was on your shoulders?”
Suddenly the pizza felt very dry. Craig took a sip of water. “I guess you could say that.”
She nodded, watching him.
“I still do.” He sighed, wiping his hands on a napkin. “I’ve never actually told anyone that.”
“Does it feel like there is a little bit of weight off your shoulders now?”
He laughed. “Not really, but it’s nice to say it out loud.”
“Here. Have more pizza.” She pushed another slice onto his plate. “And keep talking.”
He really wanted to keep talking. The look in her eyes made him really believe she wanted to hear about this.
But no. He wasn’t going to bore her with his life. She couldn’t possibly want to know this stuff. She was being polite. It was time to change the subject.
“There’s nothing else to say.” He cleared his throat. “How do you like your office?”
Chapter Twelve
Aha, she’d gone too far. Rose needed to be careful with what she said. Craig was her boss, after all. Not her friend.
It was her fault. She was giddy about the review Seymour had given her, happy about her new job and her first paycheck. Still, just because Craig was approachable and close to her age, it didn’t mean –
“Wait. How old are you?” Rose asked as she grabbed another slice of pizza.
Craig raised his eyebrows, a glint in his eye. “How old do I look?”
She sat back and crossed her arms. “Nineteen.”
