It really chafed her when that guy got anything right. She wanted him to bewrong,wrong about everything. Everything about him was so brash and obnoxious, it pained her to think he could be right about anything. But for as outspoken and opinionated as Dane DeHardt was, he was bound to eventually getsomethings right. A broken clock, and all that.
Speaking of DeHardt—the internet was still ablaze in the aftermath of hisDate with a Devilepisode. Austen didn’t care to read or watch any of the reaction pieces that were coming out, so she put her phone on silent.
Eventually, though, she checked her phone and noticed that she had missed several calls from Thayer.
I’ll deal with it Monday,she thought.
But as she held her phone, he called again. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to answer.
“Hello?”
“Austen! I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“Here I am,” she said, her voice flat and emotionless. “What’s up?”
“I take it you’ve seen the interview by now?”
“Yeah,” she said, trying not to loathe her boss with every fiber of her being.
“The response has been absolutely superb. Everyone elsefinallygets it. Have you heard the rumors? They’retrue,Austen! Mr. Sullivan hasfinallygiven GM Baumbach the greenlight for a trade. Mr. Baumbach is actively shopping DeHardt around the league at this very minute! He’ll be gone no later than the trade deadline on Monday!” He could barely contain his glee. The guy was gushing.
Unbelievable!she thought.
“Well, I’m glad you got what you wanted, Thayer,” she said, trying her best not to sound bitter.
“Wait a minute,” he said, tempering his excitement. “You’re not still upset about being taken off the project, are you?”
Austen wasn’t in the mood to get into it now. And even if she was in the mood, she didn’t know what she could possibly say to her boss that wouldn’t get her fired. So she said nothing.
“Because I told you, Austen, you did your part. And I have some great news about that to share. I was hoping you’d meet me for drinks tonight so I can explain. Just you and me.”
Drinks? Weird,she thought. Sure, they’d gotten drinks before, but that was because of the office’s happy hour tradition. He never asked to get drinks with heralone.
“Um, actually, can the news wait until Monday?” she asked at last, trying to make her already-hoarse voice sound even worse for wear. “I don’t feel so well. I woke up with a headache.”
“Oh? Did you have a little too much fun last night?” The way he’d asked that question gave Austen pause. It wasn’t unlike him to joke about drinking or going out—but she could almost swear that something still sounded amiss.
“Yeah, something like that,” she said, cautiously. “I think I caught a little cold, too.”
“That’s too bad. Why don’t we change drinks to dinner, then? There’s a new ramen place I’ve been dying to try.”
She coughed, loudly, and demurred. “I don’t know, Thayer.”
“Hey, nothing’s better than ramen when you’re feeling a little under the weather.”
“That’s true …” She was beginning to feel like he wouldn’t take no for an answer. It wasn’t like him to be so persistent, but he was backing her into a corner.
“And trust me, Austen, you’re going to want to hear this news! I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but it just might involve a very big promotion.”
She gasped. “What? Really?”
A promotion would begreat!But the way she earned it was … er … not so great.
“I’m not going to tell you anything more than that over the phone. If you want to know the rest, you’ll join me for ramen. So what do you say?”
“Sure, I’ll come. What time?”
“Let’s do 8:00. I’ll text you the address.”
