It makes complete sense for him– why would he bother asking a question? God forbid I’d want any info or to prepare.
‘Shall I tell her you’re a yes?’ he asks, already obviously bored.
‘Of course, I’m a yes.’
Who would say no to Evie Eesuola?
‘Calm, I’ll let her know. See ya, Maddy.’
‘No one calls me that.’
‘Good. Makes me special.’
And with that he hangs up, leaving me with nothing to work with other than the fact that Evie ‘wants to see me’ alone on Wednesday. Why Evie, blazing star and business baddie, would want to spend time alone withmeis baffling, especially when she made such a point of insisting Aiden ran this event with me. I know it can’tpossiblybe bad– I’ve been killing this project so far and one workday ago she literally offered me a bonus. But that was over forty-eight hours ago, which is more than enough time for something to have gone wrong, or, more importantly,someoneto have made them go wrong for me.
‘Who was that?’ one of the main suspects asks, concern as fake as her morning smile.
Pippa strolls into the office, breezy as ever. I check my watch: 10.24.
‘Just Aiden. We have some details to lay out for Evie,’ I reply. ‘She wants to see me on Wednesday.’
‘Oh, really? Do tell!’ She plops down in her seat.
After Pippa realised that her cold shoulder was proving futile, she pivoted to subtler and far more disingenuous tactics. It has been nothing but wide smiles and gentle prods into my work, all in the name of ‘genuine interest’. The sickly sweetness emanating from her could tar the walls of our office, and I can see it makes Gus’s skin crawl almost as much as mine. I have a sweepstake going with the FGA on how long she’ll keep it up for, and I was convinced Evie’s bonus would be the thing to break her. But, surprisingly, here she still is, faux excitement in tow as she tries to hide the fact this whole thing is killing her inside.
‘She’s just sent us some meetings and tester appointments– different suppliers, contacts, all that jazz.’
The vaguer I can be the better, because the last thing I need is her weaselling her way into places she’s not needed. Regardless, she scurries to peer over my shoulder at my open calendar.
‘Cocktail tasting? Do you even know your mojito from your margarita?’ she asks, masquerading her insult as a joke. ‘I’d be happy to come for a second opinion!’
‘Aiden and I have got it covered, plus Evie only booked for two. By the sounds of it, this place is pretty fancy,’ I say.
She peers closely at my screen. ‘The La La Lounge. My friends and I almost went the other week.’
Pippa twirls her hair a specific way every time she lies, wrapping it around two of her fingers, twice to the right and then unfurling. It’s a tell I’ve picked up over the years and you’d be surprised at how often it comes up.
‘Oh, cool. I’m excited,’ I lie in return, only to be met by a near-silent chuckle from Gus.
He swallows it almost immediately, eyes darting bashfully between me and his blank computer screen. He knows that Iheard it, but he’s praying I won’t bring it up. Unfortunately for him, I have a little fire under my belt this morning.
‘You all right, Gus?’ I ask, the question startling him ever so slightly.
‘It’s nothing, don’t worry.’ He is typing suspiciously fast and likely fake notes on his screen.
We’ve never had an issue because we keep our relationship as base level as we possibly can. It’s all ambiguous descriptions of our weekend and what we’re having for dinner– it never stretches further and it does not need to. He does not care to know about me or my life or my extra-curriculars, and I afford him the same privilege. He turns a blind eye to my afternoon coffee run, and I don’t comment on him buying Funko POP!s on eBay during work hours. Which is why his little giggle is so confusing and deeply out of pocket.
‘You scoffed,’ I say, refusing to drop it.
‘It was hardly a scoff.’ He is still avoiding my gaze.
‘Should I not be excited for the La La Lounge?’ I press on.
‘It’s not that. It’s just. . .’
He’s desperately hoping I’ll back off, eyes frantic as he searches for the best way out. But there is none. I stare back, being as strong as I can, making it as clear as day that this will not be dropped until he answers me.
‘I just can’t imagine you there,’ he mumbles after what feels like a lifetime.
