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Cameron grabs the tilting polos and drops them into his suitcase. ‘I was the one who broke things off with her. I don’t need closure.’
Carrie hums.
‘Spit it out,’ he says, shoving a pair of socks into his suitcase.
‘You’ve become a social recluse since you two broke up, I’m just saying.’
He rubs his knuckles in a circle over his chest. The barb stings because it’s true. ‘How would you know? We don’t live in the same city anymore.’
‘I have a network.’
Cameron rolls his eyes. ‘Does the network start with ‘S’ and end with ‘teven’.’
‘It’s sad you have so few friends over there you immediately know who’s ratting you out. But yes. I pay him well. He gets free Sydney Symphony Orchestra tickets whenever he and Friedrich are in Sydney.’
‘And Clo? You’re in on this too?’
‘Well, yeah. Sorry. But it’s true! You can’t have walls up against proper intimate social connection forever. You need a support network. And not a, like, these people will grab drinks with me after work network, you need, like, a these people will pick up the phone at three in the morning and drive me to the emergency ward. Do you have anyone like that over there?’
Cameron wants to have a positive answer but aside from Steven and Friedrich, there’s no-one. Not even Jules, and she’s—
He shakes his head. He’s not thinking about what she is or isn’t or could be. He’s not dating anyone from work again. It’s not worth it. His career has been battered enough.
‘I’ve only been here a few months,’ Cameron says, though it’s been almost a year. ‘Relationships take time.’
‘Who’s attending the conference with you?’ Carrie asks. ‘You can start there.’
Cameron hesitates for a second. ‘A woman from IT is coming as well.’
‘Oh my god.’ Chloe’s voice increases in pitch and volume. ‘Is that the woman you told us you liked?’
‘There is more than one woman in our IT department.’
‘You’re hedging.’ He can hear the evil smile in Carrie’s voice. ‘Shit. It is her, isn’t it?’
Cameron takes a second to figure out how to lie convincingly. There isn’t a way. Carrie has an abnormal ability to detect dishonesty, even over the phone.
‘Yes,’ he says. ‘But don’t get any ideas. I didn’t tell you willingly. It was pestered out of me after too much wine and tequila shots. And I didn’t say I liked her,’ he clarifies, ‘I said she was likeable.’
‘Details,’ Chloe dismisses with a hand-wavey air to her words. ‘But she’s going to be in Sydney with you the whole week, so this is the perfect opportunity for you to let your walls drop. Oh! Carrie can get her a ticket for the symphony so you can go together. Like a date.’
Carrie laughs. ‘Consider it done.’
Cameron grabs his phone, taking it off speaker and pressing it to his ear. ‘You’re getting ahead of yourselves. And aren’t you forgetting something?’
‘What?’
‘I don’t date people I work with.’
There’s silence while his words are processed.
‘Fucking Braden,’ Carrie groans. ‘I wish you’d stop letting her affect you. You know you’ve got trust issues, right?’
This time the barb hits like a shard of glass in his spine. ‘It’s smarter not to get involved.’
‘No matter how caring and funny you said this IT lady was?’ Chloe reminds him unnecessarily.
‘Yes.’ He’s well aware, every day, of all those things. It’s why avoiding her is his main tactic. ‘So will you drop it?’
