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When I am few feet away her back stiffens suddenly and she turns her head in my direction. Her eyes narrow. Instead of the deterrent they were meant to be, the golden slits beckon me; I walk right up to her table and pull out the chair across from her.
She starts to stand up—her eyes averted, her jaw set. I put my arm on her gently forearm. “Addie, there’s no need to leave. I come in peace.”
She scoffs. “Right. This instant. What about tomorrow? Or next week?”
“I know I haven’t been the most reliable person and so asking you to trust me would be ridiculous. But we do have to work together. I am assuming you value your professional reputation as much as, or maybe even more than I do mine. So, let’s just make a truce. I was a dick. I admit it. And I am sorry.”
“I don’t want to talk about that, Simon. Let’s keep this strictly about work. I can be cool if you can be. You came into my office this morning. You glared at me. You didn’t say a word to me and then you left. Now you’re here talking about peace.” She puts the peace in air quotes and I chuckle.
Her contemptuous glare only made me laugh harder. “It’s not funny. I am here to do my job. Part of that is treating you, my client, with civility. I expect the same from you.” She says with bitterness and anger in her tone which surprises and sobers me.
“I know I’ve acted like an asshole. I’m sorry. It’s never been about you—”
She cuts me off. “This is not about you, okay? I’ve got a lot of shit to figure out right now without you adding to it with your hot and cold act. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish my coffee in peace. You’ve said what you came to say, now can you please just go?”
Her earlier comment about civility seems forgotten as she says th
is. When she is done, she closes her eyes as if wishing when she opens them I’ll be gone. I see her throat working, and I can see she is struggling to hold back tears.
My hackles rise. Someone has upset her, it’s not me, and it’s more than just playing hot and cold.
I risk a rebuke and reach out and cover her hand with mine. She doesn’t pull away. Her eyes squeeze shut even tighter and her head bows slightly. My stomach knots.
“What happened?” I ask as softly as I can. The last time I saw her, Matthew was in her office. That man is such a fucking asshole.
I make a deductive guess when she still doesn’t respond. “Was it Matthew?”
She doesn’t say anything, but nods.
Rage, hot and rapid rises in my chest, and I struggle to contain it. I look at my hand and my knuckles are nearly white from the grip I have on the table.
“What did he do, Addie? Did he touch you?” I ask in a voice that brooks no resistance.
I’ve heard rumors of him pressing unwanted advances on temps and junior associates, but that he would have dared do that to Addie makes me crazy.
Addie puts her hand on my forearm and I realize I was starting to stand up. “No, Simon, he didn’t touch me,” she whispers. Her eyes open and the sorrow in them is almost unbearable.
My rage is slightly banked, but I know that something happened to upset her and that he is the cause. I wonder if it was something romantic and now all I know is a jealousy so fierce, I know I won’t be able to temper it.
“How long have you worked here?” She asks. I blink at her in surprise. This is the last thing I expected her to say.
“Five years.” I respond. I bite back my urge to ask why, knowing she will tell me on her own time. I don’t take my eyes off her face. Her eyes are open, but she is staring beyond me.
“Did they hire you straight from your Master’s program?”
“Yes…”
She only nods as she continues to stare out at the view of the River Thames.
“Addie,” I begin tentatively, not wanting to disrupt whatever train of thought she’s on. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve worked really hard, Simon,” she says. Her voice is no longer a whisper and her eyes swing to meet mine head on. “I’ve worked my ass off.
“I know everyone thinks I have a pedigree of some sort. You probably think so, too, right?” She asks this rhetorically and doesn’t wait for me to respond.
“I don’t. I worked my ass off to get into Harvard undergrad and Harvard Law. No one gave me a single inch. In fact, people kept putting barriers in my way. I knocked them all down, and I did it because I knew what I wanted. Now I’m here and some motherfucker thinks he can tell me he knows I don’t deserve to be here because people like us,” she points her index finger at between the two of us, “don’t belong here.”
“What are you talking about? You’ve lost me.” My mind doesn’t want to process what she is saying. “What did Matthew say?”
