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Joe wanted to say more. I know he did. Same as he had held back his words yesterday when I told him about my business dinner with Sam and he just nodded. Or like when he gave me the once-over before leaving the apartment but said nothing when I was half-expecting him to suggest I change into a less skin-baring outfit.
I know that mousey man enough. He kept his thoughts to himself. And when it came to Sam, Joe always refrained from ever speaking his true judgement. He knew how highly I thought of my boss and he respected that, even if his opinion differed entirely from mine. He despised Sam with all his might.
Joe stood up from the bed. Shaking his head subtly but enough for me to notice. He went and opened the curtains again – both curtains and broader than before.
The natural light hurt less then. My eyes were fully open and wholly focused on Joe.
He stared out the window. His hands shoved in his pants pockets. His short blonde hair and pale skin glowed from the sun rays. From behind, Joe appeared calm and tranquil. But I’ve gotten used to Joe’s stiff posture when he was pensive or, at the time, disapproving.
I could see his tense shoulders pushed backwards. And even with his back at me, I knew the lines on his forehead were deeply etched and that his jaw muscles were rigid enough his teeth could break with pressure and that his sapphire eyes had darkened to appear almost black.
He adjusted his geeky spectacles on his nose. Then crossed his arms at his chest. “Your car is not outside. Didhedrive you here?”
“I’ve exceeded the drinking limit by a bit.”
“I thought it was a business dinner.” He couldn’t hide his contempt from his tone and when Joe turned to face me, there was definitely a frown. His index finger pointed to the floor between us. “And that’s his?”
I followed his direction, at Sam’s coat lying haphazardly on the floor.
Shame on you, Lucy. A man gave you his coat and you didn’t even have the decency to hang it somewhere neatly. Or more importantly, piled somewhere discreetly.
“It was cold.” I simply replied with the blunt truth.
Joe accepted my answer with a few little nods. “Glad to know he’s still a gentleman.”
“Sam took care of me well.”
A derisive snicker came out of his mouth. “Oh, he better did after the shape he got you into.”
“It’s not like he forced me to drink, Joe. It’s my fault. Don’t blame any of this on Sam.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He mumbled as he stepped away. He stopped before my dresser to adjust his grey tie in the mirror.
It was useless to try and justify Sam’s actions. He wouldn’t accept anything in Sam’s favour. He’d still blame him.
“Was it a good meeting at least?” Joe asked without averting his gaze from his fingers working at knotting the tie around his neck.
This was surprising. Joe asked a random question. Finally. We were picking up a conversation. Small talk, sure. But it was a start.
I sighed. “It was bad. Very bad.”
“Good to know.”
Of course he would say that. What was bad news for Sam was good news for him. Joe owned a branding company himself and was looking to expand into advertising. Or at least that was what he told me a few months back. Joe didn’t really speak to me about his work. I preferred to think that was because I worked for his competitor and not because recently, we barely talked or shared anything more than a few sentences. In fact, that morning’s conversation was one of the longest ones in weeks. I should come home drunk more often if that was what it took to spark a conversation.
Joe swivelled towards me again. “Can I make you a coffee before I go?”
That was it? Conversation over already? But he hadn’t even chastised me about any of my actions. As my friend, he should be grilling me and getting me to reveal how I drunkenly kissed someone.
But I guess he was too impatient to get to work. Business first, business second and me, I was somewhere at the bottom of that priorities list. He probably spent the past two or three hours debating whether he should throw a bucket of water at me to wake me up so he could dash off to his office.
Although I couldn’t ignore that hedidwait for me to wake up. I missed these little things of affection from him. And he offered to make me coffee too.
“No thanks.” I told him even though a black coffee would have done the trick to settle my upset stomach. But I realized Joe missed enough hours from the office to babysit me. I couldn’t keep him there longer.
“You should sleep in. I doubt your boss is expecting you to work today. Call me if you need anything, alright? I’ll send someone from my office to stay with you if you need.”
Send someone? Guess I did take the maximum limit of his time for one morning.
