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His eyes and shoulders lowered simultaneously. After a noticeable period of self-reflection, Grayson looked up with a sigh. “What should I do?”
I smiled sadly. “You need to connect with them. We’re a family here. We care about each other. Prove to us that you’re on our side. Be that version of yourself I know you can be.”
He leant back and exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck.
I grimaced. “Shit. I said too much. I’m sorry,” I said, wiping my damp palms over my jeans.
“Don’t apologise.”
Unsure of what to do, I stood up. “Okay, well…I’ll just get going.”
Grayson nodded but was clearly in a daze. I edged out of the room, totally forgetting my reason for visiting in the first place.
* * *
The very next day, everything began to change.
“Oh my gosh, Josie, have you seen it?” Amy guiltily glanced back into Grayson’s office as she snuck into my mine, clearly trying to go unnoticed.
“See what?” I whispered, following her gaze to find Grayson on a call with his back turned.
“The new coffee machine!” She squealed quietly. “It does evvvvverything!”
I leant back into my chair with a growing smile. “Reeeally?”
“It’s amazing. You just push a couple of buttons, and whammo!” She held out her mug proudly. “Almond Chai.”
I chuckled. It was impressive compared to the instant coffee we were used to.
“Perhaps they don’t hate us after all.” She smiled and brought the mug to her lips, breathing in the delicious scent.
“Perhaps not.”
Amy left my office with a renewed bounce in her step which made me smile. As she passed Grayson’s office, our eyes met through the glass. I offered him a discreet nod, which he swiftly returned.
With Adam away again, Grayson made every effort to improve morale in the office. He interacted with employees, learnt their names, asked about their families and genuinely listened to their answers. He even let everyone call him William. The workload remained, but smiles were returning and the tension in the air was dissipating.
On my way back from the lunchroom with my fourth cup of coffee of the day, the loud hammering of buttons in the photocopy room caught my attention. I peeped in to discover Grayson standing by the machine, brow furrowed, looking like a fish out of water.
“Are you lost?” I asked, trying to muffle my giggle.
Grayson glanced my way before turning his attention back to the machine as his cheeks grew pink. “Ha-ha, Josie. No, I’m not lost. I…I just can’t stop this thing from beeping.”
I ambled up next to him with an amused smirk. “First time?”
As he cleared his throat, his jaw twitched. “Yep.” The beeping persisted and he continued to tap a button that was making everything worse.
I pulled his arm out of the way. “That’s not going to help.”
“Do I need to buy a new one?”
I laughed and placed my coffee onto the small table beside us. “No.” I pointed to the flashing light on the screen. “This means the printer is out of paper.”
“Oh.”
I opened the supplies cupboard and pulled out a ream of paper. “So, where’s Linda?” I asked, curious to find out why he was attempting such a task.
He grumbled. “At her granddaughter’s recital.”
