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It’s Thursday of my second week as a junior editor, and I’m used to the schedule now. Thirty minutes of chatting in the break room over coffee with Victoria, Trish, Sera, and, of course, Addison. I have a feeling that the stories and jokes were a little more off-color before I joined their group, but that’s okay. Eventually, I will be in charge of disciplining again, so maybe it’s best that there’s still some separation between us.
Trish sighs and stands up away from the cabinet she’s been leaning on, the sign that it’s time for everyone to get back to work. Before they walk away, though, Addison stops them.
“Hey, are any of you free tomorrow night? I’m going to have a game night at my place at six-ish if you want to come.”
Sera grins. “Oh, definitely count me in. I was just trying to figure out what to do with my Friday night.”
Victoria shakes her head. “Not me. I’ve got a date.” She immediately turns to Trish, whose eyes are lit up like she’s about to explode with excitement. “And no, it’s not Chuckle Fuck.”
It’s like someone took Trish’s happiness and hit it with a sledgehammer. I have never seen someone go from ecstatic to depressed in a single sentence before. “Who’s Chuckle Fuck?” I ask. Then I realize just how ridiculous that sentence sounds.
“I’ll explain him later,” Addison says.
Trish ignores Addison and tries to explain the mystery man. “A majestic creature whose only purpose in life is to create hilarious stories that have no competition. No one in the history of men is more perfect for Victoria, and she’s thrown him away like last night’s Chinese food takeout.”
She must have been extremely invested in this guy. Sera tries to lighten the mood by saying, “Well, make sure you take a picture of the guy, and we’ll be ready for story time on Monday.”
Trish sighs dramatically and shakes her head. “Whoever he is, he’ll never compete with Chuckle Fuck.” Then she turns to Addison and says, “You good with me bringing my guy? Friday is our date night, so the hubs and I are a package deal.”
“Sure,” Addison says. “The more the merrier. I might have to break out the folding chairs, though.”
Trish nods to her. “Excellent. We’ll bring some board games the kids haven’t eaten the pieces to. Just so you’re aware, if your kid ever eats the car from Monopoly, the ER will send you home and tell you to watch his poops until you fish it out. You can thank me later for that nugget of parenting gold.”
Then she walks out. I don’t really understand how this group of friends work. They’re all at such different points in their lives. Trish is happily married with kids. Victoria is actively dating. Addison is just trying to figure out her new life. And Sera… Well, I don’t know anything about Sera’s life outside of work, and Addison doesn’t seem to, either.
Addison’s friends go back to their cubicle as Addison finishes the last bit of her coffee, but before she can walk away, I pin her against the cabinets. She looks at me with shock in her eyes before glancing toward the doorway.
“You can’t do this here. What if someone saw? You’re not just some employee.”
She’s right, and this is not something I’d have done before. At the same time, after spending so much time with Addison, I’m thinking that maybe making bad decisions isn’t always such a terrible idea. Maybe Victoria’s terrible stories are better than choosing a boring guy and making all the right decisions. Maybe going to college and getting a good job as an editor isn’t as important as spending five years being a pro karaoke singer.
And maybe kissing the woman that I’ve become infatuated with in the breakroom is a smarter decision than hiding what I want while we’re at work.
When I try to lean in for the kiss, Addison slides away from me, though. “Not here. Not like this, Phillip. I can’t let anyone see that at work. I… I want to, but I can’t. Not where people from work could catch us.”
A part of me is disappointed, but the other part, the part that’s growing more and more fearless every day, just sees it as another opening. I lean in and whisper to her, “Then I guess I’ll have to play with you somewhere thatworkpeople can’t catch us…”
She hears the emphasis on work, and her eyes go wide. Her fingers do that thing where she pulls at her blouse. I let the words hang in the air for a second and give her a moment to let the thoughts sink in.
“Maybe I’d let you,” she whispers back. “Maybe I’d even like it. But not here where my coworkers can see.”
I grin and take a step back. “I can work with that,” I say before walking past her. She’s left breathing hard, and I’m enjoying the fact that she’ll wonder where I went when she gets back to the cubicle.
I have to call Andrew to see if he even wants to do a game night tomorrow. Stepping into the hallway to make the call, I know there’s nothing to be nervous about, but I’m still hesitant. In thousands of business calls, I’ve never been this worried. He’s my brother, and I should feel more at ease with him than anyone else.
But I’m not.
There was always that separation between us. Even more than between me and Addison’s friends. I was almost an extension of my father, and that meant that I wasn’t fun. I wasn’t someone you played with. Everyone knew I was an adult in a child’s body, and that’s how they treated me.
It’s important to brush our history aside. I told Father that things were going to change when I came back to work for him, but I wasn’t only talking about business. Whether or not I work at Loughton House, I’m going to be a human, not just a cog in a machine. Part of that is building the ties I should already have with my brothers. Both of them.
I push the call button, and almost instantly, Andrew picks up. “Phillip! What’s going on? Is everything alright?” Of course, he thinks something’s wrong. I don’t have business to talk about, so why else would I call him?
“Everything’s fine. I was just wondering what you were doing tomorrow evening.”
There’s a pause, and in my mind, I can see him frowning. He’s confused since he can’t see where the puzzle pieces connect, so I put them together for him. “A few people that I’m working with are having a game night, and I wanted to see if you were interested in joining.”
Immediately, he laughs. “Games? Like board games? With employees? Phillip, this is perfect. Dad would have a heart attack if he heard about this. I had some stuff planned for tomorrow night, but I’ll definitely cancel. I can’t imagine a better Friday night. Do I… need to bring something?”
