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“It’s going well enough. We just hired a fantastic lead engineer, and I’m really excited about her ideas.”
“Her?”
“You bet. I worked with her at a prior engagement, and she’s probably the smartest and most strategic engineer I’ve ever met. I was thrilled when she accepted my offer to come here. After all, we don’t develop life or death devices.”
I give him a genuine smile then, finding myself pleasantly surprised by his high praise. “That’s awesome, Anthony,” I say as we enter the elevator. “I’d love to meet her.”
“She’s making the rounds with the team this week, but we could arrange lunch early next week.”
I agree, and we ride the rest of the way up in silence. As we’re leaving, I start toward my office on the left. Anthony hangs a right. “Have a great day, Jack.”
I nod, my mouth already watering for a coffee. Thank goodness I bought a second Nespresso machine for my office. I pull out my mobile phone and scroll through emails, rounding the corner when I reach the end of the hall, and I come up short when I see two people standing in front of my office door.
I stop dead in my tracks and gasp.
The woman is Jane, the head of Quality Assurance on my team. She’s young and curvy and has the cutest blonde curls to match her huge blue eyes, which at the moment, are wide with delight. She has her left hand splayed out in front of her with her eyes wide, staring at a ring on a very important finger. The other person is my curmudgeonly, flask-drinking, hip-aching peer, Bruce, and he’s holding the tips of her fingers and staring at the rock.
It’s a good thing I’m not holding a cup of coffee, because I surely would have lost my grip and splattered it all over Jane’s delicate pink trapeze dress and pristine white Keds. She’s always had that sweet look about her as if she was stepping off the movie screen out of one of those beachy ’50s movies.
Speaking of movies, someone put reality on slow motion as they both look over at me and grin happily. Innocently.
I furrow my brow as I study them. What about Jane’s fiancé? They were the perfect Ken-and-Barbie couple with this huge wedding planned up in Napa next spring. Jane had been showing me different dress options for months. I always had them pegged for the married with 2.5 kids couple by thirty. Why would she consider Bruce?
And oh, what a midlife crisis Bruce must be having. I sure hope it wasn’t the New Mexico air that changed his mind. What about his wife Margaret?
There’s a bump on my shoulder, and I’m caught so off guard that I sway sideways into the wall.
“Your prototype is the talk of the office, Jack,” Eddie says.
Jane skips over to me. “Just look at it, Jack.” She thrusts her hand forward, and the diamond catches the fluorescent lights above, making it glint.
Bruce limps toward us too, wearing a small congratulatory smile.
Jane continues. “All the tests came back clean from our QA team this morning, so we’re a go.”
I compose myself as the pieces click into place. “That’s... um... wonderful.” I blink and smile. “Let me see.”
“It’s‘um... wonderful’?” Eddie mimics my stuttering reaction with his eyes narrowed. “You didn’t—” He tucks one arm under the other elbow and points back and forth between me and where Jane and Bruce had been standing and gawking over the ring.
I wave a hand in the air, a feeble attempt to wave off the misunderstanding. “No. Of course not. That would be ridiculous!”
Eddie raises his brows and purses his lips.
The next minute is the most uncomfortable business moment I’ve ever experienced, and I keep my eyes on the ring for much longer than necessary. There’s no way I’m giving voice to what I thought was truly happening between Bruce and Jane. Geez, I do need a strong shot of coffee.
Finally, Bruce breaks the butter-like silence. “I hear you have an editor fromThe Knotcoming out this afternoon for an interview. Congratulations, Jack. I was quite doubtful that fitness and jewelry would mesh so well, but you’ve proven me wrong. I’m excited to see where this takes the company.” He claps me on the shoulder and hobbles down the hall toward his office.
Jane returns to her desk.
Eddie holds out a hand in the direction of my still-dark office. “I think we have a meeting.”
I tuck my hair behind an ear and open my office door. I had totally forgotten that Michelle Francis fromThe Knotwas going to be here just after lunch with a full photography crew. So, I’m going to have to do some kind of magic to get myself together before a PR meeting. When I enter the office, the lights come on automatically, and I head directly for the table by the window where I keep my coffee maker, dropping my laptop bag on the desk in passing.
The door clicks shut behind me, followed by a creak of my guest chair as Eddie plants himself on the opposite side of my desk. I rustle through the top drawer, where I keep the Nespresso pods, searching for something strong. When all I find is decaf and French vanilla, I drop my head back and groan.
“That bad?” Eddie asks.
“Apparently,” I say and turn to him. “What were we even meeting about this morning?”
