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𝘙𝘏𝘠𝘚 𝘔𝘖𝘖𝘙𝘌
I READ HER EMAIL. THEN I read it again. And a third time. Dear Moose. I look around my apartment and then at my roommate.
He’s eating his cereal and scrolling on his phone with a half drunk look on his face. I have the urge to slap it off, but obviously I don’t. He was out all night yesterday, strolled in around the same time I had finally opened Wren’s email.
It had been sitting in my inbox for three hours before I opened it. So I didn’t respond.
Now i’m looking at it again, just to make sure it says what I think it does. It does.
Maxon chuckles to himself.
“What’s so funny?” I sip my coffee.
He looks up at me, almost like he forgot I was in the room. Then he turns off his phone and lays it on the countertop.
“Meme.”
Okay… That’s not exactly the response I was expecting. He’s usually very talkative and wanting to share every little detail with me. He’s been doing so since freshman year of high school.
He’s been acting weird-weirder then normal-ever since the night we went clubbing, the night at Breakers with Wren.
“Not that I care, but are you good?” I lean my hip on the counter.
“Yeah, just girl drama I guess.” Maxon looks truly sad. I haven’t seen him this sad since his grandfather died.
I nod and walk to the sink, placing down my cup. Then Maxon sighs, it’s a little shaky, like he’s about to cry. He’s always been an emotional person, that’s why I became friends with him in the first place. He reminds me of my sister.
I look back at him to see his bottom lip tucked in, his finger nervously tapping the counter. I scratch my neck, I have to get ready for work, but Maxon looks like he’s going to breakdown any moment.
Fuck. “You wanna talk about it?” I keep my voice low, hoping he’ll say no.
“It’s just,” He places his head in his hands, raking his fingers through his blonde hair. “I met this girl a while back. And i really liked her. Thought she really liked me. But then she ghosted me. I thought that was it. But I saw her again-recently and we just sorta…clicked?”
“And that’s a bad thing, how?” God. How’d I get myself involved in his love life?
“She doesn’t feel the same. She doesn’t do ‘relationships’. Yet…never mind.” He gets up from the stool and places his bowl in the sink. Then gives me a small smile before retreating back into his room.
__________
When i walk into work the next morning, i’m not surprised to see Gloria picking food out of her teeth, though I am surprised to see Wren standing next to Fernando.
Her expression gives away nothing about the situation but when Fernando spots me, a smile etches its way onto his round face.
“Ah. Rhys, my boy.” He slaps my shoulder-or attempts to anyways- and takes Wren’s hand, walking us to the elevators.
Both me and Wren stand in the elevator, after Fernando pushed us in and hit a button. From the corner of my eye I see her pull out hand sanitizer and quickly wash her hands.
“Do you have any idea what this is about?” I look down at her and she shrugs.
“No.” Okay.
The elevator stops and when the door opens. We’re met with a hallway, a couple doors line the length of it, but at the end is a bigger, fancier door.
When we open the door, we’re met with a large office. I honestly don’t know what I expected.
“It’s nice huh?” Fernando’s voice booms through the hallway. “It’s yours. Both of you.” Oh. Oh.
No.
“With all due respect Mr. Martin, I think I speak for the both of us when I say we’d rather just have our regular offices.” I look at Wren to see her nodding her head.
Fernando laughs. “C’mon. You haven’t even seen the place yet.” He places a hand on our backs and pushes us in the room.
White walls, glass and stone elements, large vases with green leaves. Two big desks sit face to face in the middle of the room. Bookshelves line two of the walls, decorated with globes and hourglasses.
“My team and I moved all of your stuff from your offices to this one. So soak it in as much as you’d like because this is your new home.” Then Fernando pats my shoulder once more before exiting the room.
I stand there; ‘soaking in’ everything.
I look over at Wren. Her arms are crossed, her shoulders stiff. Then I do a double take when I see her face.
Her eyebrows are knit together, her lip twitching slightly. And her eyes. Her eyes are the color of pale mint. And they’re overflowing with emotion. Real, raw emotion. Stress, unease, anger, and something else I can’t place.
Then it’s gone. I blink and it’s gone. I blink and she’s blank again. Since the first time i’d met her, her mask slipped. And I missed a good portion of it.
I’m momentarily stunned as I try to tear my eyes away from her face, but I can’t. So I stare at her some more. I stare until I realize that she’s locked up her emotions, and they’re not coming out again.
I walk over to the windows outlooking the city. I stuff my hands in my pockets and focus on the cars. Now i feel awkward. Why do i feel awkward?
“You can’t possibly be okay with this.” Wren’s voice is the slightest bit strained.
I rub my chin, when I hear the clink of heels on the marble floor. Then I feel a presence beside me. I clench my jaw and focus on a red car driving down the road.
A delicate hand takes my chin captive and moves it to the side. My eyes lock with pale mint ones. They stare up at me, expression neutral.
“I asked you a question, Mr. Moose.”
I narrow my eyes at her and something flickers in her eyes, then, of course, it’s gone. Her hand is still firmly holding my chin, my own hands are still in my pockets, and I have an urge to move them elsewhere.
“No.” Her pinky finger swipes my throat. I’m surprised how hoarse my voice is. “No, i’m not okay with this.” My chin is dropped and I weirdly miss the contact.
“Then we have to do something about it.” She looks out the window, and I get a view of her profile.
“No can do little lady.” We both turn to the voice.
Fernando is back, this time holding a drink of some sort, and leaning on the door. He obnoxiously sips his drink with a straw.
“And why is that?” I cross my arms over my chest, gripping my biceps extra tight; needing to release my pent up frustration.
“I’ve given up your offices to other employees. They had been sharing with others and now they have their own office.” Fernando chuckles.
“But now we have to share an office.” Wren points out.
“The nicest office.” Fernando looks pleased with himself. Wow. The urge to slap somebody just seems like the theme for today.
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