7AshThe Paralegal #2
“So, what?” asked Rowan, and Mark groaned as if Rowan was being intentionally obtuse.
“Come on! That was Viv on the phone this morning, wasn’t it?”
“Viv?” demanded Asher, looking between Mark and Rowan. This smelled like gossip. Rowan never let them into his personal life. Mark ignored him and focused on Rowan.
“So, was that like... we bumped into each other at the bagel place or let me feed you the bagels from my cupboard?”
“Yes. Inquiring minds want to know. What type of bagel are we dealing with?” asked Ash.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” muttered Rowan.
“Come on! You know all my dirt,” protested Ash, only realizing it was a lie after he said it.
“And all of mine,” said Mark.
“You have no dirt,” said Rowan. “Either of you.”
“All my past dirt,” amended Mark, intentionally pushing up his glasses with his middle finger.
“I might have dirt,” said Ash, feeling guilty. “You don’t know. Who is Viv?”
He could tell them about Emma after he’d gotten through the deal with Danny Miller and the government—once things were stable and past mistakes were firmly in the past.
“Vivian Kaye,” said Mark. “Paralegal. Works downstairs. Told Rowan off in the elevator. It was great. She’s great.” Mark switched his focus back to Rowan. “Soooooo? Jenny will be waterboarding one of us if I don’t come home with details.”
“Fine,” growled Rowan. “Vivian stayed over. Can we not make a thing out of this?”
Ash looked to see if Mark was buying this. He definitely wasn’t.
“Who’s making a thing of it?” asked Mark. “I mean, you date so much that it’s just another day of the week.” Ash snort-laughed, and Mark grinned.
“This is why I don’t bring dates anywhere near any of you,” said Rowan sourly.
“Whatever,” said Mark dismissively. “Vivian likes us.”
“That’s a good sign,” said Ash, trying to balance the clips on top of each other on Rowan’s desk.
“What do you mean?” asked Rowan.
Ash looked up in surprise. “Well, didn’t we just establish that having a relationship with someone who doesn’t like your family is a bad idea? So if she’s down with your crew, then she’s gotta be pretty cool.”
“Yes, but we’re trying not to blab this all over the building, OK? She has to work here,” said Rowan, looking between Mark and Ash.
“Yeah, of course,” said Mark. “But I’m not the whole building, and Ash doesn’t know anyone here. So we’re good. I’m just saying that dating Vivian was my idea, so I want credit.”
“Uh, what now?” demanded Teddy, stopping mid-way through the hall and peering through the open door and around Mark. “Did this guy just say dating Vivian was his idea? Hey, Ash.”
“Hey, Teddy. He did say that,” said Ash. Teddy was about Ash’s age and strangely addicted to the Marine Corps hairstyle, but Ash liked him. Ash had helped Rowan assemble the hiring packages, and Teddy had been a stand-out with practically everything on Rowan’s checklist.
“Uh, no,” said Teddy, looking offended. “It was totally my idea. Also, this conversation does imply that he is actually dating Vivian.”
“Yeah,” said Ash, “she stayed at his place last night.”
“What? Way to go!”
Teddy gave a fist pump of enthusiasm, and Rowan glared at him.
“I mean, way to go, sir?”
“Does discreet mean nothing to any of you?” demanded Rowan.
“Who am I going to tell?” asked Teddy.
“Besides everyone,” murmured Mark.
“I’m serious,” said Rowan. “She’s worried about repercussions at work. So, for Vivian’s sake, could you all not behave like the Marine Corps gossip train?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course,” said Teddy, sounding contrite. “But still…” He ended with a massive grin, sidled out of the doorway, and Ash laughed.
“Glad I have so much privacy,” muttered Rowan, shaking his head.
“You can have all the privacy you want,” said Mark. “As long as you tell us everything.” He added that parting shot as he followed Teddy down the hall, which made Ash laugh again. Ash was about to head for the door himself when something small and fast zipped by.
“Did a remote-control car just go down the hall?” asked Ash.
“That is a land drone,” said Rowan, with an admirably straight face.
A younger guy in plum-colored corduroy pants pelted past the door after the vehicle. Ash wasn’t sure what was weirder—the series of events or the pants.
“It’s still in the testing phase,” said Rowan, without missing a beat.
“You really did it, didn’t you?” asked Ash.
“Did what?” asked Rowan.
“I remember when you were going over resumes. I thought you had the strangest criteria. You kept keying in on the oddest things and talking about unit cohesion. But you’ve gone to a great deal of trouble to create a team that you want to hang out with all day long.”
“Yeah,” said Rowan, in surprise. “Of course.”
“And this girl is friends with your crew?”
“Well, that might be pushing the parameters of friendship since she took them for four hundred dollars at poker. Which, come to think of it, I believe she used to pay for your breakup donuts.”
Ash shook his head. Rowan wasn’t getting it. If this girl could fit in with the carefully vetted, hand-selected crew of reprobates that Rowan loved, then she would be a match for Rowan.
“Yeah, OK.”
“OK, what?” asked Rowan.
“Nothing. I’m going to go. You’ll call Forest about the holidays?”
“Sure, sounds good,” said Rowan, looking suspicious.
“Great,” said Ash, standing up. “See you later.”
“Yeah, later,” said Rowan.