Chapter Twelve
Twelve
Lunch was weird.
Natalie had a personal call, so I ventured into the break room on my own. I was nervous to see Phoebe. I really wanted to be her friend. I stopped at the bulletin board outside the break room to rally my courage. There was a sign-up sheet for Cake Day. There were twelve spots, one for each month to celebrate all the birthdays in that month. October was blank. I picked up the pen that was hanging from the board by a piece of blue yarn, and signed my name with a flourish.
“Coming through, EA!” Martin bumped me out of his way with his hip. He took a clear tack and stabbed it through his flyer. FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT. It was a save-the-date for Labor Day weekend. The pool entry fee was one hundred dollars. “Better save up, kid—everyone enters the fantasy draft here. Kyle won last year. He got two grand,” Martin said, looking down at me from his height.
“I don’t watch football.”
“What? Too good for accounting and football?” He clutched his chest like he was wounded.
“No, never, I just don’t really care about football, and this EA gig was totally random.”
“Hmm…” I wasn’t sure if he was buying it, but he added, “What about basketball?”
“Thunder up.” I pointed my chin at him. A true Okie test I passed, as I really was an OKC Thunder fan. Had to be in this state.
“That’s what’s up,” he said as he gave me knuckles. “We do March Madness here too. Some big money to be made there.”
“Uh…yeah…I’m not doing all that.”
“Better learn if you want to keep working your way up here. It’s all about who you know.”
“Hey! Ready?” Nick yelled from down the hall.
“Yeah!” He nodded to Nick. “Congrats though. Gary’s pissed, but I think you’ll fit right in.” Then Martin was gone.
As soon as I entered the lunchroom, the energy died. A few people lifted their hands as a greeting. Phoebe and Danuwoa sat at their usual table, and I sat down to join them. Today I had leftover beef enchiladas. I couldn’t tell you how great it was to have hot leftovers with flavor and not spongy bologna.
Phoebe refused to look at me.
“Happy Monday,” Danuwoa said, giving me a knowing smile. A smile that promised more and knew too much. I couldn’t stop the blush from blooming on my cheeks. Thankfully it was private, since Phoebe was so mad at me, she ignored my presence.
“Did you have a nice date on Friday night?” I asked her as a peace offering. I didn’t set out to stab her in the back to get this position.
“I did. Thanks.” Her tone was curt.
“ Phoebe ,” Danuwoa chided.
“I’m done. You want to grab coffee from across the street?” she asked him.
“I have to finish this and then set up the new TV in the executive conference room.”
“Can I bring you back anything?” Again, she looked only at Danuwoa’s face as she stood up and cleared her place.
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Catch you later.” She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, chucking her trash in the bin on her way out.
“She’ll come around.” Danuwoa sounded sure.
I was skeptical. I had heard that there was drama and conflict in the corporate world, and it seemed like Phoebe went from friend to foe with the flip of a switch. “I really pissed her off,” I said as I dug my fork into my meal. “I’m now down to knowing only two friendly people.”
“It’s quality over quantity.” He smirked.
“When Natalie is gone, I’ll just cling to you.”
His brows rose in surprise.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said, panicked. “I mean like as friends and stuff because it can be boring not talking to anyone.” When he still didn’t say anything to make me more comfortable, I gave up. “Oh, let me eat in peace.”
He laughed, but there was fire behind the mirth in his eyes. I looked away, stabbing my food, when he said, “I very much look forward to you clinging to me.”
My cheeks were on fire. The way he said “clinging” had my brain conjuring images of our tangled limbs in bed, my hands clinging to his back, digging my nails into his flesh while he rode me hard.
His throaty chuckle was proof enough that this was exactly where he wanted my mind to go. “Well, if you ever are bored talking to no one on that lonely floor, you can always ping me. I’ll be happy to entertain you.”
The subject change was what I needed. My pulse was racing from my entirely inappropriate arousal.
“I’ll take you up on that.” I wiped my mouth and excused myself to get some much-needed distance to cool down and face the rest of the day.
I made it to the elevator when I heard, “Hey, Ember! Wait up!”
I turned and saw Kyle jogging to catch up to me. His golden mane flowed in his created breeze. He looked like he could be in a shampoo ad; all the commercial people had to do was have him run in slow motion. That was not fair. His smile was devastating.
Phoebe sat at her desk in front of the elevator and rolled her eyes.
“Yes?” I schooled my features into nonchalance since I was a big fat nobody to him.
“Congratulations on your promotion.” He stopped and ran his hand through his hair.
“Thanks, it looks like speaking up is a good thing here.”
He gave me an awkward laugh. “Point taken. I was only looking out for you.”
“Yeah.”
Ladies and gentlemen, this was stupid awkward. With the corner of my eye, I tried to see what Phoebe was doing. Having an audience for this made it extra painful. I pushed the button to call the elevator as an escape.
“Yeah. Cool. Well, if you need anything, let me know. I know we have the conference coming up, and Mr. Stevenson does wait until the last minute to finalize his presentations. Whatever you need, I’m your guy.”
Ding. My salvation arrived.
“Will do.” I saluted a quick farewell and hopped into the elevator.
The executive level was a welcome quiet. Natalie had not come back yet, so I had a few minutes to center myself. I went to my backpack and pulled out my cell phone. I had three missed calls from Auntie and a text message.
Auntie: I need u 2 come home this wknd 2 help me. Call l8r. 3
My aunt still had a flip phone that was ten years old, and she texted like she was in an AIM chatroom with all the abbreviations. When I’d lived with her, she would sit and watch The Price Is Right , typing out texts to her friends, counting to the letter or number she needed. Sage and I bought her a smartphone for Christmas two years ago. She gave it away. She liked her old phone, with a worn and faded WWJD sticker on the back.
I felt immediate guilt. I hadn’t tried to call Sage at the jail, and I hadn’t been home to visit Auntie in over a month. I could only focus on so much at a time, and this job needed all my attention. It was already changing my life for the better. I know, I know. Money isn’t everything . Well, when you had no money and then got some, it was everything. It made all the difference.
I typed a note to myself to call and add more money to Sage’s commissary account later.
Natalie waddled in, hand on her back and a smile on her face.
“Had a good lunch?” I asked her.
“Food always makes me happy.” She sat down next to me.
“Same.”
“All right, you ready to go over expenses?”
“Yup, whatchu got?”
“Everything comes through our email, and I like to print the reports to review. Mr. Stevenson has to sign approval, and that’s when you use his signature stamp. All this is standard, so I go ahead and approve on his behalf.” She stood and opened the drawer attached to the bottom of the desk. She bent down slightly and took out a file and a retractable stamp, then paused. Her face contorted, and she dropped the stamp and folder with the loose sheets of paper and let out a groan.
“Another Braxton-Hicks?” I asked her as I jumped up with my hands raised. I didn’t know how to help a pregnant woman, but sitting while she looked like she was in so much pain seemed wrong.
“Oh no.” Natalie looked down.
My eyesight followed hers. She was leaking. Based on her horrified expression, she’d either peed her pants, or her water broke.
I grabbed her arm and she looked at me. “It’s going to be okay. Who can I call for you?”
“I’m not ready!”
“You’re going to be a great mom!”
“What? I know that. But I’m not ready for her to come out. We have more to go over for the off-site.”
All I could do was blink in shock. This woman was about to push out a baby and she was thinking about a meeting? “You don’t have to worry about that. Can you walk? Let’s get you to the hospital.”
“My partner is a few hours away picking up a handmade rocking chair.”
“Okay, can you call him? I can take you to the hospital.”
“Her,” she corrected.
“Sorry to assume. Can you call her?”
Natalie’s breathing was tense, and she just kept nodding as I led her to the elevator.
“Wait! My bag.”
I left her by the elevator and sprinted back to get her purse, and just as I returned, the elevator opened.
“What the hell is going on?” Danuwoa asked as he held the elevator door.
“My water broke.”
“I’m taking her to the hospital.”
“Do you need help?” He guided Natalie in as I pressed the ground floor button a million times.
“You have to get Mr. Stevenson’s upgraded conference system installed, or he’ll have a field day. It was delayed twice already,” Natalie said to Danuwoa.
“Manufacturing delays are not my fault.”
“Who cares? Natalie, stop talking about work. You need to focus on meeting your little one. And you”—I looked up into Danuwoa’s eyes—“you need to help me get her to my car. Sound like a plan?”
They grumbled their acquiescence.
I liked this new take-charge version of me.
We slowly made it to the parking lot. Natalie stopped to breathe through a contraction, but we made it to my car.
“Is this thing even safe?” she asked.
“It’s better than walking or pulling up in an ambulance,” I deadpanned as I opened the door. Danuwoa ushered her in.
“You good?” he asked me.
I closed the passenger door and strode to the driver’s side.
“Never better. Good luck installing that phone system.” I wiggled my fingers goodbye.
My piece-of-shit car took three tries to start. I would have been mad and embarrassed had Natalie’s laughing not eased some of the tension. Laughing was better than shouting in pain.
“I’m going to be getting a new car.” I rolled my eyes, but my smile contradicted my annoyed look.
This beat-up piece of junk was funny. On the way to the hospital, I told Natalie about the different times my car had stalled or refused to start. She had another contraction, but my stupid stories were a welcome distraction.
I drove up to the labor and delivery wing and threw my car into park.
“Stay here,” I ordered, and I ran into the hospital to find someone to help me get Natalie inside.
“Can I help you?” a middle-aged woman asked me warmly.
“My coworker is in labor.” I pointed out the door. An orderly with red-and-green buzzed hair grabbed a wheelchair and followed me out.
Natalie was already out of the car and pacing along the curb on her cell phone.
“I don’t care. I need you at the hospital now!” She looked up and giggled at me and the young man as she waved her cell phone. “My mom will be here soon.”
“I’m Tej. If you could take a seat, I can wheel you in and we can get you admitted,” the colorful orderly said.
Natalie hobbled to the wheelchair and sat down. “This shouldn’t take too long. I’ll check in on you tomorrow to make sure everything is going smoothly with Mr. Stevenson.” She craned her neck as Tej started pushing her away.
“You focus on getting that baby girl out. I have everything handled at the office!” I called after her.