Chapter 11 Molly
Molly
‘Elijah is avoiding me,’ I tell Devi, my voice startling her to close the tab of the decidedly not-work-appropriate document she was working on.
Seeing it’s just me, she relaxes, then processes what I just said and purses her lips.
Her hair is pulled half up into two little space buns, effortlessly cool and beautiful, as is her way.
‘How do you figure?’
I lean on the counter that she decorates with little seasonal statues and lower my voice as if he could possible hear me from across the office. ‘He hasn’t had a question for me in two full days.’
‘Gasp,’ she says dryly. ‘Maybe he’s learning? Isn’t that the goal of the buddy thing? One to teach, one to learn?’
‘No, he’s not–well, maybe he’s learning a little, but he still has questions, he’s just asking Kenneth instead and then when Kenneth is stumped, Kenneth asks me. It’s very inefficient.’
‘Maybe he just doesn’t want to bother you any more after you’ve been so prickly?’
‘I’m not prickly,’ I say, but I totally am.
She holds her tongue but smiles like I’m a toddler she’s caught lying.
‘Whatever, sometimes I’m prickly, but it’s bothering me more that he’s not coming to me first.’ Saying it aloud makes me squint, realisation dawning that three weeks ago I would have rejoiced to be in this predicament.
In fact, I lamented to her about just how annoying I thought he was.
No, how annoying I still think he is.
‘Isn’t that… good, though?’ Devi asks, affirming my train of thought.
‘I guess it is, yeah.’ I line up the three little jack-o’-lantern statues, pouting. ‘But he’s avoiding me like I don’t like him.’
‘You don’t,’ Devi says. I open my mouth to tell her that’s not true when she goes on, ‘You’re always complaining about him being under-qualified, weird, and annoying. Do you think maybe he caught the vibe that you don’t want him around?’
The thought unsettles me more than it should. I haven’t been quiet about thinking he’s weird; I tell him as much, but he’s always smiled like it’s a sweet joke between us. Have I been bullying him? Am I the problem?
I’m rude to him sometimes, but I’m also helpful and, on occasion, friendly.
I kind of thought we had a rapport between us: me annoyed, him annoying.
Me smart and helpful, him grovelling and grateful.
I resent who he is and how he’s here, but recently when I’ve had to explain something to him or fix one of his mistakes, I haven’t been miserable.
He’s maybe even funny? I wouldn’t admit that to him, though.
My days were more boring before he started. They’re noticeably less entertaining now that he’s avoiding me. Devi is right that I should be happy about this, but… I realise with discomfort that I’m the opposite of happy.
I’m so not happy that when I see Jen doubled over laughing at something he just said, I have a distinct and unmistakable pang of jealousy turning my skin green.
‘Maybe you should try talking to him?’ Devi says when I’ve been giving stink eyes in their direction for too long.
‘What would I say?’
‘I don’t know, invite him to my Halloween party?’
‘Are you crazy?’ I demand. Her eyes dart over my shoulder and go wide before returning to me.
‘In fact, now’s your chance,’ she whispers.
‘What? Devi, no.’
‘Yes!’ She plasters on a big smile and beams it at whoever is approaching–I presume Elijah. ‘We were just talking about you!’
‘Oh?’ Elijah says, and I hate that when I turn around, he’s looking especially hot today. Why does his hair always look so good even when he wears a hat to work every day? Why does his button-up fit his chest so well?
I sigh inwardly before offering my own closed-mouth smile. ‘Devi wondered how you feel about Halloween parties, and I guessed you’d never heard of Halloween in the prehistoric hovel you moved here from.’
Devi clears her throat, which serves its intended purpose of saying, See? I told you you’re evil.
Elijah’s eyes light up like they always do when I’m mean to him, but he looks back at Devi. ‘Been a few years since I’ve attended a Halloween party, but my feelings about them are in the range of positive to fond.’
‘Excellent!’ Devi claps. ‘I’m having one at my house this Friday, if you’d like to come? Molly will be dressed as a cactus. Fitting, huh?’
‘Indeed.’ Elijah chuckles, then pauses to think about the invitation.
Crap, is he really going to come? Do I want him to be there?
What if he looks even better in street clothes?
I return to my fleeting hope that he’s a flip-flops with torn skinny jeans kind of guy so that I can stop thinking he’s hot for good.
‘Would it be okay if I brought my friend?’
‘Yes! But bring either drinks, a side, or a dessert, deal?’
‘Deal,’ he agrees and meets my eyes briefly before turning away from us. Conversation over. No questions for me. No fires for me to help put out. He has Kenneth now, apparently.
‘And don’t forget a costume,’ I say after him.
Despite Devi’s promise, I do not dress up as a cactus for her Halloween party on Friday night.
I do pull out my dress with big silver sequins, though, and call myself a disco ball.
Devi is dressed as Sabrina Carpenter, which is to say, she’s curled her hair and is wearing cute lingerie.
She applies a generous amount of sparkling eyeshadow and highlighter to my eyelids and cheeks when I show up with wine and seltzer, and decrees that I am party ready.
Hailey usually would be my plus one, but she is at some experimental show in Brooklyn that she just couldn’t miss.
This is my third year coming to Devi’s Halloween parties, and her friends, though a bit younger and much wilder than me, are always welcoming and friendly.
She has two roommates, Lisa and Reggie, who greet me with kisses on my cheeks and are already tipsy when I arrive.
They tell me at length how beautiful I am, how pretty my hair is, how they wish they had curves like mine, and then they debrief me on the gossip of everyone planning to attend the party.
This goes on for fifteen minutes until the first of the guests shows up; a man from a lower floor whom Reggie has been not-so-secretly into for months. I whisper to Reggie that she has good taste and she grins.
Then I am shocked to see my ex-fiancé’s little brother, Luke, enter dressed as a priest. I shouldn’t be so surprised he’s here, but I always forget that he and Devi are friends.
So long as Matt doesn’t come along with him, I’m happy to see Luke.
He gives me a big hug, tells me conspiratorially that Matt’s new girlfriend is annoying as hell.
I tell him that isn’t very feminist of him to compare women, even while I can’t hide my delight.
Matt should have an annoying girlfriend, and you know what, it’s that girl’s right to be annoying.
If I could meet her tonight, I would tell her to be worse!
I catch up with Luke while more guests show up, but Luke stops speaking mid-sentence when something catches his attention over my shoulder.
‘Is that—’ Luke’s jaw falls open, and I turn to see that the object of his attention is no other than Elijah and a handsome man I’ve never seen. His friend, presumably.
Unfortunately, Elijah looks hot as fuck.
‘I work with that guy,’ Luke says, eyes still wide.
‘Which one?’ I ask. ‘Devi and I work with Buffalo Bill over there.’
‘The other one. Dressed as the main guy from The Bear. We must talk to them.’
‘No, no, but by all means you go ahead.’ I try to wave him off, but Luke is already calling out to them, beckoning them over with no shortage of excitement.
I withhold a groan as Elijah and his friend add their shoes to the pile by the door and join us in the kitchen, nothing but smiles as they contribute a case of wine coolers and a pasta salad to the spread.
‘Luke?’ the man with Elijah asks, looking just as bewildered as Luke did. ‘Are you dressed as Hot Priest from Fleabag?’
‘Exactly!’ Luke says. ‘Was going to come as Mark S. but I couldn’t stomach wearing a suit recreationally.’
Elijah’s eyes are on me, taking me in from head to toe–my bare shoulders, the short dress, the tall black socks I had under my boots.
His attention makes a flush rise up my neck and I can only hope that my makeup is covering the worst of the blushing.
Maybe realising that he’s obviously checking me out, Elijah shakes his head and offers a chagrined smile.
‘Nice costume,’ he says.
‘Yours too.’ He wears a tight black button-up shirt with red ornamentation on the two chest pockets.
His pants are high waisted, black, and held in place with a silver belt buckle.
I could not have created the image of cowboy Elijah in my wildest imaginings, but now I fear I will never be forgetting it.
‘And this is…?’ Elijah’s plus one asks, pulling me from the quiet staring contest I didn’t realise we had going on.
I extend a hand in his direction. ‘Molly–I work with Elijah. Good to meet you.’
The man’s eyes positively light up, and he gives me a very handsome, friendly smile. ‘I’ve heard lots about you, thrilled to be meeting you, Molly. Dylan.’ His hand is large and very warm, but not at all sweaty, which is a feat, I think.
‘Anything bad he said was actually about another, evil Molly that works in the department. All good things can be attributed back to me.’
Dylan lets out a loud laugh at this and Elijah’s eyes crinkle at their edges.
‘No one could say something bad about you, Molly,’ Luke says. ‘You’re without reproach.’
‘So true.’ I give my most self-deprecating expression. Luke, being the brother of Matt, has heard no shortage of bad things said about me, but he’s assured me on numerous occasions that he was on my side of the whole breakup.
‘You two know each other?’ Dylan asks of me and Luke.
‘We go way back,’ Luke says, and wraps an arm around my shoulders, squeezing me briefly to his side. ‘My brother almost married her, but he fumbled before the finish line.’