6. Clark
SIX
CLARK
I packed up the leftovers and piled them into Olly’s fridge, despite her insistence that I take at least half home for me, as I had insisted on paying her for the meal.
I figured someone pregnant on a mission for a late-night snack might appreciate the leftovers more than me.
I laughed as I finally heaved the last container into her neat-as-a-pin but sparse fridge, now bulging with food.
Okay, so she might have ordered enough for six, but I thought pregnant women were supposed to eat like crazy.
Maybe that came later in the pregnancy? Honestly though, how was I supposed to know?
Olly had made an impressive effort and only had to run to the washroom once, presumably to throw up, while I was packing up the food.
And considering she had run out of the kitchen several minutes ago, I’d think it safe to surmise that was where she was, again.
It was when I closed the fridge door and noticed the impressive magnet collection of the members of what I thought were BTS, given that there was a magnet in the middle of the fridge with a large heart and BTS written on it.
When I first saw that, I really did burst into full-on belly laughter.
I initially thought that the boy-band scene was more suited to fifteen-year-old girls, but then I thought it over and decided not to be a judgmental asshole.
I played video games now and then, after all, and at thirty, I wasn’t getting any younger.
I decided to go down the hall, hoping that Olly’s apartment really did have the same layout as mine, because she hadn't shown her face for almost fifteen minutes now. I was starting to get a little bit worried. As I moved through her space, I noted that the rest of the apartment was as neat as that refrigerator despite her warning about chaos and mess. Everything was decorated in shades of white, cream, or slate gray, with splashes of bold colours in framed art on the walls. It was quite beautiful. I had skipped checking out the decor while we were eating and watching Squid Game, which required full attention to read the subtitles and eat at the same time. I stopped in front of what I hoped was the bathroom and gently knocked, asking through the door, “Is everything okay in there? I’d hate to think you were on your knees in front of the toilet while I was out here instead of helping you.”
A very pale and messy-haired Olly opened the door, toothbrush in hand.
“I was just finishing up,” she explained.
“Sorry to end our evening on such an icky note, but this is life for me nowadays. The intruder revels in making me miserable. I just know it.” She reached up and took the pencil out of her hair, causing the bun to fall apart and her hair to cascade around her.
“Meet me here tomorrow morning at eight thirty, and we can carpool to the Information Complex, if you like.
I'm going to be who you report to, anyway, so we might as well go together. When we get there, I can show you how to get set up on the computer system with passwords and all that jazz. And I can give you a more thorough tour of the office. Sound good?”
“Yup, no worries. Just show me where a good coffee machine is, and I’m golden.”
She managed a weak smile, and then said to me conspiratorially, “I have a nice Keurig I got from Mother and Father Park for Christmas last year. The kind that has an attached perk? I have it set up in our team break room, and you are welcome to use it. Just bring a mug and your pods of choice because I’m on decaf these days. Another gift from my little one.”
“That all sounds great, thank you,” I replied, trying to infuse my words with enthusiasm.
I really didn't have to try too hard. I was excited about starting this job, and if the senior member of my team wanted to start showing me the ropes one on one, then I was grabbing that opportunity.
I did have a little bit of a twinge of something like sadness whenever she spoke about her baby, calling it an “intruder” and such.
“Little one” was the kindest turn of phrase she had used so far.
But it was her pregnancy, so just because I had strong feelings pulling me toward fatherhood didn't mean that I could judge her on her language and attitude toward her own body. “Okay, I’ll meet you back here in the morning.” She managed a weak smile and walked me out, her movement somehow still graceful despite her being ill just moments ago.
She was intriguing. I could say that much for certain.
I didn’t know exactly what to expect in the morning, but an upbeat tune—probably from BTS—being brightly knocked on my door wasn’t it.
I was seeing a shyly playful side to Olive, no, Olly, emerge, which indicated to me she hadn’t spent much time just letting her hair down—figuratively and literally—around loads of other people and instead found joy in simple things.
I liked that. Joy in simplicity. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see her holding two coffee cups in her hands, both bearing the café's logo on the bottom floor of our building.
She held one out to me and said, “I got this for you based on our debate last night about crème br?lée or pumpkin spice for fall.
So, here's your br?lée, weirdo. I, however, have opted for something more traditional and far more scrumptious.” There was a twinkle in her eye as she trash-talked my coffee preference, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face.
As we walked toward the elevator, in relative silence, each enjoying our treat, I tried to think if it really would be wholly inappropriate to let her know that I wanted to spend some more time together outside of work.
But gods, that sounded terrible even in my head, because how would she take that, coming from someone whose first day of work she was about to supervise?
By the time we hit the parking garage, I decided to wait and see where things naturally went between us.
I tried to sound casual as I asked, “Hey, did you mow through all your leftovers yet? There’s that stereotype about pregnant people and their insatiable appetites.” Good gods, did I just say “insatiable appetites” to her? What the fuck was wrong with me?
I wasn’t expecting her to burst into laughter or to look so brilliant doing it. “Leftovers? There’s enough food in there to supply a medium-sized Ewok village. Though the lemon chicken is long gone after my late-night craving. Thanks for leaving that out at the front of the fridge, by the way.”
Score one for me, though I didn’t quite know why it thrilled me to the extent it did to have made her happy. Perhaps it was that flash of a smile that seeped through her otherwise often serious countenance. I resolved right then to make Olly McLeod smile at least once every day I saw her.
We made our way past the desks of the other employees, arranged in a wavelike pattern so that even by sharing desks, each person had their own space.
In the middle of the floor was a large office with glass walls on two sides, and Jeff sitting at what looked like central command with information on large screens.
“Now,” Olly said to me in a soft voice, “all the sides to Jeff’s office can be made to go clear or shaded.
On those shady days if you need something from him, you send him an email or an intra-office chat message instead of knocking, because odds are, they are working on something in there that is even above my pay grade, despite me now being the senior member of our team. ”
She then stopped by a door and waved her name badge over a card reader, and the door released with a click.
“We will think of today as a speedy orientation, and depending on how we go we’ll also do something similar tomorrow.
I've arranged for security to meet us here at 9:15 to give you your passwords on our systems and to take your picture for your own pass and give it access to this floor and the rooms you are cleared for. Of course, you’ll need to show your pass downstairs to enter the building on your own.
“Now this,” she began while ushering me into the bright office space we would share, the general opinion of the higher-ups being that we needed to work closely for at least two weeks to train me, “is more of a tip, really. Record storage is on-site, both digital and paper, on the other end of this floor. Anyway, right, the tip: the size of the paper record collection irritates both Robert and Jeff, so I never take them there. I used to run down to find the relevant records myself and retrieve them. It was a bit of a pain, but I was a junior team member.” Then, she seemed to chirp up, like something wondrous she hadn’t considered before hitting her all at once.
“I suppose that will be part of your job now. Tough break,” she said, sounding completely unsympathetic, with an undercurrent of humour.
I felt at ease with her style of humour, and I let out a genuine laugh.
I had a feeling that Olly sidelined herself a lot and didn’t give herself enough credit for the interesting person I had found her to be.
“I think it’s because when I was being shuffled around, I didn’t want to be noticed.
I thought if I were less trouble than a potted plant, someone would eventually keep me.
I just didn’t know it would take seven years.
” She stopped to consider something. “Why am I telling you this? I’m sorry, my childhood has nothing to do with the tasks we’re doing today.
I think I just didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night, perhaps. ”