Chapter 7
The next day, Caitlyn stood near Noah and watched helplessly as the interns argued over the movie they were meant to film that day. What a disaster.
She hadn’t slept well, trying to think of how to apologize to Noah.
While she and Zoe had been getting ready for bed the night before, her friend mentioned that both Finn and Max had asked about Caitlyn not eating much.
So, of course, this morning she’d eaten even less at breakfast. Now, she felt weary and weak.
A wave of nausea made her dizzy, and she stumbled back a few paces to sit on a stone bench. Remembering Eve’s suggestion, Caitlyn leaned forward and rested her head on her knees. She prayed she wouldn’t throw up out here.
“What’s wrong?” Noah’s soft voice asked as a gentle hand rested on her back.
His kindness made her feel worse. She should apologize but didn’t have the energy. And she wasn’t about to tell him she wanted to toss her breakfast. Caitlyn took a deep breath and pushed down the queasiness. Straightening, she pointed to the still-arguing group.
“This activity is a bust.” She tried to rise, but Noah moved his hand to her shoulder and kept her on the bench.
“You’re looking pale, so I’ll be asking again. What’s wrong?”
Caitlyn’s first impulse was to apologize but, with the negative energy coming from the others and her sick stomach, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“My stomach’s bothering me.” She sighed. “If we let this arguing go on any longer, we could end up with some hard feelings, which is counterproductive.”
“Well, what do you know,” Noah said, his voice taking on a conspiratorial tone. Had he forgiven her? He asked, “Did you catch that glance from Heath? He’s been watching us.”
“Has he?” Pushing her queasiness to the back, Caitlyn tilted her face toward Noah but shifted her gaze to the group. Heath did shoot them a quick glance. Was he smirking at them? Her jaw clenched, and she had to squelch the urge to stomp over there and give him a piece of her mind.
“So, they’ve been setting us up, have they?” Noah’s expression turned thoughtful. “What are we going to do about it?”
“Not be failures. So how do we fix the situation?” Caitlyn mentally reviewed the things she’d read since being given the assignment. “For any retreat, they should be prepared for something like this to happen, where the team-building turns to fighting instead. We need to do something fun.”
“‘Tis a good idea. What was that you were saying t’other morning?” Noah shifted so he could see her more easily. She looked so weary, and his instinct was to help. “The bit about the food.”
“Food?” Caitlyn’s brows creased, her full lips pursed.
Almost like they would be if she were preparing for a kiss. Noah’s gaze lifted to meet hers. She watched him, her expression now wary, like she sensed something was happening but she didn’t trust it.
Was something happening?
“Food?” she repeated.
“Aye,” Noah murmured. “All that you were saying ‘tother day about getting folks to do things when you feed them.”
“Right. If you feed them, they will come.” She straightened. “You think we should go out to eat?”
“And do something besides. You said food helps people relax. We could combine a meal with an activity, one where we learn more about each other.”
“Yes.” Caitlyn’s expression brightened. “Yes.”
Noah jumped to his feet. “Are you up to it, my fair colleen?” He hadn’t meant to say it but, when her cheeks went a pretty pink, he was glad he had.
“Yes. Maybe I’ll feel better when I eat something too.”
“Grand.” Noah led her to the others and said, “That’ll be enough of that now. We have another activity for you instead. Let’s be returning the equipment to the flat.”
“And then what?” Sona asked.
“Food, to begin with,” Noah declared. “After everyone’s little tizzy just now, we’re needing to calm things down.”
Kayn’s phone rang. He stepped away to answer it. Since Sona watched him expectantly, everyone waited as well. When he turned around, he blinked in surprise to find them all looking at him. He shrugged.
“They’ve moved up our appointment,” he said, “so Sona and I won’t be able to take part in your food team-building activity.”
“We’ll expect a full report at dinner. Give us the equipment. We’ll return it to the condo.” Sona took the camera while Kayn and Joe gathered the rest, and the three of them strode back to the building.
“Where to?” Max asked.
“Last night I noticed online that there’s an ice cream shop called Cold Chaos not far from here,” Caitlyn said. “They mix it right at your table. If we split into two groups, we can have two flavors to sample.”
“You’re making me hungry.” Finn spun around, scanning their surroundings. “Tell me which way to go.”
Caitlyn pulled the phone from her pocket to check the location and pointed up the street. “It’s a couple of blocks that way. We should learn more about each other as we walk. Zoe, tell everyone what your favorite book is and why.”
“I have to choose just one?” Her friend gave her glasses a nudge.
“That was my thought too,” Max said with a grin.
As the group headed in the direction Caitlyn had indicated, Zoe and Max both started listing books they liked. The others chipped in. It must have been Caitlyn’s intent because she smiled softly when a debate started.
“You’re good at this,” Noah said, walking beside her.
“Good at what?”
“Getting people to talk about themselves. I wouldn’t have thought it, seeing how quiet you are at work.”
“I wasn’t quiet in that class we had your first semester.”
“‘Tis true. How did you know ‘twas my first semester?” he asked.
“You said so when the prof had everyone introduce themselves.”
“And you remember?” Noah wasn’t normally shy, but attending university in another country had shut his mouth up right and tight. It surprised him Caitlyn still remembered. He’d noticed her as soon as he’d stepped into the classroom. And he hadn’t forgotten either.
“Well, it’s not like we get a lot of Irishmen at ASU.”
“‘Tis true that.” Noah glanced at Caitlyn, wondering why he’d never asked her back then about her not sounding like a local. “Only a few of the things you say have a Southern accent. You must not be from Boone.”
“No, we moved there when I was in junior high to help care for my grandmother in her home.” Something flashed across her face that looked like pain.
“Ah, yes. I recall it now. Your granny died,” he said, keeping his voice soft.
Caitlyn nodded but didn’t look at him. “And then my mom did too.”
“I’m sorry.” Noah wondered why she’d never mentioned that to him before. It seemed there was a lot he had yet to learn about her. “If I remember right, you’re an only child.”
“Yes. And you have a sister. No brothers, right?” she asked quickly, as though she didn’t want to talk about her mother.
“No. ‘Tis something which surprises some folks since the Irish tend to have large families. We live in a tiny village.”
Caitlyn’s expression turned thoughtful. “Cong, right?”
“Aye. ‘Tis a surprise you remember.” Noah had made sure to look at her when he said it. Something flashed there, but she glanced to the side. What was she hiding?
“I remember your father commutes to Galway. Why didn’t your family live there?” she asked.
“They preferred raising their family in a small village.
We used to play in the ruins of Cong Abbey, hike the Nature Loop, or go boating on Lough Corrib.
‘Tis the lake Finn mentioned yesterday that we sailed on. As boys, we never lacked for entertaining things to do outside. All it took was a bit of imagination.” He smiled to himself at the memories.
“You said Cong is small, but how small is small?”
“About a hundred and fifty people.”
“Wow. Some of my larger lecture classes have had more people than that.” Caitlyn had been looking at Noah and ran into Heath’s back. She cried, “Oops, sorry.”
When the man took her arm to steady her, Noah had to push down a twinge of jealousy. He truly needed to make up his mind about her. Either she was what Keven claimed, or she was the nice girl she seemed. Somehow, he didn’t know which was worse.
Bright colors through the glass of the building to his left drew his attention. A sign above the entrance said: Cold Chaos Ice Cream Parlor.
Caitlyn waited until the others had entered before following them inside.
Did Noah’s unexpected friendliness mean he’d forgiven her for calling him a braggart?
The thought shouldn’t lift her spirits, though it did.
But did she even want to consider something more between them?
She couldn’t forget that Keven was still in the picture.
Her energy, or lack of it, made a sharp contrast to the lively feel of the restaurant.
Maybe her father was right; perhaps she had come back to work too soon.
She hadn’t felt well in a long time, but the sense of not being herself had been worse since coming to New York.
She couldn’t even blame jet lag. Just watching the two groups of chattering children at what must be separate birthday parties made her tired.
“You okay?” Zoe asked, stepping beside Caitlyn. “I guess he’s not mad at you anymore. That’s good, right?”
The night before, feeling foolish that she’d never considered he was talking about his family, Caitlyn had confessed to Zoe about her name-dropping accusation.
Being shy herself, her friend understood what it was like to be bullied.
She felt as bad as Caitlyn did about their having been pulled into the gossip about him.
“I want to make it up to him, but how?” Caitlyn mused.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Zoe said. “We can defend him when people talk him down.”
“I like that.” Caitlyn nodded. “He’s mentioned how much harder Sona is on him than anyone else because of their relationship. I wonder if it’s been like that under all his supervisors. We could remind people of the negatives.”
“How do you want to go about this?” Noah called from the front counter, pulling Caitlyn from her thoughts.