“Sure. I know how busy you are.”
“If you’ll excuse me.”
He smiled.
She breezed out of her own cubicle and went to the ladies room just to be away from him. She wished she could have said something cutting and clever, something that humiliated him the way his attempts to brush against her breasts humiliated her. To make herself feel better, she checked the date on her phone. Six more days, she told herself with a nod. Britt managed to get through the last hour of work, briskly double-checking spreadsheets and crossing items off her to-do list. She finished up a healthy ten minutes before five, with time enough to tidy her desk and make her list for tomorrow’s workday. As soon as the minute hand hit the twelve, she was on her feet, purse in hand.
Down the elevator from the eleventh floor which Creative Consulting occupied, she reached the lobby just as Marjorie, her best friend, emerged from the stairwell. Marj was training for a half marathon and maintained that elevators would weaken her. They headed by mutual consent to Joe’s Java, the coffee shop around the corner from the office building. They had a standing Thursday after-work coffee date.
Settling into a booth by the window, Britt sipped her caramel latte and sighed with relief. It was quiet there, but not the kind of quiet that she got at the office, with its annoying buzz of fluorescent lights overhead and the expectant shark-in-the-water silence as she strained to hear if Freeman approached. He wasn’t really a shark, she reasoned, more of an octopus with all those arms and hands. Marjorie got herself something with soy and protein powder that had a greenish cast to it.
“That looks like paint. Ugly paint. Like doctor’s waiting room paint.”
“Thanks. It’s good though. Coconut water and kale and protein powder—”
“Sounds like paradise.” Britt groaned.
“No, paradise would be three weeks in Bali with Ryan Gosling.”
“Still Ryan Gosling? Can we please move on from the Notebook?”
“Never. I’m nothing if not loyal.”
“How many guys have you dated this month exactly, Miss loyalty?” Britt said playfully.
“That’s dating. Me and Ryan Gosling, that’s true love.”
“Does he know about this?”
“No, it’s better this way. I don’t want to break up his happy home.”
“How selfless of you. Freeman was in my office this afternoon pointing at my monitor.”
“Ugh. Did he drop a pen so he could peek up your skirt?”
“I wear pants for a reason.”
“So he went strictly for the boobs. I hear you.” Marj said ruefully. “In a week he’ll be retired and groping his way through unfortunate bingo players down at the senior center.”
“Does he seem like a bingo guy?”
“No, he seems like he’d hang out down at the strip clubs and insist on making change out of the g-strings.”
“Ew. Yes he does. At least he won’t be breathing down our necks anymore.”
“You mean heavy breathing down our necks. He’s such a pervert.”
“Believe me, I won’t cry any tears when he leaves but what if the next guy is an even worse asshole?”
“Is that possible? I mean, Hitler’s dead, right?”
“Yes, but there are plenty of chauvinist pigs out there in the world of upper management. They like positions of authority when they’re not sunning themselves on a convenient rock.”
“Right. Well, let me see the houses.”
“Apartments. I’ve found three properties to choose from. I’m so excited to show them to Kevin tonight.”
“Six months is a long time