“I heard,” Eli says dryly. “Zane and Brandon have had their tails between their legs all week.”
“He said the only reason he didn’t fire us is this is our last week, so there was no point,” Kevin admits. “So that’s… something.”
A hush falls over the assembled staff, and Lydia’s eyes snap to the front.
I turn, heart already thumping.
Montgomery is standing in front of everyone, looking as self-important and well-dressed as ever in a white linen suit and an ascot.
An ascot. How is this man real and not a cartoon character?
“Good morning, everyone, and thank you so much for coming to this meeting,” he says, as if it’s not mandatory. “First off, I’d like to thank you all for a wonderful, outstanding wedding season.”
Polite applause.
“Before I get down to things, I’d just like to share a few statistics about the past three months,” he says, unfolding a piece of paper. “Did you all know that this is the busiest wedding seasons Bramblebush has ever had?”
Murmurs from the assembled employees.
“That’s right, folks,” he goes on. “Between Memorial Day and today, we have hosted seventeen weddings, including four on Fridays, plus one community block party!”
Polite laughter. I feel like something’s clawing at the inside of my chest, so I take another sip of coffee, trying to play it off.
“That’s nearly seventy-seven hundred guests at Bramblebush,” Montgomery says. “With the largest wedding being…”
He keeps talking numbers, the noise becoming a dull roar in my ears. I can’t stand this. I feel like Montgomery is doing this to hurt me, personally, because every moment that I don’t find out whether I beat Eli is another moment that I feel like I’m suffocating on my own anxiety.
Eli’s standing next to me. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, and I swear, I feel like he’s just rubbed porcupines on me.
I can’t help it.
I really want to beat him.
I know I shouldn’t feel like this about it. I know that he’s also worked his ass off this summer. I know that I should be preparing myself to be a gracious loser, that competition isn’t everything, that the true prize is real friendship or some Sesame Street bullshit like that.
Yeah, no. I’ve spent my entire life wanting to beat Eli Loveless at everything and despite everything, today’s no different.
“Isn’t that fascinating?” Montgomery asks the clearly un-fascinated crowd. “I thought that was really something. Thanks to Rosa Garcia for those facts.”
A smattering of applause.
“All right, I’ve kept you waiting for long enough,” Montgomery says, folding his hands together. “I know you’re all really here to learn who’s won the Most Valuable Employee prize this summer.”
A buzz zips through the crowd. I clench my coffee mug a little tighter.
It doesn’t matter, I lie to myself. Be happy for whoever wins, and if you’re not, fake it.
“Well, this year’s winner is someone who really earned it,” Montgomery says. “An employee who embodied the spirit of a team player, but who went above and beyond when called upon to do so.”
I’m going to die waiting for this announcement.
“And that employee is…”
My hands are shaking.
“Elijah Loveless!”
Oh.
Everything stops for a split second. I hold my breath, hands still clenched around my coffee cup, and I wait.
I wait for the announcement to feel like a punch in the stomach. I wait for it to feel like all my efforts are futile, like I’m not good enough and I’ll never be good enough.
But there’s no punch. There’s no overwhelming feeling of failure.
I look at up at Eli. He looks down at me, grinning, and I’m surprised to realize that I’m smiling, too.
“Good job,” I say softly. “You deserve it.”
Holy shit, I meant that.
“Thanks,” he says, and then everyone is applauding, people turning around to congratulate him, people patting him on the back and cracking jokes about what he should do with the money.
I swallow, tuck my coffee mug under my arm, and applaud along with them.
I’m disappointed. I’m bummed. I’m sad I didn’t win, and yeah, there’s a part of me that’s annoyed that Eli did. But there’s a bigger part that knows he deserves it, and that part’s actually happy for him.
What is happening?
“Congratulations, Elijah!” Montgomery says. “Here’s to your first wedding season of many.”
Eli holds up his coffee mug, like he’s toasting Montgomery.
“Thank you,” he calls, looking a little lost for words.
I keep my hands on my own coffee mug, even though he looks over at me again. I have the urge to put my hand on his arm, lean in, kiss him, but we’re at work in an all-staff meeting, so I keep my hands to myself.
Eli just smiles at me again, and then Montgomery keeps talking.
“Now that that’s over, we have just a few more things to discuss…” he says, still standing in the front.
“Dinner’s on me tonight,” Eli says into my ear, leaning down.