“No problem.” Turning to Jill, I asked, “You ready for the grand tour?”
“Absolutely. This campus is amazing,” she said in astonishment as we walked. “The little town square. The retro style movie theater. The European style café. Picto-Town is so cute!”“
“Isn’t it? Theo modeled it after a town in the Czech Republic,” I gushed. I didn’t want to be that girlfriend who boasted about her man, but Theo was definitely a remarkable boyfriend to humblebrag about.
When we walked by Theo’s painting, the one used in the Marc Janow ad, Jill stopped and commented, “Hey! This is from your ad.”
I nodded looking at the magnificent piece of art. “Theo painted it. Can you believe it?”
Jill gave me a surprised look. “He did?”
“Yup.” My cheeks were hurting from smiling so much just talking about Theo.
“That’s pretty impressive,” she said, gazing at the large canvas.
I couldn’t help being proud of him. Everyone in the world should know how incredible he was. “He’s a man of many talents.”
Jill giggled with a sneaky smile on her face. “I bet.”
Rolling my eyes and laughing, I said, “Get your mind out of the gutter! Come on. I’ll show you my desk.”
At my desk, Jill looked around at the other engineers sitting at theirs. “Wow. I guess I just assumed there would be cubicles or something.”
Looking around, I agreed, “Totes! I did too!”
“This is nice.” She waved her arms in a loose zigzag motion. “It’s a cool community vibe.” Looking around, she asked, “Where is Theo’s desk?”
I pointed up to the glass windows. “Up there. He has his own office.”
“Oh yeah, of course. The CEO and all. That’s pretty cool though with the wrap around windows,” she remarked.
“Yep. He’s the eye in the sky. I mean, that’s what they call him,” I explained, starting to feel bashful for talking about my boyfriend so much.
“You and Theo seem to be spending a lot of time together now,” Jill said, picking up my hedgehog figurine on my desk. It was a cute little gift from Theo after I told him how much I loved the adorable creature.
I flushed. “We have.”
She fiddled with the hedgehog. “I feel like I haven’t really seen you, you know, outside of class.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. I’d been neglecting my best friend.
She put the hedgehog back down on my desk. “No, I get it. If I had a boyfriend, I would do the same thing.”
Not knowing what to say, I focused on tidying up my already neat desk. I had been spending more and more time at Theo’s.
She looked conflicted when she said, “I have something to tell you.”
When she hesitated, I said, “What? Is everything okay?” Worry crept into my chest.
Theo walked by just then. “Hey! Is this Jill?”
“Hi, Theo. Yep. This is Jill, my BFF!” I said.
Theo stuck his hand out. “Nice to meet you! I’ve heard so much about you.”
Jill took his hand. “Great to meet you too.”
Theo looked at his watch anxiously. “I’ve got to run to a meeting, but maybe we can all go to lunch?”