He gave a triumphant laugh. "Oh, now I'm getting it. I'm here for a job. Why are you visiting our Ms. Nichols?"
"How are we going to know the temperature of the market if I don't check in on the Ice Queen?" I asked. It was a low joke, back to the days at Hyperion when everyone made fun of Tasha behind her back.
Berger did not respond to it with his usual bark of laughter. His smile froze into a crooked line, and suddenly he was much more interested in the nearest cubicle.
I felt my stomach sink down to the floor. During our conversation, Berger had turned me so my back was to Tasha's office. She had looked so busy and so focused as she talked on the phone that I had assumed she'd be staying at her desk. I had also banked on her less-than-thrilled expression when she saw me to buy me a few minutes to think up the perfect thing to say. Something casual but friendly. I had come to her new office to make her realize we could still get along.
Now, I was afraid she had come out of her office just to overhear me talking the same kind of nonsense all the junior executives used to torture her with.
Berger met my eyes, just barely. It was clear that Tasha was directly behind me, but there was no way out of the comment I had made.
"She's behind me, isn't she?" I asked Berger.
He nodded but said nothing.
I sighed. "She heard me sounding like a horse's ass, didn't she?"
"She did," Tasha said.
I spun around, but her expression was too hard to read.
Berger found his voice again. "We were just talking about how far you've come. We didn't make it easy on you, and Rainer was just remembering the awful jokes we used to make. Not even funny. Just bad."
He trailed off, and Topher swooped in to try to salvage the awkward situation. "Mr. Maxwell, so good to see you again. I remember when you used to tell off all your colleagues about how they joked behind Ms. Nichols’ back."
"Are we in junior high school?" Tasha asked.
I laughed, not knowing if she was making fun of us or not. "We are, but not you. I can't even imagine what you must have been like in junior high school: hefty binder full of A+ schoolwork. . ."
I trailed off to silence and stood between Berger and Topher looking sheepish.
Tasha sighed. "I'm sorry to break up this little reunion, but I have a very busy day and there is a lot I need to do before my next meeting."
Topher brightened. "I'll get you a coffee. Her niece was born late last night. Healthy baby girl—"
Tasha held up one hand and cut off her assistant. "A coffee would be nice. Berger, make sure you get those forms back to HR as soon as possible. Rainer, nice to see you again."
"Don't you mean strange?" I asked. "As in, what is he doing just showing up at my office in the middle of a busy day?"
Before Tasha could protest, I caught her by the arm and steered her back into her office. Shutting the door behind me did little to block the curious eyes all around the office, but I knew pulling the curtains would look terrible. Instead, I tried to stand casually at the same time as guarding the door. I didn't want Tasha to leave until I had a chance to talk with her.
"What do you want, Rainer?" Tasha asked. She crossed her arms and the entire office could tell she had no patience left for me at all.
"I just, I just can't stop thinking about you." The truth blurted out on a wave of panic. "And I'm wondering if you managed to get me out of your system because I could really use a few pointers on how to do the same."
Tasha's face almost cracked a rueful smile. "You came all the way here just to remind me of that? Really, Rainer, I'm starting to worry that you have nothing else going on in your life."
"Ouch," I said. "Still, I'm here confessing to you that you are all I think about. How am I supposed to stop that?"
Tasha gave her fishbowl office a glance and then moved around to sit behind her desk. I watched as she carefully folded her hands together before she looked up to answer me. "I think the best thing is to move forward. Don't you?"
"I am moving forward. Work is going great for me, by the way. I mean, I can see that you've moved on to bigger and better things, but I want you to know that your little experiment didn't work for me. I can't get you out of my system."
Tasha gave a frustrated growl at the same time her pleasant smile never faltered. "For God's sake, Rainer, you know there is more to relationships than just sex. Right?"
I caught the back of one of her visitor chairs before I fell over. "Relationship?"
She scowled. "See? Even the word makes you act all funny. That's because all we had was sex. And that's over. And since we never had and never will have a relationship, this conversation is over."