Lag (The boys of RDA #2)(50)
She steps closer. “Is it organic?”
My eyes widen at her unexpected question and I gape at the apple in question. “Um… well, it comes from a tree.”
She scoffs at my answer and steps away from the basket, perhaps worried the apple might reach out and grab her with its GMO arms. She takes a seat in one of the black lobby chairs along the side wall and slides a phone from her purse.
“Well, will you buzz him or should I call him myself?”
I grab the phone receiver and hold it up to indicate I’m calling, and she puts her phone down but glares at me in a “hurry it up” fashion. Is it organic? What kind of person asks about organic apples? She couldn’t politely refuse like any other sane person on the planet?
Trey answers on the first ring. “Is everything okay? Do you need help?”
“No, but Mari is here to see you.” I notice my slip of tongue by using her first name when her bright blue eyes flare. Shit.
“What?” He sighs over the line. “Fine, send her back.”
It isn’t until she’s already through the door that I register her words. She said she was taking her Trey out to lunch. Her Trey. What was all his talk at Bonnie's?
The front doors open again and I’m thankful this time they help put an end my little freak out. Two younger guys in white jackets and black pants come in carrying three large plastic sacks each. The smell of fresh pasta and sauce with garlic trails behind them. The bags are set on the desk and the taller of the two passes me a long receipt.
“You’re new,” he states the obvious. “Have fun with this." The second person chuckles and quickly turns around to hide it.
They’re headed to the door before I get the chance to question his words. “See you next week, New Girl,” the taller one waves as he walks out the behind the other. "If you make it that long.”
“Ah, lunch.” My head spins to the side as Finn walks to my desk. “I’ll help you pass it all out.” He takes three bags from the counter and I follow him to the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Finn and I set up the large dishes of various pasta noodles and sauce containers for those employees who will eat in the building for today’s buffet style lunch. Finn places the final custom ordered dish on an empty desk and leaves them with extra napkins.
“You’ll learn everyone’s needs once you start placing the lunch orders.” His words sound innocent, but he stresses the word needs a bit longer, and it leaves me worried there’s more to his casual comment.
I crumple up the now empty bag and walk it to the large trash can on the side wall. Above the table a clock like you find in every high school classroom ticks away the seconds past 12:15. We didn’t deliver a meal to Trey’s office although Finn pointed it out as we walked by. The wooden door was sealed shut and the blinds tightly closed over the big window beside it. Grant never walked out my way this morning and Mari hasn’t either. I check his still closed door again and tell my brain I don’t care who’s in there with him.
“Are you planning to eat with us today?” Finn startles me with his question.
I should stay and eat with everyone else so I get to know people, but Trey and I were supposed to go somewhere fifteen minutes ago. The fact he hasn’t left his office or looked for me bruises my ego more than I want to admit to anyone this afternoon, let alone his best friend. I’d rather run and hide somewhere I’m not faced with Trey’s closed door three feet away.
“Um.” My eyes drift to Trey’s door one last time. “I plan to run down the street and grab a sandwich. I’ll eat here tomorrow for sure,” I promise Finn and walk back to the lobby where I stored my purse earlier.
Two blocks down is a cute bakery with cupcakes and cookies in the window. I’ve stepped to the side and found a spot at the end of the line on the street before my mind registers the choice. I could use some chocolate right about now.
The line isn’t long and most people have huddled near the door to try and get closer to the warmth inside. I left my light jacket at the desk and don’t notice the slight chill until the fifth person with gloves on walks by me on the street. I guess Aspen isn't alone in her hatred of the cold. What will happen if it ever snows?
Ten minutes later I’m sitting at an unoccupied chair in the back of the café with my back to the window. Because you never know when you’ll need music, I pull a pair of headphones from my purse, plug them into my phone and open the player. The last song I'd listened to finishes and Daughtry’s song “Over You” blasts into my ears.
The semi gloomy song makes me smile as I sing along with the lyrics in my head and think of Trey for each and every one. When the song ends, I play it again and then one more time as I finish my second red velvet cupcake.
I allow the song to switch as I walk back to the large cobalt blue building I now call work. One of my newest song additions, “Here’s to the Zeros” from Marianas Trench plays to help lighten my mood. Aspen walked around the apartment singing the catchy lyrics for hours Sunday. Three repeats later and I decided I needed to download it too. It’s quirky.
Michael, the intern Finn asked to watch the front desk while I was gone, stands as soon as my toes cross over the threshold.
“Thank God you’re back. He’s crazy,” he sputters and then shoots out the door without any accompanying details.