The Design(39)

It was impossible to concentrate at work on Monday. I’d had an entire weekend to recreate, dissect, downplay, and fantasize about what had happened between Grayson and me in the stairwell. I hadn’t spoken with him since that day, but happy hour was just a few short hours away and we’d definitely face each other then. I could hardly wait. I worked through lunch, ensuring that every single task Alan put on my desk would be completed by 4:59 pm at the latest. I didn’t have time to worry about Grayson’s whereabouts in the office if I hoped to leave work on time. I even caught the scent of his aftershave a few times but I resisted the temptation to turn around. Instead, I kept my face down and pressed on, finalizing sketches and handing them off to Alan with lightning speed.

As the office clock struck 4:50 pm, I initialed the final sketches Alan had requested for the day and smiled. All done. I straightened up my desk, packed up my things, and signed out of my computer. My excitement was starting to brim over and I knew that Peter could tell. He’d shot me curious glances all day, but I just shrugged them off, feigning random cheerfulness. Was it a crime to love your job?

“All done?” Peter asked with a bemused smile.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Some of us know how to get our work done,” I joked.

Alan perked up and glanced over at my desk. I expected a “good job” or at least a nod in my direction. Instead, he raised his brow and reached for a crate beneath his desk.

“I’m glad you finished. These sketches you completed a few days ago are all off. The measurements you used weren’t correct. I need you to redo them and have them ready for me in the morning.”

He dropped the crate onto my desk with a thud and my mouth dropped.

No. No, he couldn’t possibly do that to me.

“You gave me the measurements I was supposed to use. I double checked each sketch,” I argued, reaching for the paper at the very top of the stack, more than sure of myself.

Alan rolled his eyes. “Yes, but the measurements changed. We just got word from the engineering team. So change it. The new stats are written on a post-it note in there.”

He motioned to the crate and then turned back to his work, leaving me to my own personal hell. I stared in disbelief at the sketches that would keep me at the office well past the end of happy hour. I should have known Alan would find some way to screw up my plans. After all, making me miserable was his number one goal in life.

“Can’t she do them tomorrow, Alan? We have that work happy hour at five,” Peter spoke up.

I shot him an appreciative smile.

“Happy hour? Are you kidding me, Peter? These sketches take precedence over getting drunk. You of all people should realize that.”

Peter chewed on his bottom lip, fighting with himself over whether to speak up or drop the subject all together. I decided to step in before he took the fall for me.

“It’s fine. I’ll get them done, Alan.”

And I would. I cared about this job and I cared about impressing Alan too much to worry about some happy hour. So what if Hannah would get a chance to hangout with Grayson while I was tethered to my desk? So what if they would laugh and have a good time while I worked on dumb sketches that didn’t even matter?

So what?

That’s the mantra I kept repeating to myself as I watched Peter and the rest of the architects pack up for the day. Hannah and her table-mates chatted as they stood and collected their things. I caught a glimpse of her outfit before she left: a tight black dress she’d hidden beneath a loose jacket all day.

I sighed as I turned back to my work, spreading the sketches out in front of me so I could count how many more I had to go through.

“Want me to stay with you? We could hammer them out pretty quickly together,” Peter offered with a timid smile that told me he really hoped I would say no.

“Nah, you go on ahead. Have a beer for me,” I said with the biggest smile I could muster.

…



My phone buzzed on my desk just as I’d finished up the first half of the sketches.



Hannah: OMG. Having so much fun! Where are you? We just did an office shot!



Before I could stop it, the image of Grayson taking a body shot off Hannah played out in my mind with HD clarity.

Was he there with her? He wasn’t in his office but I hadn’t seen him leave either.

My phone buzzed again and I glanced down to see another text from Hannah. This time she’d attached a selfie of her holding up a shot to her mouth, ready to down it.

“Fuck,” I murmured under my breath.

I glanced back down to my pile of sketches. I had so much work left to do, but all I wanted to do was leave.

Alan’s phone rang, jarring my attention toward his desk. I hated the fact that he’d stayed late with me. If he wasn’t there, I’d have already left and just come back to the office at the butt crack of dawn to finish the sketches.

“What do you want, Suzie?” he barked into the phone.

Whelp, good to know he’s pleasant to everyone in his life.

“Are you kidding? You expect me to help you with the kids whenever it’s convenient for you?”

I stayed stock-still as he continued yelling at the person on the other end of the line.

“No,” he argued. “You claimed full custody so you could keep them from me. I’m not going to help you out now.”