Page 14 of A Break in Communications

The elevator took us up to the floor with our office, where Sean was already there at the reception desk, talking to the receptionist Gloria, neither of whom were usually here before me and Anna, Gloria wearing a sweater top with her hair up in a bun and Sean wearing a tacky tweed outfit that looked like he was dressed for a 1920s Christmas party instead of the modern day. Sean turned to us, and he lit up seeing the two of us coming in, which was how I knew he really was close to retirement—nobody in the office lit up like that very often.

“Anna, Lucy, good morning, you two—can I see you both in my office for one second?”

The dickhead didn’t say anything about how nicely she was dressed today.

Anna raised her eyebrows, folding her arms. “Both of us? In one room? I was kind of hoping I’d gotten away from her.”

Sean waved her off. “Relax, relax. You’re not in trouble. This is a good opportunity.”

Anna pursed her lips. “Can’t do it one at a time?”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Boss’s orders, Preston, dearest.”

“Ugh—stop that. Fine, fine, we’re coming.”

Sean had always loved his trees, so I guess it was no surprise his office was the first to get dressed up with the Christmas festivities, no less than three miniature Christmas trees stocked in places. Sean sat down, gesturing us to the chair across the desk, and he folded his hands on the desk.

“Change of plans for the work party,” he said. “I personally, and cordially, invited Matthew Gould around to join us.”

That was… unexpected. Anna raised her eyebrows high. “Tonight…? Why? Are we supposed to be selling him on something?”

“No, just… just… meet him. The two of you. Make sure he knows you two are the ones at the head of his case as things move forward. I don’t know if you two saw in those documents about his kids, but he’s, ah—” He tugged his collar. “He’s had some issue with the… lack of diversity at our organization.”

I hadn’t gotten much about his family out of Anna. As far as I knew, he had two kids, both in their late twenties, both married, the elder with a kid, but all signs pointed to them both being able-bodied white women. “Jessica and Charlie? What about them?”

Sean sat up straighter. “Well, just—they’re both married to women. Apparently Matthew Gould is a big proponent of diversity and LGBT because of them, and he really cares a lotabout these things, so—the fact that he’s going to meet the two of you and find out the two women who are top performers on this case are a couple, I think it will really build some rapport and alleviate his concerns about diversity.”

Ah. I guess Kelcey had been in early today, too. That woman couldn’t keep gossip to herself for her life. Anna went marble-white, blinking slowly, clutching the arms of her chair, before she said, “Mister Dobbs, we are… not… a couple.”

He put his hand up, clearly embarrassed. “It’s quite all right, really. This is an inclusive workplace. Just—remember—please, that the open office, it’s, well—even if it’s just the two of you, well, it’s not a private space…”

Anna looked like she’d pass out. I kicked one leg over the other, leaning back in my chair, and I put a hand up. “Our apologies for the mishap. We won’t do anything inappropriate in the office.”

“Lucy.” Anna whirled on me, shooting me a look that—I didn’t think I’d ever seen her this red. She looked cute like this. Especially calling meLucy.Made my heart do a little dance every time she did. I played innocent, batting my eyes.

“What? We won’t. It’s just the right thing to do.”

“Oh my god—”

“Thank you,” Sean said, speaking too quickly. “I told him about you two—power couple keeping this place running half the time! The future is female! He’s looking forward to it.”

I was going to pass out. The thought of someone describing me asAnna’s girlfriend…I felt lightheaded and dizzy in a way I wasn’t used to, my heart skipping every few beats. Anna made a sound in her throat.

“You… you told him… what?”

Sean sat up taller. “Well, I want it to be very clear that I believe in the two of you. There’s rules around workplace dating,but, well—you two know the rules. I think you know all the rules, actually.”

“Sean, we arenot dating,” Anna said. Sean shifted uncomfortably.

“Well, I won’t… talk about it, but, er—it’s gotten around a bit, anyway.”

Oh—the whole office thought Anna was my girlfriend. That I was Anna’s girlfriend. I couldn’t get my head around the thought, just fixating onAnna’s girlfriendlike it was the center of my orbit.

“Masters…” Anna turned to me with a desperate look. I put my hands up.

“Don’t look at me. You’re the one who sat on my lap.”

Anna and Sean both made approximately the same sound in their throats. “You wouldn’t get out of my chair,” Anna said weakly, her face beet-red now.

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