Page 42 of Lovely War
“Don’t complain,” Kat chides me. “You’re lucky you weren’t around for Sunday dinner. She made me take the Myers-Briggs test with her. It was ninety-three questions.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll text her when we hang up. Next item?”
“You know my friend Noah? He and his boyfriend are getting married in November, and they want to know if you’ll do the video.”
“Oh.” I loosen the lid on my tumbler, then tighten itagain. Sometimes I do wedding videos for extra cash, a few times a year. But November is too far away. From now until March the calendar is all blue dots on game days, and it doesn’t go beyond that. Plus, I may not even be around next fall, especially with Quincy on the bench. “Well, I have to see. It’s early.”
“To book wedding stuff? It’s less than a year away. That’s not early.”
“I don’t know my schedule for the fall yet. If they want something set in stone now I can recommend a couple people who do it full time.”
“Okay, thanks. You probably won’t be able to do it anyway, since Ardwyn has a lot of Saturday games.” Kat tries to sneak the last part in, her tone casual.
“Very cute.”
“What?” Kat feigns innocence. “Are they switching to Fridays next season?”
“I can’t take on any wedding jobs when I don’t know where I’m going to be after this spring.”
“I know exactly where you’re going to be. The same place you are now.”
I look at Mona Lisa Vito for help. Maybe it’s the way the light flickers when the ceiling fan spins, but I could swear she shrugs. “Do you know if Father John is still around? I’d like to find out how many Hail Marys I have to say to arrange for God to cut your tongue off.”
The next morning,I get to work early and wait for Ben. I give him enough time to get his coffee and read through his emails before sending him a message.
Annie: how are you doing?
His response takes a few minutes.Ben is typing…it reads, and across the hall I hear the clacking of keys, ninety words a minute, a stream of consciousness. Then it stops, and starts again, and stops. He must be writing a novel.
But no. Instead, I get:
Ben: Fine
I sigh.
Annie: you sure?
More typing, vigorous tapping at the keys, like the sound ofRiverdance.Then silence.
Ben: Yes
I shift in my seat. Ugh. This is dire.
Annie:…okay good talk!
I exit the chat window and check the scores of last night’s games. By the time I’m done, he’s messaged me again.
Ben: Completely unrelated but did Cassie ever tell you about the case where she spent two months reviewing employee chat records exactly like this one, looking for evidence and weeding out all the conversations about office romances/personal drama/evil bosses?So strange to think about how it feels like a private conversation but it’s not at all.
Paranoid much? Not a strong sign that he’s coping well. Lying doesn’t come naturally to him. In a way this is my fault, so I have to indulge him.
Annie: ah gotcha
Annie: and yes, I am her best friend thus I know all her interesting anecdotes. if I recall correctly some of the office romance talk was pretty spicy
Ben: Anyway, maybe we should walk home from the Beach House party tonight and catch up?
Annie: WOW sounds like something somebody in an office romance would say
