Page 8 of The Ending is the Best Part
Speaking of, I hear a voice behind me just as I reach the lift.
‘Morning, Patrick!’
‘Ah, good morning, sir, it’s been a while,’ he says with a smile.A smile!In the years that I’ve worked here Patrick has never smiled at me.
‘It sure has.Hope Alice and Ben are keeping well?’
I let out an audible scoff at their interaction.Alice and Ben.Of course Xander managed to get the grumpiest person in the whole building to open up about his personal life.Like attracts like, I suppose.My heel clacks the floor impatiently as I wait for this lift.I look at my watch.God, what is taking so long?My prayers get answered when finally the lift dings with its arrival.I head in and let out a breath.I turn round and smile as the door starts to close without any sign ofhimapproaching.That is until a giant hand pushes between the gap and the doors shudder to a stop.Internally, I let out a scream,Can’t I just have five minutes in the morning? Having to make conversation with Xander before I’ve had my daily dose of caffeine is a big ask.
The lift door opens again and in steps Xander.He seems too tall for the small lift and I’m conscious of how close he is to me.His dark hair is slightly wet, as if he just showered and let it dry on his way here.His green eyes land on me and his eyebrow rises in his signature mocking manner.
‘Problem?’ I say.
‘Good morning to you too,’ he sing-songs.
The lift starts to go up.Why oh why do we have to be on the twenty-second floor of this building?
Silence starts to suffocate me.I may hate the guy but I hate silence much more, so I broach a safe topic of conversation.
‘So, the finale, exciting stuff, huh?’
‘Yeah, exciting is one word for it, although you won’t be saying that when I get the credit,’ he proclaims confidently.
‘God, you can be such a dick sometimes.’ I cringe as soon as the words come out of my mouth.He glances at me, looking a little surprised.We don’t normally talk this early in the morning and it just slipped out.I think that may have been a little harsh.I look up at him, but he merely stares ahead, the corner of his lip quirked as if he’s entertained by the whole conversation.
We finally arrive at our floor and I can’t get out of there quick enough.Trust Xander to make me feel so flustered.I’ve embarrassed myself and probably committed some HR infringement before I’ve even sat down at my desk.I need to start making sure I have my morning chai latte well before I need to talk to anyone.
I see Meagan hovering between mine and Xander’s desks as if she’s waiting for our arrival.I take a second to think about my choices right now.I could either go there and get grilled about our progress, which is pretty much nil at the moment.Or, and this is the option that I’m leaning towards, I make a run for it.I swerve in the other direction but Meagan spots me and calls out my name.I put on a big everything-is-totally-in-hand-please-don’t-fire-me smile and head towards my desk.
‘Oh, Yara darling, how lovely to see you!’
‘Meagannn, hi, I wasn’t expecting to see you until later.’ One of the perks of being the boss is that she gets to come and go at any time she pleases, and usually that is after 10 a.m.
‘I was just so eager to see how both you and Xander were doing.You know how much of a huge responsibility this is, not to mention abig riskfor me to hand the season finale over to two junior writers.So, everything is going well I assume?’
Xander finally saunters over to our station.I let out a breath of relief because, if recent Xander-related events have proven anything, I can’t be put on the spot and I definitely can’t lie convincingly.But if there’s one thing I can thank Xander’s private education for, it’s that he’s really good at buttering people up and blagging about work he’s barely done.Explains a lot about the political situation in the UK.
‘Meagan, I didn’t know we were meeting today?’ he lets out with a laugh.No one else will have picked up on it but I sense a slight hint of worry.You can’t work across from someone for three years and not notice when they’re stressed.
‘Xander!Just the person that I was looking for.So, how’s the finale?Because if either of you aren’t up to it, I’d rather you let me know now rather than later.’ Her tone is stern.‘As you know, there are so many writers on this team that would kill for this opportunity.Not to mention some of your senior colleagues, who aren’t best pleased I’ve given this over to you two.’
My cheeks redden with shame.Meagan’s right.This is huge for both of us.The fact that we’ve spent a week avoiding each other, and haven’t even put pen to paper yet, it’s embarrassing.As well as completely unprofessional.
‘Meagan, you worry too much.Yara and I are making great progress.In fact, we have a writing session scheduled in this afternoon, isn’t that right?’ He turns to look at me.
‘Writing session, what ses—’ I start but he elbows me.‘Right, yes!How could I forget?’
‘Well, I’m glad to hear it.As always, if you need anything you’ll find me in my office.I can’t wait to see what you guys come back with.’ On that note, she turns on her fancy Jimmy Choos and struts back to her office like the boss-ass bitch that she is.
Well, that could have gone much worse.I turn to look at Xander with a sheepish smile, to find that he’s glaring at me so hard, I worry my face may melt off.I know that I almost gave us both away, so I choose to stay quiet and accept whatever he is about to spew at me.
‘You realise I was trying to save us back there,’ he spits out.
‘Right.’
‘And you almost messed it up like you do with pretty much everything else.’ He rubs his temples, then puts his hands on his hips, frustrated.‘I mean, can you even walk in a room without tripping over?’
Okay, I take it back, I can’t stay silent.He didn’t have to get personal.Sure, I’m a pretty clumsy person and normally I can laugh about it, but it hurts hearing him talk about me that way.Like I’m this stumbling disaster.Why does it hurt so much?
