Page 8 of My Secret Snowflake
“And Ernest is perfect for me.”
“Are you interested in Ernest?” Jazmine playfully punches my shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I’m not dating someone in the office. But if I was going to date someone in the office, he would be a definite possibility.”
He works in accounting. He often has this quizzical expression on his face that is cute. He seems very…dependable. And trustworthy.
“I’ll try to find out the scoop on him from Aaron—if I ever actually talk to Aaron,” Jazmine says. “But Ernest and Sebastian have been eating lunch together lately. Maybe Sebastian is friends with him?”
“Really? That’s perfect. I can ask Sebastian what’s a good gift for Ernest and figure out why Sebastian has sworn off relationships.” I grin. If I give Ernest the perfect gift, it might spark his notice.
“Youareinterested in Sebastian.” She wags her finger at me.
“I am definitelynotinterested. He’s exactly what I’ve sworn off. But I’m intrigued by why he wants to remain single—as another person who’s joined the single bandwagon.”
“But given that he’s friends with Lily’s boyfriend and Tessa’s fiancé, doesn’t that speak well for him?”
“It speaks well for him, but not for a relationship with him. It’s bad enough that Patrick plays in bars around the Lower East Side and I periodically run into him. Imagine if I had to see Patrick for years at friend get-togethers.” I shudder. At least I no longer have to avoid the lower loop of Central Park. That was really annoying because I like to run there. Patrick cleverly wrote a song with a New York refrain, and the pedicabs love to blare it as they cycle tourists around, and for a while, I just couldn’t take it. Now if I hear his songs, my heart doesn’t ache like it did. And I don’t regret dating Patrick, because even if it did end painfully, I learned things about myself I couldn’t have figured out otherwise. What I’m looking for now is someone trustworthy and dependable, someone whose appeal is not on view—a hidden gem, so to speak. No more heart-melting, gorgeous rock stars for me.
“It seems like you’ve given Sebastian some thought.”
“I haven’t. Okay, maybe a few thoughts, and then I reminded myself of why Sebastian’s all wrong for me, including that—even though you disagree—dating in the office seems like a bad idea to me.”
“Sounds like a calculated risk to me. One that’s worth taking.”
“Youwerelistening to our cybersecurity presentation the other day.”
“Of course.”
My phone beeps. I check it.
Raphael:Malware. Someone clicked on a phishing email.
“Work. I’ll see you later.”
“You never get a break. Thanks again,” Jazmine says. “I will definitely figure out a way to repay you.”
“Now I’m worried.” I wave good-bye and rush to Raphael’s office.
I knock and enter Raphael’s office. He points to his monitor. “I neutralized the malware and gave the employee a new laptop, but it’s lucky you implemented so much network segmentation. It was isolated to that area. I forwarded you the phishing email so you can add it to our database of successful examples.”
“Not like we need any more. What were they trying to steal?”
“I don’t know. We’ve secured the movie database,” he says. “That’s our most valuable asset. But we should knock some more items off our vulnerability assessment.”
“Will do.”
I leave Raphael’s office and head to the canteen to grab more coffee. It’s going to be a long day.
I type as I round the corner into the canteen—right into a hard chest.
“Whoa,” Sebastian says as he holds up a steaming paper cup of coffee, the lid now slightly askew.
I pull back. “I’m so sorry. Did it spill?”
“Only a little,” he says, retreating back into the canteen and setting down the coffee. Two brown spots dot the cuff of his crisp white button-down shirt.
Great. Now I’m also a klutz.
