Page 42 of A Fae in Finance
I woke up screaming.
No one came to take me to the cafeteria for breakfast, which was fine since I still felt aches in my stomach from the heaving of the night before. So I skipped breakfast. I skipped clothes, too, and logged into our morning meeting, camera off, wearing my baggy nightdress.
Was it only Thursday?
Good lord.
Jeff didn’t call in to our morning meeting, so it was truncated and unexciting.
After the meeting, I messaged Corey.
Miriam Geld: Hi.
Corey Tucker: Hi
Corey Tucker: what’s up?
Corey Tucker: busy day for me
Miriam Geld: just wanted to say thanks…
Corey Tucker: nothing to thank me for. Same team, remember?
I sat back and stared at the chat.Thatwas all he planned to say about punching a faerie in the face and then bullying him into offering me lifelong protection?
Miriam Geld: Sure. Same team.
My head was pounding. I needed to talk to someone, so even though the workday had already started, I called Thea.
“Miri?” she asked when she picked up. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I croaked, surprised by the sudden pressure behind my eyes when I heard her voice. “I was just… calling to say hi. What’s up?”
“Oh,” she said. I could picture her leaning back in her chair, one foot pushing against a desk drawer. “Nothing really. I’m going to a ping-pong bar after work. Apparently, there are just thousands of ping-pong balls, and you never run out.”
“That sounds really fun,” I said, staring out my window at what appeared to be one faerie teaching another how to fly a kite.
“Yeah, it should be,” she said. “Do you wanna come with? Jordan will be there.” She paused. “Please come, Miri. I know I just saw you, but you ran out on dinner, and I miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” I said. This was my opening.I would love to come to the ping-pong bar, but I relocated. I relocated permanently. I live in a magic Renaissance faire.
“I’m not sure yet,” I said. “Work is really busy.”
Why couldn’t I tell her?
She sighed. “This job is eating you alive, Mir. I’m glad you’re passionate about it and all, but make sure they value you, okay? Because you’re smart and amazing.”
I didn’t feel smart and amazing. I felt like a sand castle in the middle of a dog park: uncomfortably damp and falling apart.
“I know,” I lied. “But you forgot something. I’mlucky, too. Because you’re my friend.”
She snorted, and I closed my eyes, trying to remember what it felt like to sit next to your best friend while she laughed. Somehow, it was already slipping away.
Around midday, someone knocked on my door. I stood, not sure who to expect: Sahir would be in the office. Would the Gray Knight come to go over the contract in person? I couldn’t stop the butterflies in my stomach at the thought. And then I hurled myself at the suitcase, which I’d relegated to the floor, and started a frantic search for clothes.
“Who is it?” I called, flinging my nightgown into a pile of clothing and yanking a gray cotton dress over my head.
“Lene,” the reply came.
