Page 25 of Flirtasaurus
“And I would really love if you would pick up the rest of the gala invitations from printing on the fifth floor and then finish those up for us tonight.”
“Oh.”
“Can you do that for us?”
“Sure, I can, but—”
“Calliope? Whatever you want to say to me, we will discuss privately at your performance review in a few days. Understood?”
“Yeah. Yes. Understood.”
“Thank you for taking care of those for us.”
“Not a problem, Dr. Knowles.”
I’m left standing with Damon, who whips out his phone and starts scrolling the second our elders vacate. Elders is kind of a weird way to view our colleagues, but that’s how it sometimes feels, like Damon and I are the kids trying to keep the grown-ups on our team happy. Though clearly Damon is much better at that than I am.
I speak to him in a hushed tone and jerk my head in the direction of the older fellow.
“So that dude works for Dr. Knowles?”
“Otto? Hell no. Why would you think that?”
“Well, he called her boss, didn’t he?”
“He calls everyone boss. One of his quirks, I guess. Otto is a lifetime member of the museum. Practically lives here.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, all the workers and patrons know and love him. Pretty much any day of the week, you can find him here, hanging around the dinosaur skeletons, sketching.”
“So, he’s harmless, you think?”
“Completely harmless, yeah. Why?”
“I don’t know. He just kind of weirded me out the other day.”
“Well yeah, he’s weird as all hell. Fascinating, though. Just… don’t take a sip of his tea.”
“What?”
“Never mind. I’m off to fuck around with some fonts for the Parasaurolophus plaques. ‘Scuse my language. I lose my filter toward the end of a long day.”
“No worries. Your language is fuckin’ safe with me.”
“Ha. You’re funny.”
“Thanks. I wish Dr. Knowles thought so.”
Damon is quiet a moment while he takes me in.
“Some advice?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Don’t let her make you doubt yourself. I’m pretty sure that’s the opposite of what she’s trying to get you to do.”
“How do you know that?”
