Page 45 of Seal the Deal
Nothing upsets Andrew more than things that don’t make any sense. In general, Andrew doesn’t dislike meetings, especially when the information is pertinent to doing his job efficiently. What he does hate are things that waste time or being given info that is unclear, and today’s meeting was a massive waste of time. The amount of information he was given in an hour could’ve been condensed into a succinct three line e-mail.
“Well, that was fun,” Mark utters in a stage whisper, falling into step beside Andrew as he makes his way out of the meeting room.
The rest of their coworkers are already five steps ahead of them, scurrying back to their cubicles, a prospect Andrew is not looking forward to.
“Fun is not the word I would use,” Andrew tactfully replies.
Andrew likes Mark well enough. Usually. As one of the other financial analysts in Andrew’s department, they spend a fair bit of time together. He’s competent, never microwaves smelly food in the break room, and he doesn’t pester Andrew with inane small talk like some of his other coworkers who try to talk more than they work.
“Judging by the face you’re making, you’d like to use a much more colorful word,” Mark laughs, resting a hand on Andrew’s shoulder.
“I would never at work,” Andrew replies, resisting the urge to shrug Mark’s hand away. It’s not Mark’s fault that Andrew doesn’t really enjoy being touched by him. He’s nice enough, but Andrew’s brain has never managed to slot him into thepeople allowed to touchcategory even though they are, by all intents and purposes, work friends.
Recently, Mark has gotten touchier which Andrew attributes to their increased working hours and occasional shared lunches in the break room.
Thinking about the break room makes Andrew think about food. He was so anxious about the meeting today, he could barely eat his breakfast. He’s absolutely starving and suddenly wishing he’d brought something besides a sandwich for lunch. He doesn’t want a sandwich. He wants some of that sushi he had when he went out to eat with Nicki.
Nicki who hasn’t returned any of Andrew’s phone calls or texts. Nicki who?—
“Earth to Andrew,” Mark interrupts, once again squeezing his shoulder.
“Hmmm?”
“I asked if you wanted to go get dinner after work tonight.”
“Is the team getting together tonight?” Andrew asks, certain he would’ve remembered if there’d been some sort of team bonding thing planned. He doesn’t really enjoy socializing outside of work hours with his coworkers, but he tries to participate when invited to avoid being rude.
“Uh, no.” Mark’s expression falters. “I was thinking you and I could go together.”
“Did we need to go over something for work?” Andrew questions.
“No,” Mark laughs. “Just two friends getting burgers.”
“I don’t like burgers,” Andrew reminds him. He’s definitely told Mark this, but a lot of times during lunch Mark talks more than he listens.
“Everyone likes burgers,” Mark counters, clearly having no memory of their past conversation.
“Not me.” Andrew stops at his cubicle, sensing that this is not the end of the conversation when Mark doesn’t move on to his own work space.
“Huh, weird.”
“It’s not weird,” Andrew frowns.
“Kind of is,” Mark says, in that way of his where he decides something is true and barrels over everyone else. “Listen, maybe we could?—”
“What’s he doing here?” Andrew interrupts, all thoughts of Mark—and everything else—pushed out of his brain by the sight of Nicholas Whitmore stalking across his office.
Despite technically working for the same team as Nicki, Andrew’s work is done in an office building half a mile from the rink. There is no reason for Nicki to be here. In fact, he’s absolutely certain that no player, especially one as famous as Nicki, has ever stepped foot in this building. Something that everyone else seems to be equally aware of based on the way his coworkers are staring and whispering. Some are even taking photos on their phones.
“Andrew,” Nicki all but yells, making every single person in their department turn and look at Andrew who balks under the attention.
Seeing Nicki hungover in his sweats or dressed casually in jeans had made him feel almost human, let Andrew create enough cognitive dissonance about the situation that it was easy to ignore that Nicki is not only a professional hockey player, but famous. Lots of hockey players live quiet, normal lives off the ice.Not Nicki. He’s heir to a family fortune and massively famous not only for his playing, but also for his off the ice antics and social media presence.
Everyone knows who Nicholas Whitmore is. A reality Andrew is uncomfortably aware of at this precise moment.
“Andrew,” Nicki repeats, tone quieting now that he’s standing right in front of him.
“You have a game today,” Andrew says, feeling stupid for stating the obvious. Clearly, Nicki has a game today because he’s dressed in his game day suit, something that fits his body very well. He really is ridiculously attractive which is kind of annoying, mostly because he knows it.
