Page 42 of Written By a Woman

I inhaled a heavy breath through my nose, before releasing the air through my mouth. I could always count on her to let me vent and validate me for doing so in these random moments like this.

Eloise: Not to change the subject too soon, but didn’t you post recently about getting edits back? How is that going?

I slumped, realizing that Eloise still had no idea that the book she was so excited about was technically fanfic of a very real person that I worked with. The person who was kind enough to give me his quarters so that I could rectify the tampon situation at work.

Regardless, only a small part of me was currently anxious about the CTO-inspired romance I was still editing. I figured I’d let my anger fuel the excuse of doing such a thing, that Zaid could deal with the fact that I secretly wrote a character inspired by him, if I have to live in a world where it was expected of women to pay more for the mere fact that we were born with uteruses.

It wasn’t logical, but that didn’t stop me from feeling my feelings about it.

This is also why I responded to Eloise with a thumbs up and sobbing face emojis, and nothing else.

* * *

The next morning,I wasn’t as upset as I was the day before. Which, if I was being honest, may have solidified my theory that my period actually does influence my emotional response to things on occasion. I was walking to my desk that morning, my mind scrambling for ways to apologize to Zaid for chewing him out for no real reason, and also to Jacqueline, for being an employee who felt comfortable yelling at the CTO for simply being a man.

As I rounded my desk to set my purse down, though, I came to a halt.

There was a snake plant on my desk, right next to my computer.

It had a little red bow tied around the terracotta pot, and a note neatly tucked into the band of the bow.

I glanced around to see if whoever left this on my desk was still around, but the halls were empty.

So, I plopped myself into my chair and admired the cute little snake plant.

Though I loved flowers and thought that they were pretty, my sinuses did not. I was allergic to anything that pollinated, which meant I was always one step away from dragging around a Zyrtec or a Benadryl IV stand during the spring and summertime. If anyone was going to get me some sort of plant for any special occasion, an indoor plant like this was a better way to go for me.

But did anyone I worked with actually know that?

Instead of wondering what special occasion justified the plant on my desk, I plucked the note out of the bow to see if that provided answers.

Sincerest apologies, Zaid

Sun Steer Technologies

I felt my mouth gape open in surprise.

He wasapologizing.

Even though I was the one who snapped at him.

This is how Mary ended up finding me, trotting over to my desk with raised eyebrows and a smirk on her lips, “Are you the reason I have a new plant on my desk this morning?”

“Huh?” I asked, blinking at Mary in an attempt to focus on her.

“I would assume so,” Mary continued, slamming her elbows on the elevated ledge of my desk, and nodding towards the snake plant, “Is Zaid apologizing to all the women in the office? Because Jamie has a snake plant on her desk too. And so does Jacqueline.”

I sat there, slack-jawed at Mary’s words.

“Did you get an apology note too?” I asked.

“Sure did, in the cleanest handwriting I had ever seen from an engineer,” Mary smiled at my plant and trailed one of her fingertips up the leaf.

“I mean, it’s cool, but I’m also wondering why we didn’t get flowers. That’s what men normally give women to apologize, right?” Mary and I sat in silence for a beat before she shook her head once and continued, “Well, it doesn’t matter. The plant will last longer, and it’s still beautiful. I’m happy with it. I’m off to enjoy my cute little plant that doesn’t smell as good as flowers.” Mary smirked before tapping her knuckles on the high ledge of my desk and sauntering back toward hers.

I smiled at her antics before quirking my lips to the side and studying the snake plant some more.

I loved it, I never even thought about having a desk plant here. I never thought about doing much to personalize my desk space because I always mentally had one foot out the door. I wanted to be a writer, not an office manager.

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