Page 6 of The Boardroom: Cassidy
Chapter Four-Eliza
“Johnathan isn’t mad at you, is he?” I ask Sabryna, who was busily filling in a crossword on the couch next to me.
“He’s not,” Sabryna says. “I swear, he’s okay with this. The office has been a little bit swamped since Dot went on maternity leave anyways. We need the extra help.”
I didn’t quite believe her. “Did you see how they stuffed me into that closet office? I mean, I would have rather just worked in a chair in the reception room. It’s like they’re…” I fiddled with the edge of one of the couch pillows. “Do you think they’re embarrassed of me, Sabryna? That they want me hidden away? Are they trying to hint that they want me to go?”
“No, no,” Sabryna said, a little bit too quickly. “You’re just not what they’re used to, but they’re going to have to deal. It’s fine.”
A silence settled over her living room. It was after work, and I had made some pasta I had come across in the pantry for dinner, trying my best to atone for all the trouble I was sure I was causing Sabryna. After we had finished eating, Sabryna started on her dailyNew York Timescrossword, and I sat awkwardly next to her, scrolling through articles on my phone, unsure of how to fit myself into her routine…what I was supposed to do, and where I was supposed to go.
Speaking of my phone, it was quite the mess when I turned it on. I had almost ten voicemails, seven from Ben and three from my mother, who Ben had obviously called at some point. I had called back after I had initially reached Sabryna’s house and given him the truth…ish. I had told him that I had driven up to Sabryna’s house to comfort her after a bad breakup…a nonexistent bad breakup, of course. I let him know that I was safe, but that was about it. I didn’t get into details, but he must have known that something was wrong…I wasn’t the kind of girl who drove to another state on a whim to comfort an old friend without telling anyone, and I wasn’t responding to any of his less urgent texts.
I wonder what he was thinking about our engagement.
Sabryna smirked as she filled in squares on her crossword in large, penciled capital letters. “What did you think of Cassidy?”
“Cassidy?” I asked, lost in thought.
“Cassidy Evans? The hot British guy you spent all morning getting bagels with?”
“Oh,” I said. “I mean, you make it sound like it was more than it was.”
“It seemed like it,” Sabryna said. “Be careful though, he’ll fuck anything that moves.”
“I thought he seemed nice,” I added.
“I didn’t say he wasn’t nice,” Sabryna said. “I just don’t think your lifestyles would…mix well.”
“And anyways,” I said, swallowing hard. “I’m engaged.” I rotated the tiny engagement band—silver with a modest but pretty diamond—anxiously around my finger. I hadn’t been wearing it to work. It wasn’t that I was hiding it, I suppose…I just wanted to avoid the questions and the wedding talk, considering why I had run here in the first place.
“You’re gonna have to figure out what you’re gonna do soon, Eliza,” Sabryna said, suddenly taking a more serious tone. “You can’t put off your real life forever.”
I thought of the shining doors of Torver Corporation, and the luxuries that lay just beyond my reach. Could I?
“Maybe Cassidy is what you need,” Sabryna said.
“Excuse me?” I gasped.
“I’m serious,” Sabryna said. “You started dating Ben in high school, and you’ve never so much as had a lame date with another man. Maybe just mess around a little bit before you settle down. Maybe that’s what you need.” She smiled. “Think of it as an extended bachelorette party.”
“That’s cheating,” I said, and halted my fidgeting with the ring.
“I mean I guess,” Sabryna said. “But if that’s what you need to make your marriage with Ben work…well, then that’s what you need.”
“No,” I said affirmatively, sitting up straighter. “Just no.”
“Look, I have seen Cassidy flirt with probably hundreds of girls before, and the way he seemed to act with you today…well, I don’t know, but it was different.”
I shook my head. “And by different I’m sure you mean he has no interest in a girl like me.”
“No,” Sabryna said, pondering. “Good different.”
I laughed it off this time. “No,” I said. “I’m engaged, but very funny.”
Sabryna raised her eyebrows at me and I got up to exit the room and get ready for an early night’s sleep.
I looked down at my finger, and at the tiny indents the ring had made in my skin. They seemed natural now, like a tattoo, and I had almost forgotten what my hand had looked like without it.
