Page 36 of Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon
“Well, this is gonna sound made up, but it happened immediately after a company-wide sexual harassment workshop.”
Grace laughs. “Okay, good start.”
“There were all these high-profile creeps in the news, so HR was being proactive. It was fine, typical corporate stuff. Ironically—you know, because of the subject matter—I kept checking her out the whole time. She just…she just really looked good that day.”
“Yeah?” Grace says.
I think of Brynn in a skirt and blue sweater sitting with the media team. She was hunched a little with her arms crossed because it was always freezing in the big conference room.
“There was a happy hour afterward at Little Havana on Key Highway.”
“Smart,” says Grace. “Nothing helps co-workers avoid sexual maleficence like liquor and tacos.”
“I was up at the bar with my friend from work, Win,” I say. “Suddenly, I realized I was like five feet away from her. She was talking to a woman from accounting about, I don’t know, Excel or something. When they paused, I jumped in.”
“What was your opening line?” Grace asks.
“I said, ‘So, how are things in the Media Department?’ ”
“Hot,” says Grace. “Did she throw her underwear at you right away, or…?”
“Stop it,” I say. “She said things were fine and we talked about calculating costs per thousand, which is a thing in advertising.”
“I’m just gonna take a nap really quick, if that’s cool,” says Grace.
“It gets better, I promise. So, I asked her if she enjoyed the workshop. And she said it was okay as far as mandatory corporate things went. But then she said, ‘Actually, I found it useful.’ ”
“Okay,” says Grace, “I’m listening again.”
“She said it was good to know the dos and don’ts. Like how things get tricky if one person works for the other, or if one person has authority over the other person. I didn’t realize what she was getting at because I’m an idiot. But then she kinda eased off her barstool so we were face-to-face. Then she said, ‘Fortunately for you and me, our departments have nothing to do with each other. So, if you were to ask me out, I wouldn’t have to report you. You know, unless you got all handsy about it.’ ”
Grace gasps. “Oh my god, no way.”
“Yep.”
“Okay, nowthat’shot. Go, Brynn!”
We laugh, and I realize it’s the first time I’ve thought of Brynn and smiled since she died. Until now, everything has just made me sad.
The tree scene starts and even though I’m not talking, Grace tells me to shut up again. Charlie Brown picks the smallest tree on the lot. When he takes it back to his friends they’re cruel and call him names.
“Those little shits,” says Grace.
“It’s okay,” I say. “I have it on good authority that it all works out.”
“Yeah, I know,” she says, “but I’d love to see a reboot where Charlie Brown tells them all to shove that little tree up their asses.”
“Bend over and I’ll show you,” I say.
Grace laughs. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s a line fromChristmas Vacation.”
“Ah,” she says. “Men do know that constantly quoting movies is super sexy and not at all annoying, right?”
“Keep the change, you filthy animal,” I tell her.
“Oh god,” she says. “Wait, that’s fromHome Alone,right?”
