Page 62 of Falling Madly
Bess lifted her head. “That could work! Makes way more sense than wasting toilet paper.”
“So, have you chosen a color for those walls?” Teresa asked. “Or are we just prepping?”
I blew a sigh, leaning back on the couch. “I’m no’ saying you should sand my walls. Just… making a point.”
“The point being that you don’t want to work on team spirit with me?” Teresa’s smile was a little cheeky.
“My point being that I don’t want to do some pointless activity.”
Bess’s eyes widened as she raised her hand. “What about that sled competition? It’s tomorrow, right?”
“Yes!” Charlie pulled a folded flyer from his pocket and threw it on the table. “This is perfect! Let’s make a cardboard sled and join the race!” He turned to me. “You bought all this furniture. You must have some cardboard stashed away.”
“Plenty,” I said, jerking a thumb over my shoulder. “Most of it is still stacked in the shed outside.”
Teresa raised her hand. “Do you even understand what you’re up against? People work for weeks on their sleds. And the cardboard they use is thick stuff and they glue it together. They saw pieces and use gallons of glue and duct tape, then spend hours painting.”
“We don’t have to win the prize for the prettiest cardboard box. We just need to build something that holds our weight and slides down the slope,” Charlie argued back.
“I do have duct tape and glue,” I said. “I did some light renovations before I let the designer loose.”
Charlie gave me a weighted look as if to say, “you didn’t let her that loose.”
Bess clasped her hands together. “Great! I’m on board. Let’s bring in everything we have and see what we can build!”
I felt her excitement gradually transferring to my body, maybe even to Teresa. She was suddenly smiling.
“I can show you what’s in the shed,” I said to Charlie, gesturing to the front door.
He followed me, and we dressed up in full winter gear before braving the outside weather. The cold hit me at the door, but I felt relieved to be alone with my friend. I needed to talk to him.
Once we made it to the shed, I found the switch for the dim lightbulb hanging off the ceiling. It swayed gently, making the cramped space feel creepy. We rummaged through the stacks of flattened boxes.
“I wish I’d known! I had so many boxes back home,” Charlie mused.
“Have you been ordering stuff again?”
Charlie peered at me innocently. “Well, yeah. Baby stuff.”
“Can I ask you something?” I held still, waiting for him to detect my tone.
“Sure.” He dropped the cardboard and leaned on the carpenter’s desk.
“What’s with all this team building stuff?” I asked. “What are ye getting at?”
Charlie looked at me like it was obvious. “I can’t have you two at odds and not able to work in the same office. It’s been going on for too long.”
“You know I’d happily share an office with her. I’d share my chair with her! But there’s a history… Ye can’t solve this with trust falls and toilet paper statues.”
He pinned me with a serious look, lowering his voice. “I can see she’s warming up to you. All you need to do is get over your crush. If you see her as a colleague and stop mooning like a fool, she’ll relax and feel okay working with you.”
“Is thatallI need to do?” I rolled my eyes. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“I know it’s hard to let go, but think of the company. If we want to move the business here, we either have to let her go or find a way to work together without this tension between you two. I read that it’s best to spend time together to find somelevel of normal, whatever it looks like going forward. We can’t let her avoid you forever, and you pining after her from afar is even worse. I’m sure you’ve built her up in your head to some sort of goddess level by now. None of this gets us any closer to having a functional team.”
“Are we no’ doing the work? Are we failin’ at somethin’?” I asked, folding my arms.
Charlie sighed, looking out the tiny window covered in frost flowers. “No. That’s not what I mean. But if you’re never in the same room, we’re not reaching our full potential. We need to worktogether.”
