The Weight Of It All by N.R. Walker

Author:N.R. Walker [Walker, N.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BlueHeart Press
Published: 2016-09-11T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Monday morning dragged its sorry self through a tide of meetings, deadlines, and reports. The highlight was the morning tea, which Diana from Projections had brought in for her contribution to the cook and share thing that I had apparently started. She’d made some thin pastry-type tart topped with roasted beetroot, feta cheese, and balsamic glaze, which, according to her, she’d bastardised from her grandmother’s traditional Turkish recipe.

And oh my God. It was so good. I took a quick photo on my phone, claiming it was so I could replicate the recipe later.

“You’re sending it to Reed, aren’t you?” Melinda asked.

I attached it to a message, hit send, and looked up from my phone. “Of course.”

She rolled her eyes. “How is it possible that you’re losing weight with all this food you do?”

Before I could answer, my phone beeped. It was Reed.

Looks good. When are you making that for me?

When you make me that lamb salad you keep promising but fail to deliver.

Ouch. What about this Saturday?

Aren’t you doing that trainer’s challenge on Saturday?

Yes. In the afternoon. Last I heard, dinner is usually in the evening.

Ouch. Your place? Or mine?

Yours.

Melinda interrupted my texting. “If you keep smiling like that, people will think you’re watching porn on your phone.”

“I’m not smiling at my phone.” I had to physically make myself pout so I wasn’t smiling. “I’m doing lip stretches.”

“Mmhm,” Melinda deadpanned.

I leaned across our lunch table and whispered, “And who smiles when they’re watching porn?”

“Happy people, and virgins.”

I considered that and conceded with a nod. “Good point.”

Melinda secured the lid on her lunch container and laid her fork precisely at twelve and six. “Don’t forget your meeting at two with the boss,” she said without missing a beat. “Any clue what that’s about?”

I shook my head. “None. I assume it’s the usual data analytics.”

Melinda made a face that told me she didn’t believe that. “If it were, then Lillian would’ve requested a statistics report.”

“And she hasn’t?”

Melinda shook her head. “No.”

“Oh.”

Melinda twisted her lips, and her eyes flashed with uncertainty. “Are we expecting corporate downsizing? Because the Melbourne office has.”

Well, shit. “I hope not.”

“You don’t have to worry,” she said quietly.

“And neither do you. Because we’re a team, Melinda. I couldn’t do this without you, and I’ll tell them that.”

In a rare moment of vulnerability, she gave me a timid smile. It was a far cry from her usual fierce and sarcastic self. “Thanks.”

I reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “I mean it.”

As our lunch break drew to a close, Lena, Rihanti, and Kadin walked past our table toward the door. “Hi, Henry,” Lena said. “How was your weekend? Do anything exciting?”

Oh God. Conversation. Don’t say something stupid, Henry. “Good, thanks. Just the usual… drunk singing on tables on Friday night, and just so you know, schnapps has a lot to answer for. Spent all of Saturday dying because of schnapps. Again, not my fault, and Sunday was a mix of incredible and horrifying. So yeah, just the usual.”

They all blinked in unison, and I mentally congratulated myself for not saying something too stupid.

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