Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I’d already slid the phone back into my pocket before I realized I was smiling to myself like an idiot, all alone in the office. A knock on the door broke me from my thoughts, and I turned around.
One of my coworkers popped her head in.
“Oh, hi, Anna,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“Code red,” she told me, panic on her face. “You remember the nonprofit client last month?”
“Oh, no,” I said.
The client had been particularly difficult. Edgar, the main guy who had been in charge of their account at our company, had quit right after he’d finished his work on their project without any notice.
“They found tons of errors in Edgar’s work,” she said, wringing her hands. “They just sent back a long email that they’ve probably been drafting for days.”
“So we’re going to be on cleanup duty for Edgar’s work,” I said.
I could already envision how much data we were going to have to comb through. It would be doable, but it would take hours and hours.
“Let’s get started,” Anna said. “Mind if I bring my laptop in here and we can get started? Boss wants a reply out to them by tomorrow morning with a full diagnostic plan for the project.”
“Tomorrow morning? Does he realize how many data sets Edgar handled?” I said, trying to keep my tone neutral even though the task seemed impossible.
“We are so screwed,” Anna said, worry written all over her face.
“Hey,” I said. “We’ve got this. We just need to get started and see what we’re working with. Bring your laptop in.”
It wasn’t exactly the peaceful, independent day at the office that I’d been hoping for, but as Anna brought in her computer and materials, pulling up a chair on the long desk next to me, I knew it could be worse. I liked Anna, and I’d never felt uncomfortable around her. We were often assigned to projects together, and she was one of the most brilliant statisticians I’d ever worked with. But more importantly, we’d shared lunch together a few times when we were both in the office, and she had told me stories about growing up in Korea knowing she was gay and being so afraid to tell anyone. Now she had a wife, a sharp, shrewd as hell woman who I’d met once at a work event.
I’d never considered Anna a “friend” because we’d never hung out outside of work. But maybe I’d been too hard on myself. Maybe Anna was someone that I could call a friend, even if we were both too introverted to ever ask each other to hang out.
Anna and I started delving into the screwed up data sets in the morning, and the next time I checked my clock, it was past one o’clock in the afternoon.
“Oh, God,” I said, looking at the time like I was waking up from a trance. “We need to get some lunch. Want to order sandwiches?”
“Food. Yes,” Anna said, squinting at the spreadsheet on her computer screen. “I need some beef. Roast beef, steak, whatever they have.”
I knew if the Fixer Brothers guys were here, every single one of them would want to make some sort of dick joke about beef. Especially Chase.
Fuck.
I’d completely forgotten that Chase had invited me to get pizza after work, and I knew that was never going to happen now. Anna and I were going to be here late, and both of us would probably have to work from home until at least midnight.
“I was going to order the sandwiches, but the shop is two blocks away,” I told Anna as I stood up. “I’m going to walk over, get some air, and make a phone call.”
She grunted a response, still deep in her work.
A balmy summer breeze hit my face the moment I stepped outside, and I took a deep breath. A group of teenagers were sitting on a bench across the street, laughing and drinking smoothies. A guy in exercise clothes jogged by, smiling at me and giving me a wave, and a young woman in a sundress passed me, smelling like fresh sunscreen and shampoo.
Maybe numbers weren’t all they were cracked up to be, after all. Right now, being out here in the real world seemed pretty damn peaceful and ideal compared to staring at screens in an office, no matter how much money I made.
I pulled out my phone, dialing Chase’s number.
“My goodness,” he answered. “A real phone call from you, Adam?” instantly the sound of his flirty, teasing voice gave me that now-familiar tug inside my chest.
“Hi, Chase.”
“I would have thought you’d go for a text message over a phone call any day.”
“Usually I would,” I said. “But I have bad news. There’s no way I can come to get pizza later.”
“Fuck me sideways,” he muttered. “I wanted to see you.”