The Delivery Girl

13. Desk

Callen

"She's getting on my nerves."

I look up from my laptop as Hayley comes in and shuts the door behind her. She sits in front of my desk with a dramatic huff, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Sure, come in," I say sarcastically. "Who is? Julie?"

"Yes."

I furrow my brows and shift my full attention to her. "I thought she's been helping take a lot off your plate. You seem a lot more calm and organized these days."

"Yeah, but like... she's complaining about my nails, as if it's her business, and my water tumbler. Even my oil diffuser! You know I need that for my migraines." She stands back up and begins pacing around.

"I've known you for twenty years, and I've never seen you get a migraine."

"That's probably because of the diffuser."

"Hayley." I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. "What do you expect me to do about this? I'm not going to be a dick and tell her that her opinions are wrong."

"I don't know," she whines. "Move her somewhere?"

I check my watch. "Can we talk about this later? You know I have a meeting in a few minutes."

She crosses her arms and stares at me silently. We both know that she's even more stubborn than I am. The only way I'm going to get Hayley out of my office is if I deal with this.

I groan and tiredly drag my hand down my face. "Ask around, see if there are any spare desks downstairs."

–

It takes me a moment before I remember which button on my phone connects to Julie's. I can't remember the last time I've needed to call her.

"Miss Leong? Could you come in here, please?"

"Ok!"

Somehow, no more than five seconds pass before Julie appears in the doorway. I've started to notice a small wobble in the way she walks whenever she wears heels. It makes me curious as to why she doesn't just wear shorter shoes, but it's not my place to ask.

"Don't worry, this won't take long," I say and gesture towards one of the chairs in front of my desk. She must be in a rush if she came here so quickly. "Please sit."

She slightly smiles, but I can see the nervousness in her wide, soft brown eyes and the way she shuffles around in her seat.

"Is everything ok? Did I do something wrong?" she asks hesitantly, fidgeting with her long, smooth hair.

"No, of course not." Why is that her first assumption?

She's been quite helpful, in fact. She picked things up even more quickly than Hayley did when she first started working here. She's taken plenty of Hayley's time consuming tasks off her plate, and staff satisfaction has grown to an all time high – though not as high as it once was with dad.

"Ok, what would you like me to do?"

"I just need to move you to a different desk," I say.

She slightly raises an eyebrow but remains quiet. I know that she's smart and doesn't need to ask why. I'm fairly sure she was lying when I asked her how she and Hayley were getting along.

"Oh...where?"

"There aren't any spare desks downstairs," I explain, making a mental note to ask Hayley about the expansion project. They're packed like sardines down there. "I'll have your desk moved in here, just by the door."