Office Mates

He Doesn't Entirely Suck at This

A little later that night, but still at Fatty Catty. The coworkers have finished their meals and are drinking and talking about work. Kris is in the middle of a rage vent about their boss, Jace. "And then Jace walks into my office without knocking. He tells me what he wants me to do, and then he leaves. WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE. Who does that? Does he have no personal skills? It's so awkward. Does he do that to you?" Graham answers first, "Jace doesn't come down to accounting much. He is afraid that if he interrupts us, we might forget what number line we were on." Then he starts laughing at a joke that is only funny to him. Kris responds, "I am serious. Is it too much to want Jace to behave like a normal person?"

Theo chimes in, "Why is it always that the boss, who is over the largest number of people in a company, is always the one with the worst people skills?" Kris is excited that someone else gets it. "Exactly! It's called delegation, and he just expects me to do all of the talking with everyone. I mean, what about you, Aurora? You're new. Has Jace even come to see you?"

Aurora gets a little nervous with so many people looking in her direction. Usually, around new people, Aurora would rather listen than do the talking. But since she was asked so directly. "Not since my first day at Blahco. I just assumed he was busy." Marian smiles at this, "Too busy to talk to the prettiest girl in our office? Most other guys have made any excuse to come talk to you." Aurora looks away and blushes. "I...I don't think that's true." Darrin, her office mate, chimes in. "It's true. So many people stop by to ask you questions or to see how you are doing. If I weren't gay, I would be a little threatened." Graham adds, "I know that applies to the number crunchers too." Kris suddenly feels bad for Aurora. "Hopefully not in a sexual harassment way, right?" Aurora looks visibly uncomfortable now. She hates being the center of attention. Robin notices and decides to change the subject.

Robin gets up and stands in front of the table. He looks at Kris, the instigator of the whole conversation, and asks her, "Hey, Kris, can I buy you another drink?" This is enough to change the direction of the conversation. Kris looks despondent and says, "I am an independent modern person, I can get myself a drink. I can get a drink for you, too, since we are celebrating you. What do you want?" Robin looks around and sees that Aurora isn't drinking at all. He responds, "I don't need another drink." Graham interjects, "You can buy one for me, Kris. Unlike my friend, I don't turn down a woman." Darrin joins in with a "me too. I rarely get a night away from my kids, so I am really going to enjoy myself tonight." Kris, Darrin, and Graham all get up to leave and get drinks from the bar.

Marian notices that it's just her, Theo, Robin, and Aurora, and she gets an idea. One that will help these two nervous lovebirds. She starts to feign that she lost her wallet. "Oh no, Theo, I think I left my wallet in my car. Can we go check? If you don't come, I might get mugged." Theo stands up and reaches down to help Marian up. "Or get hit on. No one gets my woman," says Theo. Then the two of them walk towards the entrance. Now Robin is left at the table with Aurora. He knows exactly what his officemate did. She already used her wallet to pay for dinner. She is looking for an excuse to get him and Aurora alone at the table. But he decides to enjoy this gift from Marian, and he sits down to enjoy his alone time with Aurora.

The two sit in silence for a few minutes. Robin wants to say something, but he struggles to come up with something clever. He takes a sip of his beer. Aurora finally breaks the silence. "It's really great that your friends invited me to dinner. Sorry, I am not drinking. It is probably spoiling the fun." Robin puts his drink down on the table. "I don't think anyone notices." Aurora feels encouraged by Robin's confirmation and continues. "I am not the type of person who is comfortable making a mess of myself in front of people I don't know that well." Robin folds his arms and says, "That sounds very smart. I will join you." With that, he fully pushes his drink away.