Office Mates

Cat Person or Dog Person

There is a big team meeting today. It's taking place in a conference room. Inside the office are Jace, the boss, Kris, the supervisor, Marian, Robin, Darrin, and Aurora as the engineers, and Graham as their accountant. Jace is standing in front of the whiteboard while everyone else is sitting and listening. Jace is in the middle of explaining the new holiday schedule. At the end of the year, many of the contracts come up for review and require a bunch of extra paperwork and data to prove how Blahco has met its clients' expectations. Jace tells the employees, "Now that Thanksgiving has passed, we are heading into the busy season for our team. Four different contracts from our team are up for review at the end of December." Kris nods her head in agreement as Jace leads the meeting. She smiles and says, "We will approve any overtime requests you have this month. Meaning if you are hoping to make some extra cash, now is the time."

At this announcement, both Graham and Aurora give an excited response. Jace continues, "I also want to make sure a few of the projects go quickly, so I will assign you a partner for certain parts of a project." Darrin groans at this announcement. He snarkily responds, "Jace, I became an engineer because there isn't teamwork." Jace looks at Darrin and clarifies, "It's a good thing that it's partner work, not teamwork." Jace gives Darrin a look that makes it clear that he shouldn't comment further on this. Darrin looks at Kris, hoping she will be on his side. He knows she doesn't like working with others. Kris gives Darrin a knowing nod. "It's not like these are strangers; we are just working with other people from our team. Which you know are great." Jace continues further, "And your day-to-day will mostly stay the same. It's only in certain parts that I am having people work together. Two sets of brains mean things will go even quicker, right?" Darrin begrudgingly agrees with this, "Fine." Marian laughs slightly at Darrin's dismay. "Darrin, don't be worried, everyone here is a good worker. You won't be left in the ditch."

Kris continues off that train of thought, "Yeah, I would trust any of you with my new cat." Marian looks excitedly at Kris, "Wait?! When did you get a new cat?!" Kris is excited to talk about something she likes. "She is so adorable." Jace interrupts before this spins out of control. "Do we all need to listen to this?" He has his arms folded as he says this, and Marian and Kris immediately stop talking. Kris apologizes for getting off task, "Sorry, Jace. I didn't mean to interrupt." But the proverbial cat was out of the bag. Graham chimes in with, "But I want to see pictures of the cute cat." Aurora nods in agreement with Graham. Jace notices that everyone else seems to want to continue this conversation. Marian then says to Kris, "Maybe we could put pictures up on the big screen?" Jace shakes his head in quiet disapproval. "I will take that as my cue to leave. But look out for my emails." Kris tries to help out, "Does anyone have any final questions for Jace before he heads out?" She looks around. Robin raises his hand. Jace looks over at him and says, "Yeah, Robin?" Robin looks at Jace and says, "I understand that this is our busiest time of year, but can we still request time off for the holidays?" Jace nods his head, "Yes, but just ask sparingly." Jace walks out of the conference room just as Marian turns on the big screen.

Kris looks at Robin and asks him, "Do you have big travel plans for the holiday?" Robin is thinking ahead like always. He explains to Kris, "My mom lives a few hours away. I don't get to see her unless I take time off. A weekend trip doesn't cut it." Marian looks over at Robin. She hasn't heard him talk much about himself, but she has heard him mention his mom a few times. But she has never heard him say anything about his dad. She files this away under information she might want to ask about later. Graham then teases Robin, "Plus, he spent Thanksgiving with his girlfriend. So he didn't see his mom that weekend." Darrin looks excitedly, "Robin has a girlfriend?! Who would date him?" And after saying this, Darrin laughs very hard. Everyone else is looking at Robin and then to Aurora. Darrin starts to pick up on this and also turns with curiosity to look at his officemate. Aurora's cheeks turn pink. Finally, she admits, "It's me. I am the one dating Robin. I didn't plan on announcing it to the world." Robin looks at Darrin and defensively says, "This doesn't mean I won't be putting in the overtime that is needed right now." Marian rolls her eyes, "Because that is what we are all so concerned about..."

Kris can tell that both Robin and Aurora are now uncomfortable. And if there is anything that Kris hates, it is when her employees feel uncomfortable at work. So Kris decides to turn the conversation in a direction that won't make Robin or Aurora feel bad. She connects her phone to the screen at work. She scrolls through the images on her phone until she finds her favorite picture of her new cat. Finally, she gets everyone's attention by saying, "My cat is up on the screen now." Both Graham and Aurora see the picture of an adorable black kitten and say "AWEE!" almost in unison. Kris smiles because she knows that, even objectively speaking, her kitten is one of the cutest in the world. Graham asks Aurora, "Do you like cats more? Or dogs?" Aurora doesn't even have to think about it, "Cats, of course. They are so refined and clean." Graham nods his head. He explains, "Me too. I like them because they don't need much attention. That is my type of pet. Dogs are too needy."

Marian looks shocked at everyone. She works with a bunch of cat people. She needs to defend her future dog. "You are all crazy," says Marian, "Dogs are the pet that will love you unconditionally. And you can do stuff with them. They are the superior pet." Kris shakes her head in disagreement, "I don't think so. Dogs are goofy and require too much energy. Plus, they love being all up in your personal space." Marian smirks and, without stopping, says the first thing that came to her mind, "You just described Theo." Kris starts cracking up. Marian is right, Theo is very much golden doodle energy. Marian asks Darrin, "How about you? Do you like cats or dogs?" Darrin says diplomatically, "I like them both." Marian figured Darrin would say something like that. He is never one to draw a line to leave anyone out. Aurora smiles and says, "I bet Robin is a cat person. He is so tidy. There is no way he would like a dog." Robin looks at Aurora and says, "Actually, I like dogs more than cats." He is looking at Aurora while he says this. Her smile dips as he confesses this. He feels like he needs to clarify so she understands, "I don't know, something about when they curl up next to you and follow you around. I just want a dog that doesn't shed. And a smart dog. I really want a poodle." Marian gives Robin a shoulder nudge, "You were the last person that I expected to be team dog."

Robin smiles again, "What can I say? I guess it's just the appeal of the American dream. A dog, a house, a family." As soon as Robin says this, it goes quiet for a minute. He doesn't fully understand the meaning of what he just shared, but both Kris and Marian look at Aurora, who is blushing to her ears. Robin just admitted that he wanted a future with a family. Aurora wants this future too. She has been waiting to find someone who is also excited about being a husband and father. She starts to breathe in shallow breaths. Robin looks around to find the reason why people are being silent. As soon as he meets eyes with Aurora, it becomes abundantly clear to him what just happened.

He tries to lessen the tension with her by saying, "Not that I am thinking about having a family right now." Graham tries to dissipate the tension with a joke. He grabs Aurora by the shoulders and says with a grin, "NO PRESSURE." This causes Robin to go red. He wasn't trying to say that he planned on starting a family with Aurora, but now that thought has been put out there. Robin starts to sink further down in his chair. Marian is looking around and trying to decide who she should start with when Kris cuts in and says, "I think now is a great time for everyone to return to their offices." Marian gives Kris a look to tell her that her fun has been cut short. But the rest of the employees stand up and start filing out of the conference room. After the last one leaves, Kris turns off the screen and then the light. She shakes her head and starts to laugh to herself. This is why Jace always leaves. To avoid that completely awkward situation.