She started crying.
Horrified, I stood frozen for a minute. “Megumi. What’s wrong?”
She pulled off her headset and stood, tears spilling down her face. She shook her head violently. “I can’t talk about it now.”
“When is your break?”
But she was already hurrying to the bathroom, leaving me staring after her.
I headed to my cubicle and dropped off my bag, then went down the hall to Will Granger’s desk. He wasn’t there, but I found him in the break room when I stopped to grab some coffee.
“Hey, you.” His eyes behind his square-framed glasses looked as worried as I felt. “Did you see Megumi?”
“Yeah. She looks wiped out. And she started crying when I asked how she’s doing.”
He slid the carton of half-and-half over to me. “Not good, whatever it is.”
“I’m bad with not knowing. My imagination runs wild. I’m bouncing between cancer, pregnancy, and everything in between.”
Will shrugged helplessly. With his neatly trimmed sideburns and subtly quirky-patterned shirts, he was the sort of affable and easy-natured guy who was hard to dislike.
“Eva.” Mark stuck his head in the door. “I’ve got news.”
My boss’s bright eyes told me he was excited about something. “I’m all ears. Coffee?”
“Sure. Thanks. See you in my office.” He ducked back out again.
Will grabbed his mug off the counter. “Have a good one.”
He left. I hurried to get the coffee ready, then went to Mark’s office. He’d taken his jacket off and was studying something on his monitor. He looked up, smiling when he saw me.
“We’ve got a new RFP request.” His smile widened. “And they asked for me specifically.”
I tensed. Setting his coffee down, I asked warily, “Is it another Cross Industries product?”
As much as I loved Gideon and admired all that he’d accomplished, I didn’t want to be totally overshadowed by his world. Part of who we were as a couple was two people who had separate working lives. I enjoyed riding to work with my husband, but I needed to say good-bye to him, too. I needed those few hours when he didn’t consume me.
“No, it’s bigger.”
My brows rose. I couldn’t think of anything or anyone bigger than Cross Industries.
Mark slid a picture of a silver-and-red box across the desk to me. “It’s the new PhazeOne gaming system from LanCorp.”
I settled into the seat in front of his desk with an inner sigh of relief. “Sweet. Sounds fun.”
IT was a little after eleven when Megumi called to see if I was free for lunch.
“Of course,” I told her.
“Someplace quiet.”
I considered our options. “I’ve got an idea. Leave it to me.”
“Great. Thanks.”
I sat at my desk. “How’s your morning been?”
“Busy. I have to get caught up.”
“Let me know if I can help with anything.”
“Thank you, Eva.” She took a deep, shaky breath, her composure slipping. “I appreciate you.”
We hung up. I called Gideon’s office, and his secretary answered.
“Hey, Scott. It’s Eva. How are you?”
“I’m good.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “What can I do for you?”
My feet tapped restlessly. I couldn’t help but be worried about my friend. “Could you ask Gideon to give me a call when he has a free minute?”
“I’ll put you through now.”
“Oh. Okay, great. Thanks.”
“Hang on.”
A moment later I heard the voice I loved. “What do you need, Eva?”
I was startled for a minute by his brusqueness. “Are you busy?”
“I’m in a meeting.”
Fuck. “My bad. Bye.”
“Eva—”
I hung up, and then called Scott again to discuss how we should handle calls in the future so I didn’t come out looking like an ass. Before he answered, the secondary line flashed with an incoming call. I switched over. “Mark Garrity’s office—”
“Don’t ever hang up on me,” Gideon snapped.
I bristled at his tone. “Are you in a meeting or not?”
“I was. Now I’m dealing with you.”
Hell if anyone was going to “deal” with me. I could be as pissy as him any day of the week. “You know, I asked Scott to give you a message when you had time for it and he patched me through. He shouldn’t have done that, if you were busy with—”
“He has standing orders to always connect your calls. If you want to leave me a message, send a text or an e-mail.”
“Well, excuse me for not knowing the etiquette for getting in touch with you!”