It was crazy, and she knew it. She had to get out of here, at least for a minute. "I'll be back," she said to Yvonne. Christie launched out of her chair and headed down the hall.
The door leading outside still stood propped open, so she went in that direction. The van was parked at the curb, with most of the equipment still inside from Rob's live broadcast. Christie busied herself getting some of the gear out.
"Christie? What are you doing?"
It was Rick again. Couldn't she ever walk out of a room without him noticing?
"I'm unloading the van," she said, fighting for that bland cheerfulness. She hefted a crate full of extension cords down to the ground behind the van, avoiding Rick's attempt to take it from her hands. She leaned back in to reach for a speaker.
"Christie, you don't have to do this."
"Why not?" She put on a wide smile. "I hear I have a remote coming up in a few weeks. I might as well get the practice, right?"
The speaker was heavy for her, and clumsy. But once again, she avoided his attempt to help her, and set it down.
On his foot.
Rick bellowed, and Christie scrambled to get the speaker off his toes. Rick lifted it first, then crouched to examine his foot. Christie bent down, too, reflexively putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Rick! Are you okay?"
He looked up at her, and she winced at his stonegray glare. It had been an accident. Didn't he know that? "Rick, I'm sorry."
Their eyes locked, and the glare faded. It was replaced by an expression Christie couldn't identify. Whatever it was, it made her just as uncomfortable. Clouds, she thought. His eyes were like twin gray clouds, and she'd never be able to see what was really behind them. While all her reactions, she was sure, were written all over her face. It wasn't fair. Christie became aware of her hand on his shoulder, and took it away. She straightened up and stepped back.
"It's okay," he said. He made a grimace that looked half-real, half-joking. "Of course, I'll never walk again ..."
He straightened, reaching out to take her arm for a little leverage. His eyes didn't leave hers. Christie needed to find an excuse to walk away, fast, but her brain felt as paralyzed as the rest of her. For lack of anything else to say, she started to apologize again. "I didn't mean to-"
"Hey, what's all the ruckus?" Rob said, finally returning from his lengthy break.
"Oh, nothing." Rick let go of her arm, but he still didn't look away. He smiled wryly. "Becker was just taking out her frustrations on me."
"Oh." Rob picked up the offending speaker effortlessly. "I thought she only did that with me." He winked at Christie and went back inside.
For absolutely no reason, she felt her face go red.
Rick stared after Rob as he went inside, then turned back to Christie and snapped: "What's that supposed to mean?"
The force of his glare startled her. "It doesn't mean anything." Immediately she was sorry she'd denied it. "And what if it did?"
"Oh, nothing." Rick's eyes took on a cool, appraising look. "I just thought you were concerned about your professional reputation."
Weeks of hurt, embarrassment and resentment boiled over inside her. Christie shot Rick a look that she hoped was as fiery as his was cold.
"Watch out for your other foot," she said, and went back inside.
Great. They'd both just managed to descend from high school down to the sixth grade level.
Christie could still feel the heat in her face as she went back to Yvonne's office. Then she remembered the conversation that had sent her out of the room. She wasn't sure she wanted to be here, either. Across the hall behind her, she heard Rick's door quietly and emphatically shut.
Yvonne turned her head away from her computer screen. She peered across the hall, eyebrows raised. "I've never seen that before. What's going on?"
"I dropped a speaker on his foot," Christie said irritably. "He's probably in there licking his wounds, if you want to go in and hold his hand."
"Hey!" Yvonne's eyes flashed. "What was that for?"
There had never been a harsh word between the two of them before. This day had turned into a total nightmare, all in less than fifteen minutes. Christie pressed a hand to her forehead and clenched the bangs of her hair. "Yvonne, I'm sorry. Whatever you do with Rick is your business. I just-"
"What?" Yvonne spun her chair completely around to face her. "Christie, what the heck are you talking about?"
The surprise on Yvonne's face looked utterly genuine. Christie felt more foolish than ever. She dropped her hand to her side, and they stared at each other for several long, slow beats.
Yvonne whispered, "You've got a crush on Rick!" Her look of dawning comprehension turned into something like glee. "Honey, that's-"