Eve snorted. “Teenage romance and heartbreak. He has the emotions of a baby. He doesn’t know heartbreak, and even if he did, a real man would continue to work, ignoring the pain. This is courting weakness, inviting it into your sitting room and giving it tea—”
“Noted,” Ariadne said, cutting Eve off. “But he still has the time off.”
“He’s useless to us right now,” I said. “Better to get him out of the way.”
Ariadne smiled weakly. “That was the idea.”
“This is all ridiculous,” Eve said, and Ariadne gave her the look again. Exhausted, mixed with exasperated. “I’m due to meet with Bastian and Parks anyway,” she said, and with a subtle bend she tried to kiss Ariadne on the lips. Ariadne turned her face to the side and gave her the cheek. Eve shot me a wicked smile and leaned into her neck, causing Ariadne to squirm and curse under her breath, and giggle unintentionally from the tickle of it. I averted my eyes, trying not to pass judgment on what Eve was obviously doing to get a rise out of me. She slid past me a moment later, same cool smile, and pulled the door all the way open before she left.
I waited a moment for Ariadne’s embarrassment to fade before I spoke. “Is it my imagination or is she getting more provocative by the day?”
Ariadne averted her eyes from me, focusing instead on her computer monitor. “It’s probably not your imagination.”
I let that hang for a beat. “She got a buzzsaw in her g-string or what?”
“I don’t know,” Ariadne said. “And it’s not really a conversation I want to have with...well, anyone, actually.”
“I’m glad you added that little caveat because otherwise I might feel like I was being excluded or something.”
“Have you checked on Kat recently?” Ariadne said, back to business, her eyes on the stacks of papers around her desk, organizing as she went, trying to avoid looking at me.
I grimaced. “No. Kind of um...embarrassing, I guess.”
“You’re the team lead,” she said. “You could at least try and show some concern for her, even if you don’t like her.”
“I like her fine,” I said, folding my arms and leaning against the door. “Why does everyone always say that? I like Kat, she’s always been nice to me. I’m just not always sweet in return; it’s who I am. It’s not like I’d throw her into a pack of wolves if I got the chance. We hang out outside of work, you know. And I would go visit her, but it feels...awkward.”
“Awkward?” Ariadne paused what she was doing, and the sun shining through the windows behind her glinting on her red hair. “It’s awkward for you...to visit her in the medical unit?”
“It’s awkward for me,” I said, drawing out my words, “because when Kat woke up, she remembered me, but not her boyfriend. Which is fairly weird, as far as such things go. And a little creepy, you know, forgetting the person you supposedly love and remembering a co-worker? Kind of made me wonder if she might have been harboring a little crush or—” I paused, stricken, watching Ariadne’s eyebrow raise, her expression implacable. “It was just an expression. I didn’t actually wonder—I mean, I haven’t wondered, you know, about anyone else—”
“Whatever,” Ariadne said, and turned back to the folder in front of her, opening it.