“I thought it would happen sooner, truthfully.” I tossed my apple core into her wastepaper basket. “That guy was always getting fired from jobs and driving his roommates nuts.”
“Who were his roommates again? I don’t think I ever noticed who they were.”
“Nondescript. One guy was average height, had gut protrusion and seemed to work at the video store that just shut down.”
“Talk about an anachronism.”
“Yeah, well, that’s probably why it shut down. Anyway, the other guy was a waiter trying to be an actor or something. Annoying, weasely pretty boy who was too good for mere mortals.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember him. He asked me out.”
“You guys would have been a beautiful Barbie and Ken set.”
“Thanks.” Her tone was dry. “I didn’t realize he’d been in that apartment. I tried not to notice where he was coming from so he wouldn’t think I was interested. Anyway, I mention the apartment because I saw movers there last night and wondered who our neighbor was going to be.”
“Did you see?” I was just making conversation with this question. Dating an apartment neighbor was probably about as smart as dating a coworker.
“No. Can’t tell you if they’re male or female.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough. So how’s the day going for you? Are you putting in overtime tonight?”
“Not on a Friday, hon. I’ll catch you at home before you go off to work. How’s old Reggie doing today?”
“Same old. I need to get back and clear my list of things to do while I still have a moment of peace.”
Reggie was late coming back from lunch, making it in to the office at four, which was totally novel. Stranger still was his mood. It was not only much improved from before, but there was a smile on his face and high color on his cheeks. I suspected I knew what he’d been up to—going home to Frank for some nookie, maybe—but didn’t want to dwell on it. Reggie getting hot with anyone was not an image I wanted haunting my brain. I decided to stick to business.
“Call log’s on your desk. Letter for Jerry Whitmore is ready for you to look at, and I finished reading the scripts you gave me yesterday.”
“Any good?”
“One is great. I left notes in two of them. They’re also on your desk.”
“Excellent.” He continued to smile down at me in what was becoming an uncomfortable moment.
“Are you okay?” I asked hesitantly, not sure of what was going on. I’d never seen Reggie act so strangely. He was actually being nice. It was creeping me out.
“Taylor, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but you do good work.”
“Thank you...Reggie.”
“Keep this up and at your next evaluation, you’ll get a big surprise.”
“Great.” Was he on something? His eyes were clear. He didn’t look flushed or feverish. “Did you have a good meeting with Simon?” Did he slip something into your drink?
“It went as expected. You know how Simon is. He’s needy. Needs me to tell him everything’s okay, needs me to tell him that it’s normal for studios to make you wait. You know. He needs me to hold his hand some. Hey, listen. Why don’t you take off early? It’s Friday. No one’s going to call at this time, at least no one important.” He threw back his head, laughing at his own joke.