Only time would tell, I thought, whether this was a one-off thing, or whether there was actually any significance to it. All I really knew just then, as I logged into my workspace, and started absently clicking through notes my team had sent me, was that I was suddenly feeling a lot more optimistic than I’d been since this whole terrible mess had begun.
3-
Social Distancing (With Benefits)
Whatever doubts I might have had about hearing from Malcolm again were very quickly assuaged. I woke up the next day (before noon this time!) and immediately found a text from the man himself waiting for me on my phone.
“Hey, just saw some of the progress you and your team made on the Goldfinch app last night. Very impressive! I have a few suggestions that I think might really push things to the next level. I’d love to go over them with you if you have the time. I know it’s Saturday, but I’d love to get the ball rolling on this update asap if you aren’t too busy :)”
I was, of course, not busy at all these days, and certainly not too busy for him. I immediately texted him back and set up an appointment to video call him in an hour or so. Then I hurried to get dressed (intending to remain that way throughout the entire call this time,) and obsessed over my hair and makeup, wanting to look good for him, but not wanting to appear as though I’d put anywhere near this amount of effort into doing so.
God, it’s tough being a lady…
Was I fully aware that I was making far too big a deal out of all this? Absolutely.
And yet I have to confess, in my weaker moments, I still found my ex’s words spinning around in my head. And whatever did or didn’t happen between Malcolm and I (and surely, it would be nothing at all,) I’d be damned if I let him see me as the sort of woman that someone has to “settle” for.
“Hi!” I said brightly, if perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, as his square-jawed visage appeared on the screen. Was it just me, or was he as well-coiffed as I’d tried to make myself in preparation for our call?
“Afternoon,” he said, his dark eyes sparkling as he unsubtly inspected me. “Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me.”
“It’s my pleasure,” I said, beaming, laying it on just a little bit too thick.
Our conversation remained professional for a full, oh, I don’t know, five minutes or so, before running off the rails and away from work altogether.
In no time, we were talking about anything and everything else under the sun. For instance, masks (“I seriously hate wearing them, but I hate it even more when I see people out without one.” “Seriously, how long do people want this thing to go on?”) We talked about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the government’s response to the pandemic, and I teased him about being too rich to get a stimulus check.
“How did you spend yours?” he asked, grinning.
“I thought I’d see what it would be like to live the high life for a day. I set the whole $1200 on fire and used it to light a cigar.”
We both laughed.
We went on to discuss everything from the delayed 2021 Oscars (he insisted that Sonic the Hedgehog would sweep every category due to its lack of competition) and what we’d been reading to kill time while we sheltered in place.
“I finally got around to The Plague by Albert Camus,” Malcolm offered. “I mean, obviously it’s pretty topical right now.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen some people recommending that,” I said with a nod. “I dunno though, I feel like I want to try and escape all this right now, not dive further into it.”
“Fair enough,” said Malcolm. “So, what do you recommend?”
“Well, personally I just finished the Fifty Shades trilogy for like the fourth time, and it’s seriously amazing.”
I kept my face as straight as I could as I said this, enjoying Malcolm’s expression as he tried and failed to take my suggestion seriously.
“Yeah, I’ve… I’ve heard, um… Things about that series, for sure.”
Finally I burst out laughing, and soon heard him chuckling along with me.
“I honestly had no idea how I should take that,” he said with a grin.
“Yeah, I’ve never read any of them,” I said. “The excerpts I’ve found online are more than enough for me.”
“I actually modeled my own success after Christian Grey, if you want to know the truth,” he joked.
“Yeah, which one?” I asked. “Charlie Hunnam or Jamie Dornan?”
Malcolm raised an eyebrow, grinning at me. “Wow, for someone who’s never read the books, you sure know an awful lot about this franchise.”
“Alright, you’ve got me. I’ve seen the movies, alright?”
“Ha! I knew it,” he said victoriously. “And do you recommend them?”
“Not at all,” I said, giggling. I couldn’t say it, but I had to admit the basic concept of being seduced by a hunky billionaire was deeply appealing to me, whatever else might be said of the quality of the films themselves. “As far as book recommendations, I actually just finished Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. And I’m seriously not joking about this one. I’ve had it sitting on my shelf for ages, I think someone gave it to me as a gift. I can’t even remember who or what for. But God, it’s so good! At least I think so.”
“I think I’ve seen that one,” he said with a nod. “Does it have like a blue cover?”
“Yeah, with like, a painting of waves on it.”
“Got it. I will definitely be sure to track down a copy whenever I have the chance.”
“I would let you borrow mine,” I said. “I mean, if we were able to come within six feet of each other, that is…”
Once again he arched an eyebrow, and a smile came over his face that seemed a whole lot more flirtatious to me than professional.
“If only,” he said, and I felt a quiver of goosebumps running down my spine beneath my dress.
_____
The two of us talked for hours. And when we finally ended our call, we almost immediately started texting one another afterward.
And we texted the next day. And the next day. And the day after that.
There was some irony about it, I mused, that it had taken the two of us being split apart by the pandemic to finally start getting close to one another. It was actually pretty amazing how easily we slipped into conversation, talking about anything and everything, and sometimes nothing at all.
I really didn’t feel like an employee chatting with her boss- although he definitely kept things professional, always coming right up to the line with his flirtations, but never crossing over into territory that could be considered genuinely inappropriate. Even though I sincerely started wishing that he would at times…
Neither did I feel like I was a lowly peasant making a fool out of herself by flirting with a billionaire, although to be sure I was precisely that. The truth was, Malcolm was as sweet and as down to earth as he was commanding and in charge when he needed to be, and I found him so much easier to talk to than anyone I’d ever been with before.
I still did my best to try and temper my expectations throughout all of this, fully aware of how crushing it would be to let this fantasy get the better of me, only to find that the entire thing had been completely one-sided, and that all I’d been doing the entire time was making a fool out of myself.