Learning How to Bend

January 10

I spent time with Joe and Katherine the following Sunday, as Thaddeus made it extremely difficult for me to think of anything but him until then. Not that you would find me complaining. We both did go back to the office on Friday, but it was not long before we were together again, as we always met in his office on Tuesdays and Fridays. I gave him an update on everything he requested, including the current project which had been causing me to pull out my hair. When I very firmly told him I did not want him to get involved, he respected my wishes, and I instead launched into a discussion with him about the company's internship program and what changes I thought could be made based off what I had heard from the two current students in the marketing department.

I did not mean to become Julia Eldridge's mentor while she was employed with AI, but I somehow did. I really enjoyed her company, and I had actually asked her to do a few things for me since she started in January. She performed brilliantly. Although she was not technically my intern, I still gave her things to do because I saw potential in her, potential which I did not believe her current supervisor was tapping. The older man with the smoke-damaged voice and the acrid-smelling breath did not seem to mind. Julia was even helping me on my current project, and I knew I would feel the hurt when she left. She had committed to staying with Andino until mid-June, and I was determined to make use of her until absolute last day.

Joe and Katherine bought me a year-long subscription to an audiobook streaming service for my birthday. Up until that point, I had never really considered audiobooks for some reason or another. Maybe it was because I doubted my attention span and my ability to stay awake. I did not know. What I did know was that with the first one I listened to, I was hooked. I listened to books while I sat in my living room. While I ate breakfast. While I ran. Occasionally while I rode with Mike to the office. Some of the books were fiction, others were biographies. My favorites were the ones that included dramatic sound effects in them, although those were few and far between. The sound effects, too, also occasionally sounded like clipped audio files from movies, or they were too terribly created that I could only chuckle at them. Each and every time I talked to either Joe or Katherine, I thanked them for their thoughtfulness and kindness. Kat eventually got so tired of hearing about my gratefulness, she threatened to tape my mouth closed the next time I said anything. I believed her.

On Monday morning, I stood and went to my window, throwing open the curtains to feel the sun on my face. After a few moments of peace, I went to my closet and flung open the door. Running my fingers along the fabrics, I found a short-sleeved blouse and a simple pencil skirt which hugged my hips. I hung the hangers on the doorknob then dug out more clean clothes from a chest of drawers and tossed them in the bathroom by the shower. While I waited for the water to heat up—it was an older building; the pipes were not exactly dependable—I brushed my teeth and washed my face.

The shower was quick, as it always was. I dressed, ran a brush through my hair, then went into the kitchen without needing to click to find my way. Neither was it necessary in the fridge, as I grabbed the eggs and leftover biscuits I had baked in the oven yesterday for breakfast. I scrambled the eggs on the stove until they were almost complete, at which point I popped a biscuit in the microwave. By the time it was warm, the eggs were also complete. I piled it all on a plate and placed it on the bar before pouring myself a glass of orange juice.

I ate in silence, swallowing the juice in a few gulps. After putting the dishes in the dishwasher, I dropped food in Chelise's bowl. It was only then that I heard the dog jump—or was that a lazy fall?—from the bed, and the golden retriever patted happily into the kitchen.

"You're welcome," I said, going to my desk. Unplugging my laptop from the bigger monitor, I tucked it into my briefcase by the chair, along with dropping my wallet into a big pocket on the side.