Chapter 12 – Carolina
The few weeks since I’ve been here have proved quite different than that first day when “Overwhelmed Carolina” moved to town. I learned to massage Erin, the beast. And I mean that both literally and figuratively.
She insists on daily neck massages, and even though kneading her knots is a work out, I figure if it keeps her happy, it’s fine. In return, I get all the office gossip from her and Claude, who always know the scoop due to their central location and unassuming positions.
They filled me in on all the office romances. Asher married his associate/mentee Madilyn, and Cameron married his legal assistant, Ruby. The firm’s biggest client, Damien Hudson, married a different legal assistant, Katie. And everyone is pretty sure that the third named partner, Jameson Reed, is carrying on an office affair, but he’s so good at hiding it— and every single female who works at the firm other than me seems so smitten with him, looking for every excuse to work overtime with him or otherwise go into his office for some alone time— that no one can figure out who it’s with, although there are some prime suspects.
I enjoy getting the dirt. And it makes me feel better to know I’m not the only secretary who has ever had a crush on her boss. Apparently, at this firm— which Katie calls “Sugar Daddy Central”— it’s kind of a normal event, and things actually work out sometimes. Katie is friends with Claude and Erin— despite my initial impression, Erin seems to be friends with everyone, and as Garrett said, her rudeness is just an initial front she puts up— and has told me that when she first met Damien she was sure they were going to be together, but she just wasn’t sure how it was going to work out.
She said that was a common theme she’d heard from Madilyn and Ruby— who is one of her best friends— as well. I didn’t tell her I was having similar feelings about Garrett, but somehow I felt she already knew.
I’ve also resigned myself to listening to Erin’s criticism of every man she comes into contact with, from the partners in the firm to the teenaged kid who delivers sandwiches from the deli down the street. If there is one thing I’ve learned about Erin, it’s that she has unreasonably high requirements when it comes to who she wants to date. And, no offense, but she isn’t exactly a perfect ten. A trip to the salon and some carefully applied makeup would help a lot, but still, it’s a good thing she has a lively personality.
Every time she complains about a guy, Claude pipes in with a comment along the lines of, “I will never understand straight people. If you don’t like the guy, don’t talk to the guy.” Or, “If you like the guy, just let the guy know!”
These two are so much fun together, and they make working here interesting. Well, that and the fact that I have a huge crush on my boss that I get to work with all the time.
I love how Erin knows everything that goes on in the firm. She’s like a law database and the neighborhood gossip rolled into one. I look forward to our daily routine, as it helps me to get the lay of the land.
After the first day, I began arriving an hour early every morning. This was partly because I thought Erin could help me with my training during my off time before Garrett showed up, and partly because on or about the third day, I realized she knew everything and wanted to share it all with me. Although she was friendly with everyone, she didn’t seem to have any close female friends in the firm, so I was drafted to fill the position of her BFF.
Also, I wasn’t loving this new city. While it’s true I had come from a small town with not a whole lot going on, Stone was my home. It was quaint, and I knew just about everyone, so weirdly enough, I was never bored.
Erin likes to listen to my stories about small town life. More accurately, she likes to ridicule my stories about small town life, but beggars can’t be choosers. She is someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of, and as time passed, we’ve learned to appreciate each other’s company.
In Albuquerque, my new home, while there is a ton to do compared to back home, I can’t help but feel lonely. I know no one, and I find myself constantly alone and bored. I’d dialed Martha a few times out of desperation. Being a military brat, she’d lived in New Mexico on one of the military bases when she was younger, and she’s insisted I go see the sites— Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Old Town Santa Fe— by myself or through joining a meetup, but it has just never felt right.
Maybe I wanted this to be temporary or maybe I just wanted an excuse to fail. Whatever the case, I’m often alone, which only makes me sad. My townhouse is near University of New Mexico hospital, and the sound of sirens at all times of the day and night outside my window make me realize things aren’t so bad. At least I’m not in the back of an ambulance with its lights flashing, suffering some horrible disease or accident. But that’s little consolation, to be thinking “at least not that.”
Maybe my fascination with Garrett just stems from boredom. Maybe I think he and I will get together when really it’s all in my head. But I have a feeling I’m about to find out.