Chapter 23: Natalie
I had one goal in mind today. No matter the cost, I was going to figure out Major’s identity. Yes, I had work to do. But it had been half-assed because Major consumed my mind. So really, this was opportunity cost. A day of doing nothing so I could get my head back in the game.
I was going to comb through ten thousand employees to find Major. Well, not ten thousand. I had already gone through the entire third floor. The first and second were still uncharted territory. It was a bit disheartening, because the third floor was the smallest of the three.
“Hi, Natalie.” Patrick greeted me as he exited the elevator.
“Patrick.”
Patrick met the criteria of what Major looked like. They had the same height, body type, and hair. I considered him for about two seconds before laughing off the idea. There was no way Patrick fucking Reinhardt was Major.
I knew Patrick well enough. He depicted himself as charming and charismatic, so all the girls went crazy over him. I did call him a player without concrete evidence. But when Scott told me he had never been in a relationship, it confirmed my suspicions well enough.
Even though Patrick portrayed himself as charismatic, that wasn’t his actual personality. The Patrick outside of work didn’t care about charming people. His sarcastic quips made me roll my eyes. The amount of snark he gave me made me want to slap him.
No matter which persona he was wearing, Patrick was incapable of having the emotional range of Major. So, Patrick was eliminated from the suspect list.
“What are you up to?” he asked.
He was probably confused that I was going down a floor. It wasn’t near lunch time, and there was no reason for me to be on the second floor. Everyone down there was some sort of tech worker.
“I just need to take care of some things on the second floor. Talk to you later.” I darted into the elevator before he had more time to question me.
I’d talked to everyone on the third floor that resembled Major. I was able to eliminate most of them by the sound of their voice. I had only known his voice for months, and I would be able to recognize the deep timbre. But I would still ask a quick question before I moved on.
I was still a bit panicked by the sheer amount of people I’d have to search. But if I was thinking logically, Major didn’t have a common body type. Not many men here were over six feet and absolutely ripped.
I exited the elevator and surveyed the sea of cubicles. This floor had R&D and everything that related to game development. It housed a massive number of employees, because almost every product and service we produced was game related. There would also be more male employees to look at, because it was an unfortunate truth that more men worked in tech than women. It might not be possible to clear this floor in one day.
I did my best to look casual as I walked through the Quality Assurance department. Their job was to play the created game and identify any bugs. It was a cool job in theory, but I had overheard a few talking how burnt out they got playing video games. Today they were playing a first-person shooter, and I studied their bodies as their eyes were transfixed on the screen. I exhaled in frustration when none resembled Major.
The engineering department showed more promise. A man in the first cubicle fit Major’s description to a T.
I approached his desk and leaned against the wall of his cubicle. It might have looked awkward, but I had to complete my mission. “How are you?”
“Um… good. Are you new here?”
“I work on the third floor. It was getting a bit cramped up there, so I decided to stretch my legs.”
“Oh, that’s nice.”
I knew he wasn’t Major the moment he spoke. His voice was breathier and wasn’t a deep as Major’s.
“Well, it was nice meeting you.”
I hadn’t even introduced myself to the Major clone, but I didn’t care. It didn’t matter how stupid I looked. I was going to comb through the entire company, even if it killed me.
I had gotten through most of the second floor by lunch time. Game development was filled with nerdy guys, and only a few had the same features as Major. I reluctantly headed back to the third floor for a lunch break, cursing the size of IY Games.
I unzipped my lunchbox and found todays note.
Getting colder.
-M
“Ugh!” I threw my hands up in frustration.
What did he mean? My mind went wild with all the possibilities. Perhaps he was on a different floor. Or maybe, I had met him and accidentally eliminated him.
I was sick of not knowing his real identity. I was tired of him being the only thing on my mind. Most of all, I was sick and tired of these peas. I dragged my lunchbox back to my office, grumbling to myself.
I’d learned to eat my vegetables first. If I finished them quickly, the rest of my lunch would cover the taste of the peas. I jammed a spoonful in my mouth right as my office phone rang. RESTRICTED displayed on the caller ID.
“This is Natalie Lane.” I was almost positive who it was, but in the off chance it wasn’t Major, I didn’t want to embarrass myself.
“Having fun searching for me?”
“No. Not at all.” I dropped the bag of peas on my desk.
Major laughed. Well, I was glad he thought this was funny. “You read my note?”
“Yes, I did. A hint would have been nice.”
“I told you there are no hints.”
“I know,” I grumbled.
“I’m flattered that you would search the second floor for me.”
“I’m not sure if I’m flattered or disturbed that you spent your day watching me.”
“Maybe both? Now, eat your peas like a good girl. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Can you can see me?” He knew I had put down my peas. I leaned over my office desk, trying to peer out the windows.
“Bye, Nat.”
When he hung up the phone, my heart sank. All I wanted was to know who he was. Each day made me more anxious knowing he got to watch me, but I only got to see him Friday nights. I supposed my only option was to search harder.
* * *
Scott and I had started to hang out outside of Rock Sphere. I enjoyed his company more than his brother’s. Unlike Patrick, he was witty and insightful. Scott even managed to get an occasional giggle out of me.
He braided my hair while we watched chick flicks. I thought romance movies were cheesy, but Scott was on a mission to convince me they were the best genre.
I sat on the floor between his legs as he tugged at my scalp. “Ow. Are braids always this tight?” I reached up to rub the hair he had constricted together.
“There are loose French braids and tight ones. I thought you would look better with fitted braids. Now don’t touch.”
“Alright.”
My face winced as he tightened another braid. I always wore my hair down unless I was attending a formal event. Even then, it was styled in waves or a loose updo. I couldn’t imagine doing all this work on an everyday basis. Michaela styled her hair every day, but she woke up a full hour earlier to do it. In my opinion, it wasn’t worth it.
“By the way, Jacques and I are going to an art gala on Saturday. I have two extra tickets, so by obligation my brother gets one. I was hoping you would be his date.”
Jacques was Scott’s unofficial boyfriend. Scott was an interior designer, and the two had met at some sort of art conference. Scott said their relationship was casual, but he talked about him an awful lot.
Last time I pretended to be Patrick’s date had ended in horrible embarrassment. “Patrick doesn’t seem like he’d have trouble finding a date.”
“Probably not. But I haven’t seen him bring a girl around in like, five months, which is probably a record. And I’d like it if you were there, rather than some random floozy.”
I cackled. “Who uses the word floozy?”
“I do. Deal with it.”
“Well, is Patrick fine with it?” I went to rub my scalp, but Scott swatted my hand out of the way.
“Yeah.”
“You haven’t asked him, have you?”
“Not exactly. But I’m sure he will be. You guys are coworkers; it’s not like I’m throwing a stranger at him.”
The back of my eyes had started to hurt from the braids pulling on my scalp. I pressed down on them, attempting to ease the pain. “It’s contingent on what he says.”
“Great!”
Scott’s apartment door opened, and Patrick walked in, carrying a bag of groceries. It was as though he had heard us talking about him.
His casual outfit was a nice change from his work attire and made him look rather handsome. Patrick’s shirt had a slight V neck, and the white contrasted nicely against his tanned skin. He always styled his hair for work, but today he let it run wild. It was actually pretty cute, and I thought he should do it more often.
Wait, why was I checking Patrick out? He was my coworker. Well, slightly more than a coworker, but definitely not a friend. I didn’t even like him for the longest time. I shook my head but forgot about the death hold of the braids, and my scalp screamed in agony.
“Natalie?” Patrick’s green eyes questioned me.
“We’re hanging out,” Scott said. “I’m having Natalie watch chick flicks. Did you know she only watches documentaries?”
“Oh really?” There was an amused look on his face, and I had the urge to slap it off of him.
“Uh huh. Wait, pay attention to this part. He needs to confess his love to her or else he’ll lose her forever.” Scott pointed at the screen, as if I didn’t know where to look.
The man in the movie rushed through the airport, searching desperately for his love interest. This was his last chance to tell her he loved her, because she was moving to Texas. He ran through crowds of people, shoving them out of the way. When he reached airport security, he ran past them and towards her gate.
“But that’s completely unrealistic. They would have apprehended him,” I said flatly.
“Whatever, he’s doing it out of love. She’s The One and he’s willing to do whatever means necessary to get to her,” Scott said it as if it was the most obvious thing on earth.
Ah, there were those two words again. The One. If running through TSA was required to find The One, I’d be single forever.
He reached her gate right as the attendant scanned her ticket to board. The man said how sorry he was, and that he couldn’t live without her. She spent a moment with a shocked look on her face before running to him.
“What are the chances he gets there right before she goes in? And why couldn’t he just call her?” I asked.
The brothers had two very different reactions—Patrick burst out laughing while Scott started grumbling.
“Bit of a cynic?” Patrick said.
“No. It’s just not realistic.”
Scott finished my braid, and the rubber band let out a loud snap. “It’s romantic. And speaking of romance, I’m going to call Jacques.”
He grabbed his phone from the coffee table and walked towards his bedroom. I moved from my spot on the floor on to the sofa and started itching at my twin braids.
“So, you’re not a romantic?” Patrick sat next to me on the sofa.
“I never said that. It’s just not plausible for things like that to happen.”
“Uh huh. Careful touching your hair. It looks good on you.”
I was stunned at Patrick’s compliment. It wasn’t like him to flatter me. He also realized his mistake, because he clapped his hand over his mouth and looked away from me.
“I just meant it’s good you mixed things up.”
“Right.” I stopped touching my braids. My fingers intertwined with one another so I wouldn’t start itching my head.
The two of us sat in silence as the movie finished. There was a brief epilogue scene that showed the characters getting married and having kids.
Scott looked pleased from his conversation as he walked into the living room. “By the way Pat, Natalie is going to be your date to the art gala.”
I turned a light shade of pink. Of course, he would announce it right in front of me. It would back Patrick into a corner if I was present.
“Sounds great.”
Patrick looked legitimately pleased that Scott had asked me to go with him. I didn’t know if I was embarrassed or confused that Patrick fucking Reinhardt was happy to be my date.