likelihood of that happening wasn’t too high.
“Same here,” said Casey, sticking out her hand. Lex put her comparatively tiny hand in Casey’s, hoping she wasn’t a squeezer like Joan. Happily, Lex found Casey’s handshake gentle.
“Listen,” Casey said, as Lex began to move towards the subway escalator, “ when you make it onto the team, I think you’ll find out I’m a good listener. Maybe we can swap scary stories of the past, once you’ve settled in.” Lex frowned, realizing Casey probably meant they had some things in common from their pasts, and began to open her mouth to ask what she meant, but Casey continued, “Well, I only really have one bad story, but it is nice to know I’m not alone.”
Lex nodded, an odd feeling in her throat. She cleared it and said, “I agree. Thanks again, Casey. If I get on the team, I look forward to it.”
Casey laughed as Lex headed into the metro. “I tell you, you’re going to get the offer,” Lex heard from behind her, the sound following her down the escalator. She waved a hand behind her as a goodbye, hoping Casey could see.
Chapter 3: Preliminaries
As she opened the door, she could hear the television in the background. The condo was dimly lit, but through familiarity she didn’t need more light, and made her way down the long front hall then turned left to go into the living room. Kurt sat on the couch watching some show she wasn’t familiar with and turned as she came into the room. The back of the couch ruffled his short blonde hair as he moved and his blue eyes seemed tired.
Gently smiling in greeting, Lex couldn’t help but think back to when she’d first met Kurt Soames about two years before. She’d been in a week-long class to learn a new software tool for work and had been paired with Kurt to work on the same computer. He’d charmed her with his quick wit and dry sense of humor, and she’d done her best to help him learn to use the tool, because he’d been pretty hopeless with it. They’d had their first official date the Friday the class had ended, and had been together since then. Lex swallowed the sentimental lump in her throat at the memory and met Kurt’s eyes again.
“Hey, sweetie,” she said while leaning over to take off her shoes.
“What happened to you?” he asked in surprise, looking her shoes up and down and taking in the bandage on her hand.
She laughed wryly. “It’s a bit of a long story. Let me make something to eat and then I’ll tell you.”
Kurt glanced at the TV, which had gone to commercial. He used the remote to shut it off, saying, “I’ll come with you; this was kind of boring, anyway.”
Lex poked around in the kitchen for a while, finally settling on putting a frozen dinner into the microwave. They sat at the kitchen table as Lex explained as much as she could of the afternoon’s events, showing off her torn skirt as she got to that point in the story.
“Anyway,” Lex said as she neared the end of her description, “they told me that a courier would come by tomorrow with their answer, and that I should be prepared to respond to them by the end of the day if they had an offer for me.” She laughed softly and shook her head as the microwave cycle ended, and she moved to get her dinner. “It sounded a bit pretentious, I thought. I figure I’ll just get a rejection like I have from most of these other interviews.”
Kurt shrugged, looking thoughtful. “I don’t know about that. I’ve never heard of the outfit you interviewed with, but some of these small agencies have odd rules that they follow. They may well send a courier by, so don’t plan on going out tomorrow morning. We can shop for a new suit and shoes for you over the weekend, after we have lunch with my parents on Saturday.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Lex replied quietly as she felt the unrest in her stomach start. Part of the queasiness came from considering the balance currently on her credit card. She could charge
“Same here,” said Casey, sticking out her hand. Lex put her comparatively tiny hand in Casey’s, hoping she wasn’t a squeezer like Joan. Happily, Lex found Casey’s handshake gentle.
“Listen,” Casey said, as Lex began to move towards the subway escalator, “ when you make it onto the team, I think you’ll find out I’m a good listener. Maybe we can swap scary stories of the past, once you’ve settled in.” Lex frowned, realizing Casey probably meant they had some things in common from their pasts, and began to open her mouth to ask what she meant, but Casey continued, “Well, I only really have one bad story, but it is nice to know I’m not alone.”
Lex nodded, an odd feeling in her throat. She cleared it and said, “I agree. Thanks again, Casey. If I get on the team, I look forward to it.”
Casey laughed as Lex headed into the metro. “I tell you, you’re going to get the offer,” Lex heard from behind her, the sound following her down the escalator. She waved a hand behind her as a goodbye, hoping Casey could see.
Chapter 3: Preliminaries
As she opened the door, she could hear the television in the background. The condo was dimly lit, but through familiarity she didn’t need more light, and made her way down the long front hall then turned left to go into the living room. Kurt sat on the couch watching some show she wasn’t familiar with and turned as she came into the room. The back of the couch ruffled his short blonde hair as he moved and his blue eyes seemed tired.
Gently smiling in greeting, Lex couldn’t help but think back to when she’d first met Kurt Soames about two years before. She’d been in a week-long class to learn a new software tool for work and had been paired with Kurt to work on the same computer. He’d charmed her with his quick wit and dry sense of humor, and she’d done her best to help him learn to use the tool, because he’d been pretty hopeless with it. They’d had their first official date the Friday the class had ended, and had been together since then. Lex swallowed the sentimental lump in her throat at the memory and met Kurt’s eyes again.
“Hey, sweetie,” she said while leaning over to take off her shoes.
“What happened to you?” he asked in surprise, looking her shoes up and down and taking in the bandage on her hand.
She laughed wryly. “It’s a bit of a long story. Let me make something to eat and then I’ll tell you.”
Kurt glanced at the TV, which had gone to commercial. He used the remote to shut it off, saying, “I’ll come with you; this was kind of boring, anyway.”
Lex poked around in the kitchen for a while, finally settling on putting a frozen dinner into the microwave. They sat at the kitchen table as Lex explained as much as she could of the afternoon’s events, showing off her torn skirt as she got to that point in the story.
“Anyway,” Lex said as she neared the end of her description, “they told me that a courier would come by tomorrow with their answer, and that I should be prepared to respond to them by the end of the day if they had an offer for me.” She laughed softly and shook her head as the microwave cycle ended, and she moved to get her dinner. “It sounded a bit pretentious, I thought. I figure I’ll just get a rejection like I have from most of these other interviews.”
Kurt shrugged, looking thoughtful. “I don’t know about that. I’ve never heard of the outfit you interviewed with, but some of these small agencies have odd rules that they follow. They may well send a courier by, so don’t plan on going out tomorrow morning. We can shop for a new suit and shoes for you over the weekend, after we have lunch with my parents on Saturday.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Lex replied quietly as she felt the unrest in her stomach start. Part of the queasiness came from considering the balance currently on her credit card. She could charge
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