Chapter 31

Monday morning rolled around and I found myself ignoring all the work I had to do in favor of sitting at my desk and staring at my mobile like an idiot. I hadn't seen Alex yet that morning and was half-convinced that her ankle had taken a turn for the worse and she wasn't coming in at all. Putting aside the fact that she hadn't yet called to say that was the case, I had to wonder why I was so concerned about it. While she was an excellent assistant it certainly wasn't as if I couldn't get by on my own if I needed to - I had survived for several weeks between Keira's leaving and Alex's hiring. Things were finally beginning to settle a little and there wasn't too much on my plate, so an absence of a day or even two wouldn't be the end of the world. So why was I so worried?

Perhaps it was the strange and still uncharted territory of our friendship; I didn't want one of my friends to be injured and was concerned for her well-being. That didn't quite seem to tally with the crawling feeling in the pit of my stomach, though; Alex was a big girl, and her ankle was sprained at best.

My inability to pinpoint exactly what was bothering me was so distracting that I barely noticed the knock on the open door or the figure who cleared their throat. My heart gave a jump as I looked up, landing with a thud when I saw Keith there, eyebrows raised expectantly. "Oh, it's you."

"Nice to see you too, sweetheart."

"Sorry, no, I was just... expecting someone else." I shook my head. "What can I do for you?"

"Just wanted to talk about our schedule for this week," Keith said, inviting himself in, apparently, closing the door behind him and coming to sit down in front of me.

...great. "My calendar is on the shared drive, Keith, I really don't think we need to go over this."

"You don't want to talk?" Keith looked wounded now, and had that confused expression he always managed when he could legitimately claim to have no clue what he'd 'done'.

"No, it's not... that isn't what I said," I sighed. "I'm just trying to streamline things."

"Well, it was actually the weekend I wanted to talk about. Are you taking Jonas?"

"I can do, though I thought you said you and he were going to have a 'boy's day out' on Saturday."

"Well, we were going to, but Keira picked up tickets to [something I'll think of later]..."

"But you hate the opera," I replied, surprised.

"Mm, but Keira doesn't. Anyway, I'm sure he'd happily stay at a friend, but I thought I'd offer you the option. Unless you have weekend plans already?" Was he fishing?

I shook my head. "No, it's fine, I'd love to have him. I can pick him up from school on Friday, actually, if that works."

"You'll want to liase with him on that - anything works for me as long as I know in advance. He, er... says your new place is nice," Keith offered now, obviously still trying to be 'friendly'.

"He's got his own room and a flat-screen TV. I'm pretty sure he hasn't even registered anything else."

Keith chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't forget wireless internet. Anyway, are we still meeting this afternoon to divide up tutorials?"

"Three o'clock."

"We'll be there."

Something akin to irritation flared up. "I really don't think you need to bring your assistant to this, Keith."

"You won't be bringing Dr Webb?"

"Well, she's been covering the tutorials so it would be logical for her to come..."

"But I can't bring my assistant."

"I didn't forbid you, I just don't see why it's necessary for her to-"

"No, it's fine, Kathryn, I understand if you're not comfortable with that - I'm sure it'll be okay."

I had to control the urge to reach out and throttle him. "It's not about comfort, it's about... No, you know what? Nevermind."

His face still a picture of innocence, Keith nodded 'understandingly'. "Well," he said, pushing to his feet, "I should let you get back to work."

"Right. Thank you."

 

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