The Marks That Bind Us

AVA

The next two weeks flew by. I put in my notice, and I especially enjoyed Mr. Porthouse’s reaction to it. It clearly caught him completely off guard.

My coworkers—or ex-coworkers, I should say now—were surprised but supportive.

Today would be my first day at Brentstone, and I was positively buzzing. I’d gotten up way too early, not having been able to sleep a wink after five a.m.

I’d planned to pick up a coffee at a local coffee shop drive-through, but then I remembered the extensive—and let’s not forget free—coffee station at work.

I’d worked as a barista after high school and had come to love making coffee.

I pulled into the Brentstone parking garage and used my keycard to access the upper levels, where I could enter the bank of elevators directly without having to go through the common entrance and reception area.

I rode the elevator up and made my way over to my office. Before entering, I peeked into Ella’s office, which was situated directly next to mine.

She wasn’t in yet, so after dropping my purse off at my desk, I made my way over to the coffee station. I was happy to find an actual espresso machine, equipped with a steam wand and everything.

I was just about to grind coffee beans when I saw Ella coming in. I waved her over.

“Do you drink coffee?”

“Yep!” She made a popping noise at the end of the word. I should have known. This girl was basically a walking caffeine overdose.

“Want one?” I held up the portafilter.

“Ooooh, you know how to make actual coffee?”

I wiggled my eyebrows at her, changed the portafilter to a double-spouted one, and set the grinder to pull a double shot.

Ella watched wide-eyed as I steamed the milk and poured her a latte with a little rosetta on top.

“What have I done to deserve you?” She hooked her arm through mine and pulled me toward our offices.

At eleven o’clock I was ready for another coffee and desperate to stretch my legs, so I opened the chat box to ask Ella if she wanted more coffee.

I giggled, realizing that was probably true. I walked over to the coffee station and got ready to make myself a drink, until I felt someone watching me.

I looked up and saw one of the guys who had come in to introduce themselves yesterday. I had completely forgotten his name.

I couldn’t really blame myself, as there had been well over twenty people coming in back-to-back.

“I saw you making Ella coffee and was hoping to get in on that.” The guy flashed me a sly grin.

I smiled at him, appreciating his honesty. “Happy to. Any preferences?”

“As long as it has caffeine in it, I’ll take anything,” the guy said, so I made him a latte. “Amazing,” he purred after the first sip.

I studied him for a second. He was tall and lean, his short blond hair was swiped back, and he had some very light stubble.

He was quite handsome, honestly, and I found myself kind of annoyed that I’d forgotten his name.

“I’m Tobias,” he said, as if having read my mind.

“I know.”

He laughed. “Either you’re lying or I made one hell of an impression.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little myself. “All right, I’ll admit, I’m glad you refreshed my memory. I hope the coffee makes up for my forgetfulness.”

“It does. Thanks, Ava.”

I picked up my cup and gave him a half wave as I started walking back to my office.

The rumor of my coffee-making abilities spread around the office quickly, and I found myself making an extra coffee for an eager drinking buddy nearly every time I made myself a cup.

It was a great way to get to know my colleagues, especially Tobias, who came by a little more often than the others. He even started joining Ella, August, and me for lunch most days.

One day, as we were having coffee together, Tobias asked how I had come to work there.

I told him the story of the Christmas ornaments, of Miles helping me, of Mr. Brentstone telling me to try out for a job there again.

“He offered you a job himself? For a position you weren’t even working in before? After hearing you had worked on only one project? Jeez, I wonder if your looks had something to do with that.”

I felt my cheeks flush, feeling both flattered and offended. “I mean, he was familiar with the book, and I suppose he liked the illustrations…”

“I have never heard of Mr. Brentstone offering anyone a job, ever. So he might just have been into you.”

“Definitely not. He didn’t say even one nice thing to me. And when I went to thank him for giving me a chance here, I’m pretty sure he had no idea who I was.”

Tobias grimaced. “All right, I believe you. What were you planning on doing with all those ornaments anyway?”

“They were for the Christmas party at Porthouse. I was in the party planning committee, and I was responsible for decorating the office.”

I finished my coffee and rinsed out the cup. “Do you guys celebrate the holidays at the office here too?”

“Not since I’ve worked here.”

I put my cup in the dishwasher and washed my hands. “Yeah, I figured. Mr. Brentstone doesn’t really come across as the Christmas party type. Too cold and stoic.

“Then again, my old boss wasn’t a ray of sunshine either, and he was all about the Christmas party. Might’ve had something to do with the booze though.”

I waved goodbye to Tobias, quickly popped into the ladies’ room to brush my teeth like I always did—nothing worse than coffee breath—and got back to work.

***

I had two back-to-back meetings in the think tank that afternoon, and then it was time to go home. As I was gathering my things, my computer chimed.

I looked over at Ella, but I found her reading something on her screen instead of sending me a meaningful look like she normally did when she messaged me.

I turned to my computer. It was a message on Brentstone Intranet. Announcement in five minutes, it said. I opened my chat with Ella.

I shut off my computer. I wouldn’t mind a piece of cake before driving home. Ella and I met in front of our offices and walked to the food court together, where we met August and Tobias.

Much to my surprise, Mr. Brentstone was standing in front of his office door, facing his gathering employees. As soon as everyone had found a place to sit, he began talking.

“It’s been brought to my attention that we haven’t celebrated the holidays as an office these last couple of years.”

I whipped my head around to face Tobias. “You said something?!” I mouthed.

He shook his head, looking just as confused as me.

“So let’s change that. We’re having a holiday celebration December twenty-fourth. Attendance is mandatory. Plus-ones are allowed.

“And if you happen to have any leftover holiday decorations at home, please feel free to bring them in. We wouldn’t want anyone thinking we’re cold and stoic over here, would we?”

I could have sworn I felt Mr. Brentstone’s eyes burning into me as he said those last words, but I was too busy avoiding his eyes to check.

“That will be all. Good work today, everyone. See you all tomorrow.” And he turned around and went back into his office.

Everyone started talking among themselves and walking toward the elevators, but I grabbed Tobias’s arm.

“You think he heard us?” I squeaked.

Tobias shrugged. “Maybe. Well, at least we get a party out of it, right?”