I was escorted to a bright room with ten circular tables spaced throughout the area. Most of them were already full with what I guessed were the other teams. I glanced around, seeing if anyone wore their "I'm the bad guy" shirt, and didn't spot one, so the evil mastermind must have been doing laundry that day.
The group headed over to a wall, where there was a hole with a little clear door that looked to slide up and down. Next to the door was a keypad that I couldn't get a good look at. Josh trotted up to it and hit a couple of buttons, then pulled the door up and took out a tray of food. The rest of the group made their way through the line doing the same thing.
When it was my turn, I got a chance to read the buttons. They were grouped into three sets. The first five buttons listed main dishes, there were fifteen options for sides and about ten options for beverages. I pushed the buttons for a chicken sandwich, onion rings and water. A second later I heard a faint noise, so I lifted the door and found my tray waiting for me.
I was torn between wanting one of the food dispensers in my own home for convenience sake and the fact that I loved to cook. There were nights where just hitting a few buttons was all I wanted to do, so it was a dilemma I'd take a little time to ponder.
I made my way over to where the rest of the group was sitting. There were three open places in a row, and I assumed it'd be rude to sit in the middle seat, so the choice was down to sitting by Eric or Louie. It seemed it really wasn't a choice at all. I settled in next to Eric and started munching on an onion ring.
"This has to be the most unique lunchroom I've ever been in," I said to the group.
The previous place I'd worked had a vending machine. Of course, it was pretty much a dungeon, but after seeing a single alternative, I felt gypped. Even just a table to eat at instead of at our desk would've been an improvement.
"Yeah, the food dispenser was one of our early works. We're making plans to have it so it isn't push button. You'd just tell it what you want and it would make it for you. We have a working prototype already, but we're finishing some last-minute testing before we install it permanently," Jake said in between bites of food.
"So tell us more about yourself," Kim said. I could tell by her look she was expecting some grand tale. She was going to be greatly disappointed.
I'd already given my little speech for the day; I didn't really want to have to do it again. There was a part of me that wanted to relay a life story that I'd seen in a movie or something, but Nate had gone blue in the face telling me I should stick as close to the truth as possible. He was lucky I agreed.
"Well, I mentioned pretty much anything anyone could ever want to know about me when Louie cornered me earlier, and obviously if it only takes three seconds to tell, it isn't that interesting. I recently graduated from Stanford and have always been into computers, so when this opportunity came up, I enthusiastically accepted. I was born with the geeky gene, so I don't have anything real exciting to tell."
"What about your boyfriend?" Kim asked. "I've heard rumors he's a stud muffin."
"Really, your boyfriend is hot? I might have a little more challenge than I thought," Louie piped in, which may have caused me to vomit just a bit in my mouth. Sadly, said vomit didn't taste as good as the chicken sandwich I was almost finished eating.
"I'd say most people would consider Sean hot, but I like him more for his personality and his compatibility with me."
That had to be one of the biggest lies I'd ever told. We were so incompatible that we shouldn't be in the same room together. Wanting to make sure Louie was still getting the point that he and I had no chance together, I added, "Like I mentioned to Louie earlier, I'm pretty sure we'll be getting married soon. I haven't found a ring box yet, but it's the next logical step in our relationship."
?"Well, sweetheart, that must mean I'm better at hiding things than I thought," the devil himself said from behind me. He sat in the open chair next to me and gave my cheek a quick kiss. Beside him, Anne settled into the last open chair at the table.
"You must carry it on you at all times then, because I've looked everywhere, both in California and here in the new house," I said, just trying to carry on the conversation, like he didn't have the worse timing in the world. Giving him even crazier ideas than the ones already rumbling around in his brain was dangerous.
"Maybe I do. You never know when the right moment could happen. Like right now. Would you be upset if I got down on one knee and proposed?"
I wanted to scream, "do it and you'll be left with one less testicle", but I decided that was the fastest way to blow our cover. Knowing Nate, he would've been able to clean up any mess I made, and that just irritated me more.
"Of course not, we've been living together for three months now. Sooner or later we're going to have to make it legal." Technically, sooner or later I was going to end up killing him and, if the situation was going where I thought it is, that time was even closer to the present.
"Fine," he said, standing up before he turned my chair and dropped to one knee. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. Holding my hand and placing the ring on my finger he said, "Peggy Richards, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
I couldn't believe it. The jerk actually did it. I glanced around and saw the rest of the lunchroom was stuck waiting to hear my response. My thoughts were more focused on finding out whether someone in the building was working on time travel and needed a guinea pig to send back in time.
After all the lead up, there really wasn't anything else I could say. "Of course." I considered shrugging my shoulders to convey it wasn't that big of a deal, but I was too busy boring holes in Nate's pretty face.
He made it up to his feet and gave me a big hug, then, because he was a great actor, he kissed me square on the lips. I felt his tongue tracing my lips asking for entrance. Oh, I'd give him a French kiss he'd never forget. I allowed his tongue in and quickly bit down on it. Not wanting anyone to notice, I let go without doing any permanent damage and he stopped kissing my lips.
Still hugging me close, he kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear, "You're going to have to kiss that better later."
I leaned in and hissed back, "Fat chance."
The rest of the room had broken out in applause, causing me to blush. We sat back down and Kim immediately asked to see the ring. Not having had a good look at it myself, I held my hand out for her and got my first glance. It was a vintage-looking ring with a large amber colored oval stone as the centerpiece. The amber was beautiful in different shades of yellow and red. The ring part looked to be brass and was filigreed with little delicate twists.
"That's so unique and beautiful," Kim said. "Is it a family heirloom?"
She looked over to Nate, so there was no confusing who she directed her question, which was good because I didn't have a clue. I assumed that since it wasn't an everyday diamond and gold ring, there was something special about it, but he could've fished it out of a cereal box.
"Yes, you could say it has been in my family for many generations," Nate replied.
"Darn. You predicted it, but I was still hoping you were wrong."
I was beginning to worry about Louie's brain cells. There had to be something wrong with him, or he really didn't pick up social cues at all.
"Why's that?" Nate asked, and I could tell he wasn't going to like the answer I decided to provide him..
"Oh, Louie thought me and him had something special. I tried to tell him you were the only one for me, but I think he wished you were really a dufus. After meeting you, I'm sure he can tell now that we're hopelessly in love and you're the right man for me."
I figured it was better coming from me than Louie opening his mouth. Nate tended to be a little protective of me and had even been known to get growly a time or two when I'd been hit on. I thought about mentioning Louie liked undressing me with his eyes, but decided I didn't want to watch Nate kill Louie. Maim him a little, yes, but killing would be a step too far.
"You must not have mention
ed how inseparable we've been from the moment we met," he said, looking at me with a little of his patented fire burning in his eyes. He turned to the rest of the table and said, "We moved in together within the first few days of us meeting. If it had been up to me, I would've moved in the first night."
"Oh really, how did you guys meet?"
Kim needed to stop being so inquisitive. I understood that meeting new people meant answering questions; it didn't mean I had to like it. She knew about Nate before meeting him, so I presumed Katie was flapping her gums. Maybe they had a competition on who could get the most gossip.
Since it was Nate's rodeo, I let him take the floor, which in the situation was probably a bad idea. He'd already gotten around to proposing, so I didn't think things could get much worse.
"We were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend. We both loathed blind dates, but my little butterfly here loves hockey and couldn't pass up a ticket her friend had for a Sharks game. If she hasn't mentioned it, hockey is in her blood."
Okay, so he was going for the truth, only changing the team to coincide with the fact we were supposed to be from California. As long as I didn't start yelling about my real favorite team, things would be great. That meant no hockey watching parties at our house; I tended to put the fan in fanatic.
"We met at the game and both of us had a great time. We exchanged numbers and met up the very next day by accident. She'll claim I was already stalking her, but I contend I was doing nothing of the sort. From that time on, we haven't been away from each other for more than a few hours at a time."
"You called her your little butterfly; does that have to do with her tattoo?" Eric asked. I almost chocked on a bite of my chicken sandwich as I tried not to laugh.
Nate gave me a questioning look. "I'm surprised she mentioned her tattoo to anyone. Other than the artist who did it, I don't think anyone else knows about it."
Technically, there were some doctors and nurses who took care of me when I was shot, but that didn't need to be mentioned. Nate most likely preferred to think he was among the very few who'd seen my ink.
"She saw my neck and said she was thinking about getting another one. I asked what she had and she showed it to me. The knife makes it look pretty wicked." Eric hadn't bothered taking his attention away from his food as he talked.
"Really? You guys must have made her feel really welcome. Usually it takes my Peggy a little while to warm up to new people. You aren't pumping that calming gas in your area are you?" Nate asked.
He should've been happy I was doing such a good job of blending in, but I could tell he wasn't thrilled about me making new friends. When we got a little alone time, I was sure I'd hear a lecture about how I needed to keep my clothes on.
"No, we keep the air clear in our area. Although, the gas might be a good idea to use on our missing team member. Maybe it'd make her capable of working with other people," Josh answered.
"I'm happy to hear my fianc? is getting along so well with her new coworkers," Nate said, squeezing my hand under the table. If anyone knew Nate, they'd know he wasn't using his happy voice.
I'd finished eating my food, so I'd settled my hands out of sight. Nervous situations caused me to sometimes do odd things with my hands, which made hiding them essential.
"They seem like a fun group, honey. It's hard not to be friendly." He was going to love the lecture I was putting together about me just doing my job and he needed to put his big boy pants on if that upset him.
"That's great news. You were so worried about fitting in. I think this move is going to be healthy for you."
"For the both of us," I said, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Having to be affectionate with the jerk was not as easy as I portrayed it, and I hoped I wouldn't have to pretend for more than a day or two. When he started annoying me, I usually just ignored him.
"We better head back to work," Hank said.
When I looked up at the clock in the room, I was surprised an hour had flown by. It was like I was losing chunks of time as I became engrossed in what was going on around me.
"Sorry, I didn't get a chance to chat with you Anne," I said, waving at her. "I hope Sean hasn't been too difficult to work with. I know how hardheaded he can be."
"So far, so good. I'll let you know if he steps out of line. Congratulations on the engagement, by the way. I think it's the first proposal I've witnessed."
I said thanks and after a small peck on my cheek from Nate, I got up and took my tray to where the others deposited theirs and followed them back to our office. The entire way back, Kim continued talking about ideas for my upcoming wedding. She was way more excited about it than I would've been if I planned on going through with it.
When we returned to our office, there was a woman waiting for us. "Oh goodie, Ettie has come out to play," Josh whispered beside me, rubbing his hands together.
It looked like my first day wasn't going to end without me meeting the wicked witch. From what I'd heard about her, that was too bad, because things were going so well.
CHAPTER 8
A true friend stabs you in the back