Haze - By Andrea Wolfe Page 0,47

an eternity, me trying to decide the right words, Sam trying not to explode like a bomb. I guess his miserable experience just came with the territory.

"I'm sure it's just indecision. Let it go, Sam."

He retorted with lightning speed. "Not Jack! He didn't get where he is because he couldn't make decisions. Goddammit, Effie, haven't you learned anything at this job?"

"Sam, that's cruel. And I'm sorry about your wife."

"It's the truth," he insisted. His face looked more weathered and tired than ever. "I'm better off without her," his words sounded as if he were reading them from a script. This was hugely sensitive turf for him, turf that was making him behave unpredictably.

I decided that I needed to bring this down a few notches before it turned into something even more serious than it already was. "Sam, you need to relax. Why the hell are you yelling at me about this?"

His volume suddenly dropped to almost a whisper and his eyes squinted. "I think you're hiding something from me. I really do. Something doesn't add up here."

"What the hell are you talking about? That's ridiculous," I said. "What the hell would I be hiding? Drop the conspiracy theory bullshit." In that moment, I almost felt like admitting it to him, breaking down my walls and entering the realm of full disclosure. I didn't, however. I wanted to talk to Jack about this first.

"I don't know what's going on here around my back, Jacobs, but I'll figure it out sooner or later." He turned around and angrily stomped back to his office. If we had been in the desert, there would have been a trail of dust following behind his shadow.

"Are we like a high school sports team now, Beckermann?" I shouted back, invoking his last name like he'd used mine. He didn't say anything back, most likely because he didn't hear me. That was probably a good thing. I didn't need to deal with this all day.

"He's been mad all morning," one of the interns said to me as she passed by. "And paranoid. Don't sweat it. Or take it personally."

I shook my head and frowned. Even though Sam was right, he didn't have any proof. And even then, what difference did it make? I wasn't that familiar with the legalese surrounding my position, but I figured it was fine just as long as I didn't influence the decision. If he had been throwing a fit all morning, that probably meant he was just lumping me in with everything else that was peeving him.

My vision suddenly caught the wilted roses that were still sitting on my desk from the previous week. They felt like a scarlet letter, especially given Sam's impromptu inquisition, and I felt incredibly stupid that I hadn’t dealt with them sooner. I wasn't sure how I had managed to ignore them the whole day until now.

On my way out of the office, I angrily tossed them in the hallway trashcan. There was something cathartic about leaving them where Sam would see them for sure, and it was something I really needed in that moment. Hopefully he'd feel bad about yelling at me and pushing me to throw away the "anonymous" gift.

I decided that I wouldn't say anything to Jack about throwing his gift in the trash.

After work, I stopped at my preferred—which also happened to be the closest—indie coffee shop and grabbed an Americano. My coffee habit seemed to rise and fall in tandem with my stress levels and that meant I was probably spending more money than I should have been. In moments like these, however, I felt like an addict that could never say no.

Jack hadn't made any definitive plans with me yet, so I called him a few blocks before getting to my apartment.

"Hey, Effie," he said, his voice rushed and fleeting.

"Jack, where are you? Are we eating somewhere tonight?"

"I'm so sorry. I'm stuck in the studio tonight and I'm not going to be able to sneak away since I'm on someone else's dime."

"Oh." I felt a little down. "Can I stop by or something?"

There was a bunch of commotion in the background, commotion that included a woman's voice. I assumed it was Lexy and fought not to feel irrationally jealous. Stupid Sam, making me worry unnecessarily...

"Effie, I'm so sorry. I should have told you about this, but it came up at the last second. I just can't have any interruptions tonight. It's not going as planned, and I need to pick up the