jeans and ankle boots and an off-one-shoulder top, her long hair worn loose. The ends were dyed blue. She gave me a friendly smile.
“I’m not really his assistant,” I said. “I’m the office supply person. I was just manning the desk for a few minutes.”
“Ah. So you don’t have to deal with his terrible attitude all the time.”
Actually, the rumor around the office was that ever since he’d started seeing this particular woman, Mr. Morgan was much nicer than he used to be. It was Eliza’s theory that Mr. Morgan’s girlfriend had a magical vagina, but I wasn’t about to repeat that to her face. That seemed a little forward. “Mr. Morgan isn’t that bad,” I said. “I think he’s just misunderstood.”
That made the woman laugh softly. “My name’s Soraya,” she said.
“Mina.” I grabbed my breakfast and we stepped out of the line so the people behind us could go ahead.
“Do you like working with office supplies, Mina?” Soraya asked.
“I hate it.” Then I realized what I’d implied. “That’s nothing to do with Mr. Morgan, of course. It’s a great company and I’m happy to have the job.”
“You don’t have to bullshit with me,” Soraya said easily. “I’m pretty blunt, myself. That’s why I work for an advice columnist.”
“An advice columnist?”
She nodded. “Ask Ida.”
I stared at her. Like just about everyone in New York, I’d read Ask Ida more than once, shaking my head at the silly questions and predictable answers. “You write the answers?”
“I try, but Ida never prints my answers. They’re too honest.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Do you actually try to give advice to Mr. Morgan?”
“Of course. I tell it like it is, right to his face. I think it’s one of the things he likes about me. It turns him on.” She stepped toward me and tugged the collar of my blouse. “Speaking of which, your hickey is showing.”
“What?” I stood in horror as she pulled at my collar, then fastened my top button, adjusting the fabric.
“There,” she said. “Now you can’t see anything. Though you look uptight with your buttons done up.”
“My boss will love that.” I could only imagine what Helen would say if I came to work with a visible hickey from my night of sex. She’d probably die of outrage. “Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome. Who is he?”
“The hottest guy on the planet.”
“That good, huh?” She smiled, though I thought the smile was a little sad. “You’re a lucky girl, but be careful. The really hot ones can burn you.”
What did that mean? Was Mr. Morgan mean to her somehow? I remembered the way he’d watched her walk down the hall, as if every fiber of his body ached to follow her. I couldn’t imagine him mistreating Soraya, and if he even tried, I couldn’t imagine her putting up with it.
“If Mr. Morgan breaks your heart, I’ll put pencil shavings in his coffee,” I said.
Her lips twisted in a smile. “Will you, now?”
“Sure. I have the power.”
She sighed. “He’s actually great for me, I think. Maybe even the best thing that’s ever happened to me. But life is complicated.”
“I hope you work it out.”
“And I hope you escape your office supply job, because you’re too interesting for it. What is it that you really want to do?”
The fact that she knew, without my telling her, that there was something I’d rather do in life made my girl crush expand. “Acting, singing, and dancing,” I said. “But getting roles isn’t so easy. And in the meantime, I need to pay my rent.”
She looked thoughtful. “Maybe getting on Broadway isn’t the only way to be a success,” she said. “Maybe there are other ways to do it.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Just keep your mind open and something will happen for you. I can tell.”
“Is that your advice or Ida’s?”
She smiled. “It’s mine. I think you should go for what you want, Mina. The career, the hot guy, the whole thing. Just tell him to give you hickeys where no one can see them, okay?”
The next ten days were a game of chess as Holden and I tried to find time together. He was on night shift, which meant that he could visit me after he had woken up and was on his way to work, but he couldn’t stay the night. Then he had a day off, but it was a Wednesday, when I was at work all day. Then he started the early shift again, which meant he was free in the evenings,