did.”
“And she isn’t angry at him?”
I’m on some thin ice now. “She wants to work things out,” I say. That isn’t a lie.
Bryn appears to take this in. “Well, they should work things out, right? There’s a baby involved now. What about the wedding?”
“Wedding plans are postponed for the time being.”
She digests this information, too. “Do you think I should call Katie? To congratulate her?”
My jaw nearly drops. “Are you kidding?”
“I guess not,” she answers quickly seeming to realize how inappropriate that would be. “Well, I’m glad Mike got his priorities straight, with Katie, I mean. That’s unbelievable.”
I watch the emotions passing across her face. They include a certain amount of sadness, and I can’t help the sympathy I feel. “Mike really is totally self-centered. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way by him.”
She seems surprised and grateful for a moment, before she waves a hand in the air dismissively. “Nothing was ever going to happen with me and him. I knew that.” She says those words, but deep down, I don’t know if she believes them.
“Andrea?”
I turn in my chair and tilt my head up to find Karthik standing over me. At the welcome site of him, I can feel my smile grow. “Hi there.”
He comes around to our table. His black cloth laptop bag hangs down at an angle across his chest. “Working hard,” he jokes. He appears more relaxed than I’ve seen him in months.
“Always,” I laugh. “This is Bryn,” I say motioning toward her. “Bryn, this is Karthik. We worked together at BTS.” They greet each other pleasantly.
“So, I hear you’re at Cronus,” I say
“That’s right. Our offices are just up the street.” He points to a spot behind him.
“And how are things at BTS? Have you been assimilated into the Napa corporate culture yet?”
“I wouldn’t say that. They haven’t exactly taken over yet. But Rob made me project lead for wireless.”
“Hey,” he smiles, appearing genuinely pleased for me. Then he furrows his brow. “What does project lead mean?”
I chuckle. “I think Rob made it up. This way, he gets to dump some of his work on me, and I actually have to thank him for it.”
Karthik nods knowingly, understanding Rob’s modus operandi. “Any word of layoffs?” he asks.
“No, not that I’ve heard.”
He seems somewhat surprised, and I wonder if I should probe this topic further. Does he know something I don’t?
“Andrea, have you got a personal email account?” he asks, changing the subject while reaching into his bag.
“Yes.”
“Would you mind if I emailed you there?”
“No. Not at all,” I reply, puzzled.
When he places a pen and notebook in front of me, I write down my personal email address, wondering why he wants to contact me. If he knows something about layoffs, why doesn’t he just tell me?
“Thanks,” he says, taking back the notebook. “I’d better get back. It was good to see you. I’ll be in touch. Okay?”
I tell him okay and wave as he walks away.
“What was that about? Do you think he likes you?” Bryn asks.
I sputter, nearly coughing up the sip of frappuccino I’ve barely swallowed. “No, he’s married. With a couple of kids, too, I think.”
“Then why did he want your email address?”
“He specifically wanted my personal email address. So, whatever he plans to contact me about, he doesn’t want to do it over work email.” I glance at my watch and finish off my drink. Now I’ll be worrying about what Karthik wants to tell me until I receive that email from him.
“Do you have to get back?” Bryn asks.
“I’d better.” Not appearing to slack off seems more important now than it did a few minutes ago.
“Are we okay?” Bryn is eyeing me expectantly.
I can’t be mad at her. “I hope so. What do you think?”
She smiles and nods “Do you want to do something on Saturday night?”
Katie has basically said that my continuing to be friends with Bryn is not necessarily okay with her. But I prefer not to let Mike cause the end of our friendship. For now though, with everything so raw, I don’t want to do anything to antagonize Katie. “I can’t this weekend. I’ve got a family thing,” I hedge. Which is worse I wonder, betraying Katie or lying to Bryn?
“Oh,” Bryn replies, looking dejected.
“Maybe the weekend after?” I suggest.
“Sure.” Her expression brightens.
This could get complicated.
It would never occur to me that work assignments are optional. When I’m given tasks, I do them. I don’t think I could actually say no. That’s why when