Jude was at work when Daisy got there. Daisy gave her a quick wave as she walked to her office and Jude groaned in reply. Oh, no, thought Daisy. Don’t tell me she’s sicker than yesterday. I can’t be in the office with her.
Daisy shut her door behind her and sat at the desk, intending only to stay in the office for a short time. She would spend the rest of the day working somewhere else—coffee shop, home, a library, it didn’t matter as long as she wasn’t near Jude. There was a knock on her door and it opened before she could say anything. She knew without looking up from her screen that Jude was standing in the doorway.
“Yes?” Daisy asked, a hint of impatience creeping into her voice.
“Mark John isn’t in,” Jude said, sounding dull and tired. “He’s sick.”
“Okay, thanks for letting me know,” Daisy replied. Then she looked up at Jude. The senior editor was slumped against the door frame, looking like something the cat dragged in. “Jude, why are you here?” Daisy asked crossly. “You’re going to get everyone sick.”
Jude pouted. “I didn’t want to stay home alone. I figured I’m going to be miserable no matter where I am, so I might as well try to get some work done.”
“Pardon me for saying so, but that’s pretty selfish,” Daisy said. Her words and her tone surprised even her. Jude looked at Daisy through narrowed, puffy eyes and her shoulders slumped down further.
“I’m sorry. I just thought if I kept the door shut I wouldn’t get anyone else sick.”
“And that would be fine, but you’re in my office right now. You know what? Never mind. I’m heading out. When you talk to Mark John, tell him I’m working remotely today.”
Jude turned away slowly and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Daisy was suddenly ashamed of herself for speaking to Jude the way she did. Part of her wanted to apologize and the other part just wanted to disappear for the day until her mood improved. She hoisted her tote bag over her shoulder and walked past Jude’s open office door without a glance.
She spent the day in a coffee shop near her office, where she was surprisingly able to concentrate on her work even with the din of customers talking and cash registers dinging and coffee machines whirring in the background. It always amazed her when she was able to get work done in a noisy place—it wasn’t too long ago that she had required total quiet to work or study. That had all changed when she met Dean. He had been an ornithologist. When he worked from home he was always on conference calls or listening to bird sounds or tapping away on his computer, and Daisy, who had been a graduate student at the time, had learned quickly to adapt to whatever noise was in the background as she worked. It had been a valuable skill to acquire.
Daisy was taking a break from working and ordering an iced coffee when her phone rang. It was Grover.
“Whatcha doin’?” he asked.
“Working. What are you doing?”
“I’m on my way into the office. I’m going to be scheduling the staff for the party on Thursday. Can you still help me out?”
“Sure. What time?”
They agreed that Daisy would meet the rest of Grover’s staff at the site of the party late Thursday afternoon to help set up. As they hung up Grover said with a laugh, “I’m going to have to start paying you more than minimum wage if you keep helping.”
“I think it’s fun,” Daisy said. “I love to help out, so don’t worry about that.” She smiled to herself as she hung up the phone. That call hadn’t been weird at all--maybe he wasn’t upset with her anymore.
Helena called late in the afternoon and asked Daisy to go to dinner. Helena had to be in Dupont Circle for a meeting until early evening, so she would be in the neighborhood when Daisy finished work. Daisy agreed and then got back to her writing, her mood improved now that she had something to look forward to. She hated to admit to herself that having plans with other people gave her a boost and that she had been feeling sorry for herself. She was self-sufficient, so why should it be so important to her that she spent her downtime with other people?