The next day was Friday. Mark John usually urged everyone in the office to start the weekend a few hours early on Fridays. Daisy suspected it was because he wanted to start his own weekend early and felt awkward leaving before everyone else. She walked home so she could enjoy the warm weather and so she could stop at her favorite market. They always sold whatever remained of the day’s fresh bread at half price on Friday afternoons. She had just picked out a loaf of asiago cheese bread and a couple chocolate croissants for the weekend when a familiar voice made her turn her head.
Grover and Tish had just come into the market. Instinct told Daisy not to let them know she was there. She moved around the end of the nearest aisle and stood facing away from them while they perused the bread on sale.
“I’ll pick out a loaf of bread and you get some sandwich fixings,” Tish suggested.
“All right,” Grover answered. “What do you want?”
“How about Brie, fig jam, and arugula?” she asked.
“Sounds good.” He strolled over to the fresh cheese case and Daisy figured that was a good time to pay for her bread and scram. She didn’t know what Grover and Tish were doing and, for a reason she couldn’t explain, she didn’t care to find out.
The young man at the counter put her bread in a paper bag and she grabbed it off the counter, intending to beat a hasty escape. Something in the back of her mind wondered why she was running away from one of her best friends, but she couldn’t concentrate on those feelings right now. She wanted to get home. In her haste, though, she dropped the bag on the floor and a croissant fell out.
“Oops, let me get you another one,” the man at the counter offered.
“Oh, no. It was totally my fault,” Daisy said, her words tumbling out in a rush. “I’ll just go.”
“But you paid for two croissants and I want you to have two croissants. It was my fault for not closing the top of the bag.”
While Daisy fumed at the counter the man went back to the breads and picked out another croissant for her. He wrapped it in waxed paper and held it out to her as he approached the counter, but he wasn’t fast enough. Grover and Tish were coming up to the counter right behind him.
“Daisy!” Grover exclaimed. “What are you doing in here?”
“Oh, just picking up some provisions for the weekend. How about you two?” she asked, indicating Tish with a wave of her hand.
“Getting some stuff to make sandwiches.”
“Got a party tonight?” Daisy asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Grover answered. Daisy wondered for a brief moment why he hadn’t called her to do something, but then she mentally pinched herself. Duh. Obviously he already has plans.
“Well, have fun,” Daisy said with a half-smile, accepting the replacement croissant from the man and tucking it inside the sack. “See you later.”
“See you,” Grover said.
“See you,” Tish echoed.
Daisy walked toward home, wishing she had taken the Metro. She didn’t want the bread anymore. Though she couldn’t explain why, she suddenly felt completely empty. Not this again, she told herself. Get a grip. You aren’t Grover’s only friend. He’s allowed to do stuff with other people, too. But the farther she walked, the more dejected she became. By the time she got to her apartment, she didn’t even want dinner. She sat down at the kitchen table and set up her laptop, doing the only thing that came to mind—work.
She spent the next several hours writing a bibliography for one of the articles that was due the following week. She checked and double-checked the sources, making sure the bibliography was perfect.
Her thoughts eventually turned to Mark John and Jude. How was it the two of them had managed to find love in the office? Part of her was fascinated and part of her was repulsed. She didn’t like to think of what they might be doing in Mark John’s office with the door closed. She pushed that thought out of her head with an effort.
It didn’t seem fair. Neither one of them was a particularly nice person—maybe they deserved each other. Maybe their relationship was God’s way of keeping them from dating other, nicer, people.
Who was she kidding? She was jealous- jealous that they had found each other, jealous of the time they spent together doing something other than work.
The phone rang, jarring Daisy out of her unpleasant thoughts. It was Helena.
“What are you up to tomorrow?” she asked.
“Nothing. Just work,” Daisy replied, her voice dull.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” Daisy said again. “Why? Do you have plans?”
“I thought we could rent a car and go visit a couple wineries in Virginia. Unless you have too much work to do.”
“Aren’t you going to be busy with Bennett?” As soon as she asked the question Daisy knew she sounded snarky and petty. But she couldn’t put the words back in her mouth.
“What’s the matter with you?” Helena asked again. “You sound miserable.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just been a rotten day. And I’m a little grumpy because I was up late last night.”
“Oh. Well, to answer your question, Bennett has to work this weekend. And I haven’t been to a winery since you and I went last summer and it’s one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday. You interested?”
“Yeah. That sounds fun.”
Daisy went to bed early that night, feeling a little more hopeful about her weekend.