Amanda wished she’d kept her mouth shut. But no, she had to tell Joyce it was her birthday, didn’t she? If she hadn’t said anything she’d be on her way home by now. Instead she was standing uncomfortably around a store-bought cake with the entire staff. First there was Isabelle, who seemed all too proud of herself. Next to her were Chloe and Matt, the two other vet techs who worked at the clinic, and Jacqueline, their office manager. Doug stood by Amanda and appeared as embarrassed by the setting as she was.
Fortunately they didn’t sing “Happy Birthday.” They simply said the words out loud and even that brief announcement was out of synch and cacophonic. Amanda thanked them and then hurried to cut the cake and place each generous piece on a small paper plate which she handed to the members of the staff with a napkin and a plastic fork. The three vet techs and Jacqueline went to eat their cake at one end of the minuscule break room while Amanda and Doug stayed alone at the other end.
Doug meticulously removed the white frosting from the chocolate cake before he started eating. “Not a fan of frosting?” she asked with a smile as she took a bite of her own piece of cake. It was a little dry but not too bad for something bought from a grocery store at the last minute. Isabelle was right to be proud.
“Nah, it’s way too sweet.” She wasn’t surprised by his answer. She’d noticed he rarely ate sweets. She was certain it was not a question of weight though. He was about six feet tall and skinny as a thermometer. With round glasses and thinning brown hair, at first glance he looked like the epitome of the nerd. But he also had striking aquamarine blue eyes that seemed to make their female vet techs weak at the knees, judging by a conversation she’d caught between Isabelle and Chloe. Of course he was clueless about his charms and the effect he had on their employees.
“You should have told me your birthday was coming up, Amanda. I could have gotten you a gift. Or at least a card.” Doug seemed genuinely saddened by Amanda’s lack of disclosure. His distress perplexed her. She swallowed her bite of cake with a hint of guilt.
“I’m sorry. I don’t usually share this kind of information with people I work with. I didn’t mean to mention it at all actually. It just came out of my mouth.”
Doug had picked at his piece of cake with his fork while Amanda spoke and when she finished he set the plate and fork on the table and cleared his throat before he looked her straight in the eye. “My birthday is in October. October eleventh, to be exact.” He scratched at his neck nervously and blinked several times, clearly uncomfortable with their conversation, yet determined to continue.
“Okay. I’ll put it on my calendar,” she said hesitantly, unsure if it was the right thing to say. She didn’t understand what had gotten into him.
“Good. I think we should know these things about each other. We’re not only coworkers, after all. We’re partners. I don’t even know how old you are.”
“Right. I’m thirty-two.”
“Good. I’m forty-three.” Amanda nodded and a silence followed during which they stared at each other until he spoke again. “Susan and I would like to have you over for dinner soon.”
“Susan?” Amanda was certain Doug was going somewhere with this strange exchange, but she couldn’t figure out where yet. His transitions—or lack thereof—were unsettling to say the least.
“My wife. We’d like you to come to our house for dinner.”
“Oh. Sure, that would be lovely.” She watched as a timid smile took shape on his lips and guessed she’d given the right answer.
“Great. I’ll let you know when.”
“Okay.” Doug granted her a final nod of acknowledgment and left the break room. She shook her head. It might be easy and natural to work with someone who was as socially challenged as she was, but having a conversation with that same person was a completely different thing. She glanced at the staff at the other end of the break room. They were engrossed in their own, much less awkward conversation. She headed for the door, deciding that the timing was perfect to make her escape unnoticed.
Amanda pondered how strange and unexpected this birthday had been as she walked the three miles from the clinic to her condo on Franklin Street. She made the trek almost every day, with the exception of days when she was running late or the weather was bad. Walking got her head ready for work in the morning and cleared it of work-related issues at night. Fresh air was magical like that.
Why was Doug suddenly interested in getting to know her on a more personal level? Was his wife responsible for his efforts? Or was he not quite as socially inept as she was after all? Perhaps partners in a business should know things like their respective birthdays or the name of their partner’s wife. Perhaps that kind of stuff was more important to him than she’d thought. It scared her to some extent, but at the same time she figured that if she absolutely had to make friends with someone, he was not a bad choice.
As she left the street to cut through Broadway Park she replaced thoughts of Doug with ones about Joyce Allen, free now to let the sophisticated beauty occupy her mind without any restraint.
She gave a wry grin. In her musings, it was so easy, so natural. They spoke of numerology and cared for Dingo as if they’d known each other all their lives. Getting to that point in real life was another story. She had no idea how to approach any woman, let alone a woman as sophisticated as Joyce. Her heart raced with anxiety at the mere thought of talking to her outside of an exam room.
She took a deep breath as she entered a red brick building and climbed up the stairs to the second floor to her two-bedroom condo. She needed to focus on something else. Entering the small modern foyer, she contemplated the boxes filling half of the living room. She decided now was as good a time as any to finish unpacking, to really settle in. She still had a million questions about her future, but one thing had become clear today. She was in Bangor to stay.