I had been dying for weeks for Jill to come visit the Pictogram office. She was finally here!
Walking to the front desk, I saw Jill talking with Amanda. “I’m so happy you could make it!” I cried.
Jill embraced me with a hug. “Thanks for having me! This place is amazing.”
Amanda handed Jill a guest I.D. “Here you go! Welcome to Pictogram.”
Jill clipped it onto her shirt. “Thanks! I’m proud to be an official visitor.”
“How is the online programming class going?” I asked Amanda.
Her face went into a grimace. “Okay, but do you think you have time to help me with my assignment? I’m really stuck.”
I gave Amanda a reassuring smile. “Of course! How about this afternoon?”
Amanda beamed in appreciation. “That’s perfect. Thank you!”
“No problem.” Turning to Jill, I asked, “You ready for the grand tour?”
“Absolutely. This campus is amazing,” she said in astonishment as we walked. “The little town square. The retro style movie theater. The European style café. Picto-Town is so cute!”“
“Isn’t it? Theo modeled it after a town in the Czech Republic,” I gushed. I didn’t want to be that girlfriend who boasted about her man, but Theo was definitely a remarkable boyfriend to humblebrag about.
When we walked by Theo’s painting, the one used in the Marc Janow ad, Jill stopped and commented, “Hey! This is from your ad.”
I nodded looking at the magnificent piece of art. “Theo painted it. Can you believe it?”
Jill gave me a surprised look. “He did?”
“Yup.” My cheeks were hurting from smiling so much just talking about Theo.
“That’s pretty impressive,” she said, gazing at the large canvas.
I couldn’t help being proud of him. Everyone in the world should know how incredible he was. “He’s a man of many talents.”
Jill giggled with a sneaky smile on her face. “I bet.”
Rolling my eyes and laughing, I said, “Get your mind out of the gutter! Come on. I’ll show you my desk.”
At my desk, Jill looked around at the other engineers sitting at theirs. “Wow. I guess I just assumed there would be cubicles or something.”
Looking around, I agreed, “Totes! I did too!”
“This is nice.” She waved her arms in a loose zigzag motion. “It’s a cool community vibe.” Looking around, she asked, “Where is Theo’s desk?”
I pointed up to the glass windows. “Up there. He has his own office.”
“Oh yeah, of course. The CEO and all. That’s pretty cool though with the wrap around windows,” she remarked.
“Yep. He’s the eye in the sky. I mean, that’s what they call him,” I explained, starting to feel bashful for talking about my boyfriend so much.
“You and Theo seem to be spending a lot of time together now,” Jill said, picking up my hedgehog figurine on my desk. It was a cute little gift from Theo after I told him how much I loved the adorable creature.
I flushed. “We have.”
She fiddled with the hedgehog. “I feel like I haven’t really seen you, you know, outside of class.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. I’d been neglecting my best friend.
She put the hedgehog back down on my desk. “No, I get it. If I had a boyfriend, I would do the same thing.”
Not knowing what to say, I focused on tidying up my already neat desk. I had been spending more and more time at Theo’s.
She looked conflicted when she said, “I have something to tell you.”
When she hesitated, I said, “What? Is everything okay?” Worry crept into my chest.
Theo walked by just then. “Hey! Is this Jill?”
“Hi, Theo. Yep. This is Jill, my BFF!” I said.
Theo stuck his hand out. “Nice to meet you! I’ve heard so much about you.”
Jill took his hand. “Great to meet you too.”
Theo looked at his watch anxiously. “I’ve got to run to a meeting, but maybe we can all go to lunch?”
Jill nodded agreeably. “Sounds good!”
“Awesome.” My face reddened as he kissed me on my cheek in front of Jill. “See you ladies later.”
When he was gone, I was dying to hear Jill’s news. I couldn’t wait one more second. “What is it you have to tell me?”
Her cheeks flushed crimson as she looked down again. “I’ve been seeing someone.”
“Omigod! Who? That’s fantastic!” My excitement boiled over any worry I had. My BFF had a boyfriend!
She cringed. “Roger.”
Clasping a hand to my open mouth, I cried, “Roger!”
She smiled bashfully. “We were together one night late at the lab, and can you believe it, he asked me for help. From there, we just started hanging out.”
I squealed. “That’s great!” I paused suddenly remember Roger’s cockiness. “He’s nice to you, right?”
She laughed. “He is! He’s pretty sweet if you get to know him.” She pointed at her shirt. “Look what he got me.” Her magenta colored shirt said, Turn it off. Then, turn it on again.
I laughed at the reference to the BBC show we both loved. “I was going to ask you about that shirt. I thought it was new!”
She nodded. “We’ve been binge watching The I.T. Crowd. So, yeah. I understand that you’ve been gone so much because you know, I get it,” she offered.
I was so happy for Jill. “I think it’s absolutely fab. I just hope Roger is treating you right.”
She took my hand. “He is. My worry is if Theo’s treating you right.” She giggled. “He is so much hotter in person!”
I grinned, remembering the first time I saw him. “That’s what I thought, too!” Looking at my friend, I said sincerely, “He is honestly a great guy.”
Mia’s face was etched with worried. “I want to believe you, but all the news stories about him…”
I shook my head thinking about how the media talked about him. “That was the old Theo. Theo isn’t like that anymore.”
Jill bit her lip. “Are you sure? Some of the stuff that I read. And the photos! I mean…” Her eyes popped open wide. “The photos!”
“He really isn’t like that anymore,” I insisted wanting my friend to not worry about Theo and me.
Jill put a hand on my shoulder. “Okay. I hope so. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that you care.”
“Just be careful,” Jill warned me again.
“Okay. I will. But don’t worry. Theo would never do anything to hurt me,” I answered, trying to reassure my friend that Theo was no threat to my happiness.
But maybe I was also trying to convince myself.
There was no reason for me to think that Theo was cheating on me or that there was another woman in the picture. We spent so much time together, but still, Jill’s concern planted a seed of doubt in my mind.
What if Theo couldn’t change? What if he went back to his old ways? What if he got tired of me and traded me in for another woman like he’d done with all the women before me?
Could I truly believe that he was a changed man and only cared for me?
Jill hugged me. “You look so upset now. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
I faked a smile. “No, I understand that you’re just looking out for me.” Jill was a tender hearted person. Her concerns were coming from a good place.
She said kindly, “If Theo hasn’t done anything to make you doubt his feelings for you, then forget everything I said. I just want you to be happy.”
Hugging my friend back, I said, “Thank you.”
Pushing all the doubt out of my mind, I assured myself that Theo only had eyes for me. Fiddling with the diamond and ruby necklace Theo had given a couple weeks before, I smiled at my best friend, hoping Theo was as true to me as I believed him to be. Jill always had my back and she was just being cautious. Truly, there was nothing to worry about.