“Congratulations. It’s this way.”
She stood and led him down the hall. The door she opened had apparently been a storage closet at one point. Sheila’s mouth lifted in a smile as she handed him the key. “All yours.”
“Is there furniture? A desk? Something?”
“The IT department is scheduled to be here first thing in the morning. Is there something particular you’d like in a desk? I can order one. Or you can look around online and send me a link to what you want.”
He hated shopping. Although it wasn’t her job to shop for him, Sheila had offered. “As long as it’s a flat surface and has drawers, it’ll work. And if the chair is halfway decent with wheels, I’ll be happy.” It wouldn’t take much to beat the furniture he’d used downstairs.
“Okay. I’ll get that ordered. It’ll take a few days to get it. In the meantime, you can use the conference room.” She pointed across the hall. “And two doors down, there’s a break room with a fridge.”
He took a deep breath. “Thank you. I appreciate the help.”
“No problem.”
For five full minutes, he stood staring into the empty closet. No windows and plenty of dust, but it was his. He’d done it. He’d begun to make his mark on the city. This was only the first step. He had no clue what the next step might be, but he was moving forward and that was all that mattered.
With his bottle of champagne tucked under his arm, he returned to his old desk to figure out who could handle the work he’d left sitting. While he was acquainted with his coworkers, he considered none of them friends. They had a pretty high turnover rate, so it hadn’t been worth his time getting too chummy with most.
Trevor sat at the desk nearest him, so he started there. “Hey, I’ve got a new position, so I’m moving upstairs. Mayor Park told me to pass on my current workload.”
Trevor shot back in his chair. “What? That’s bullshit. We all have our own work to do.”
That was another reason not to make friends here. No congratulations, no “way to go.”
Megan stood from her side of the cubicle wall. “Did I hear that right, Kevin? You got the promotion?”
He nodded and she eyed the bottle under his arm.
“Are you sharing?”
“Not with you guys. This is for my girlfriend.”
She pouted. “Since when is there a girlfriend? Sheesh. You go running around with the mayor and everything changes.” She walked around to his desk. “Can I have your chair? Mine has a squeaky wheel.”
“Take whatever you want as long as you take some work with it.”
“Deal.” She tossed a file folder on the chair without even looking at the contents and wheeled it all back to the other side. Still standing, she asked, “So how’d you do it?”
“What?” he asked while looking around at who else he could drop work onto.
“Get the promotion. I kind of thought we were all anonymous down here.”
“Choose not to be anonymous. Talk to everyone. Know their names and what they do. Look for opportunities.”
For the next few hours he looked for opportunities to leave. He’d tried to get out of work early like Park had suggested. But as he packed up the few things that he kept at his desk, he talked to his coworkers and dumped current projects on them. No matter what he did, someone else had a question or needed something.
The only thing he had going for him was that he was sure Kathy was still at work. They’d taken a long lunch and he knew she’d stay until closing. He glanced at the clock. It was just about time for her to turn the lock, so he texted her.
Have excellent news and want to celebrate. Can I pick you up in fifteen?
Her response came quickly. Celebrate what?
Tell you when I get there.
I need to change. I’m not dressed to go out.
We can order pizza and eat in. Unless you want to go out. Your call.
Pizza!
Her text was followed by a series of emojis that he didn’t even try to decipher. As he walked to his car, he thought about calling his family, but they would want to celebrate with him too. Tonight he wanted Kathy all to himself. He’d wait until the weekend to tell them.
* * *
Kathy raced back to her apartment. Kevin must’ve gotten the promotion he’d been working so hard for. It was the only thing that came to mind when he mentioned celebrating. She was so happy for him. That he wanted to celebrate with her made it extra special. This was the kind of thing that the old Kevin would’ve wanted to go to a bar to celebrate with every person he knew.
That he chose a quiet night alone with her said a lot.
At home, she cleared her coffee table in the living room so they could be comfortable while they ate and then she checked her fridge. Kevin was a beer drinker, but she didn’t normally keep much on hand. She checked the clock. There wouldn’t be time to run to the store to grab some for him. Maybe she could run out while they waited for the pizza after he got here.
Then she looked at herself. She wore the same clothes she had on earlier and she’d worked all afternoon in them. Although the shop was air-conditioned, she’d done a lot of running around, including handling a couple of deliveries because they’d been behind. She really wanted to wash up. As soon as she thought about how quickly she could shower, her doorbell rang.
She opened the door to Kevin standing in the hallway holding a bottle of champagne.
“Wow. You weren’t kidding about celebrating.” She swung the door wide for him to enter.
He stopped just over the threshold and leaned in to kiss her. “This is a gift from the mayor to welcome me
