She didn’t know what to do. So she stayed there, frozen, about fifteen feet away. It seemed like hours before Janine straightened, shifted her weight to both feet, and prepared to leave, though it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two. She turned around, her eyes zeroing in on Hannah. They stared at each other for a moment, and Hannah still didn’t move, paralyzed by the horror unfolding before her. Janine shook her head, a look of disgust on her face, turned back toward Matt to say something, and stalked away.
Her exit allowed Hannah’s legs to work again, and she took shaky steps to the table where Matt waited, staring straight ahead, a sick expression on his face. She collapsed in the booth, no longer interested in finishing her meal. He still stared, unseeing, his lips compressed in a tight line. She could see his Adam’s apple moving convulsively in his throat.
“Matt?”
Nothing. No response.
Dread coalescing in her gut, she reached across the table to rest her hand on his. His skin felt clammy. “Matt? What did Janine say?”
His eyes looked dead when they met hers. Her hand clenched on his. He licked his lips and answered. “She came over to say hi.” His quiet voice lacked any trace of inflection. She had to strain to hear him over the surrounding noise in the restaurant. He swallowed again. “First she gave me crap about calling in sick today, but she was just joking and wasn’t mad. She asked how my date was going, if I was seeing anyone new. I didn’t know what to say, so I said that we’d been dating for almost two months. She thought that was strange since she’d thought I was interested in you during that time. I didn’t say anything to that, but she told me she was glad I’d listened to her advice and moved on. Then she saw you. Just standing there like you were waiting for her to leave. And she said that I need to come see her first thing tomorrow morning.”
He pulled his hand out from Hannah’s, scrubbing his hands over his face, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Fuck. At least she didn’t tell me to never come back, I guess. But then, she’d have to let me get my stuff. I don’t think she can fire me outside of work. She’s the head of HR, so she’d know that.”
Hannah’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She didn’t know what to say. There was nothing she could say. No way to make this better.
The minutes ticked by with them frozen together like that, Matt with his face in his hands, Hannah staring at him, mute. The waiter came, and Hannah asked for the check while Matt still sat unmoving. When the waiter dropped off the little folder and some to-go boxes, Matt came to life again. He yanked his credit card out of his wallet, stuffing it into the folder, then zeroed his gaze on her again.
Hannah stopped scooping the remains of her pasta into the plastic box at the anger in his eyes, unsure if he was mad at her, Janine, or just the fucked up situation they found themselves in.
“Why did you just stand there? You knew what it would mean if she found out we were together. We talked about this at length after Sandra saw us together last month.” He leaned over the table, thumping his clenched fist against the wood to punctuate each sentence.
Hannah dropped the fork onto the plate with a clatter. “What? What was I supposed to do?”
The waiter came just then, and Matt waited for him to leave to run the card before he went on.
“Go back to the bathroom! Go to the front! Get away so she wouldn’t see you!” He kept his voice low, but in that shouty kind of whisper people do when they’re furious but unable to let it out.
She flinched, then leaned closer to him, pitching her voice to match his. “I froze! I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t expect to see her standing at our table when I got back from the bathroom. I’ve never been in this kind of situation before! How should I know what the best thing to do is?”
“Use some fucking common sense! If Janine knows we’re dating, I’ll lose my job, and you could lose your internship. If you don’t care about me, at least care about how this will affect you.” He shook his head, sitting back. “I knew I shouldn’t have taken you out. But I was stupid and let you convince me it would be fine. Dammit!”
“Don’t you dare make this all my fault! I didn’t hear any objections from you when I suggested going out. I had no way of knowing your boss would show up. And I’m terribly sorry that I froze in my panic. I’ll work on that for the next time I’m some guy’s dirty secret, and we’re about to get found out.”
She grabbed her coat and stormed away from the table, almost running over their waiter returning with Matt’s card in her haste to get away. Shoving her arms in her coat sleeves, she wrenched open the door to the restaurant and almost ran outside, her chest heaving. Her hands shook as she pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contacts to try to find someone who could come pick her up. Fuck. Everyone was out of town for spring break.
Matt’s hand on her shoulder made
