The next few weeks sped by in a blur of meetings, conference calls, and memos. One in particular reiterated the company’s policy on inter-office romances which made me think that someone else had been there that night. I didn’t see Annie very much over those few weeks, she had been working on other things, but that didn’t stop me from fantasizing about her every chance I got. When we would pass each other, we’d give knowing looks and smile coyly. We wanted each other even more than before, but there was barely any time.
One day, I noticed she wasn’t around and I asked about her to another employee.
“Oh yeah, she called in sick.”
“Sick?” I asked. It was mid-spring and nobody had been sick for months. We had even spoken briefly the day before and there was no indication that she was sick.
“Yeah, I don’t know, man, I think she’s gotta be fucking someone though. She’s always so perky here. I tell ya though, I wish it was me.”