“Are you– are you doing ok?” Esme’s green eyes and button nose are scrunched up with concern, her hand resting on my shoulder. This small gesture catches me off-guard, it’s the most human touch I’ve had in months.
I blink the sad revelation away. “Uh-oh. What did I say?”
“At the stand-up this morning,” she tilts her head to the side, “You were… well, cranky. And, no offense, Peter, but you’ve been that way a lot lately.” Her words roll through their syllables, inflected with some sort of English accent, but not one that sounds particularly proper.
I slink back into my chair, twiddle with the mechanical pencil on my desk. The desk has a cheap computer on it and is set against a big glass wall, rows of new cars lined up outside. An SUV, blue and shiny and sleek, sits on a pedestal behind me. I look around, scanning for customers and co-workers alike. We’re alone for the moment. “I’m not offended. Thanks for letting me know, Esme. I’ll work on it, somehow, I guess.”
“Well, let me know if I can help,” she says.