I notice things, she said simply. It's not a virtue. It's just how I'm built. She paused. You do it with the job, too.
You said Robert helped you. He made a call. You're the one who impressed someone enough to get hired. He made the introduction. And you walked through the door, she said.
Those are different things. He held her gaze. She held his right back. You're pretty direct, he said. Too direct, she said.
Careful. No, he said. Just direct. She looked at him for a moment. Then she reached for the last kalachi on the tray.
Good, she said. I tried the other way for a while. It didn't suit me. He laughed. She smiled.
And then the moment stretched just a half second past comfortable. The kind of stretch that means something is asking to be said or done. And neither of them moved through it. And it passed. And they were both very deliberately looking somewhere else.
She left at 5:00. The girls hugged her goodbye, which was not something Marcus had expected, and which clearly surprised Olivia, too. Zoe just grabbed her around the waist without asking, and Nadia, more reserved, patted her arm twice with great dignity. Olivia stood at the front door and looked back at Marcus. Thursday, she said, "Call me after the meeting.
I want to know how it goes. How will I know how to reach you? " Marcus said. She looked at him like she was deciding whether he was being deliberately obtuse. "You have my number," she said. "I texted you about the collaches. " "Right," he said.
She shook her head, almost smiling. "Call me Thursday. " She left. Marcus stood at his front door for a moment after it closed. Nadia appeared beside him and stood there looking at the closed door. "I like her," Nadia said.
"You talked to her for about 4 minutes," Marcus said. "That's enough to know. " Nadia said with the absolute confidence of a 9-year-old who had decided something. Marcus looked down at his daughter. Yeah, he said. Maybe it is.