an old man in Florida—a pointless search for hay in a haystack—and she just didn't feel like dealing with Ted's babbling, with his neediness, with the pathetic wreck of his life that only reminded her that while she had a better paying job and some career prospects, she hadn't managed to get close to anybody else in the last ten years either. Well, how can you get close to anyone when you can't tell them about the central event of your life? How do you create a self that doesn't include the very event that made you who you are?
Ted answered his phone. "Hey there, Clarise Starling! What's up?"
"Confidential drudgery. Listen, I'm up to my neck in incredibly boring data that needs sifting through here. Any chance I could get a delivery?"
"Sure. I'm happy to get a break. The usual?"
"Ugh. You'd better give me an extra shot of espresso today. I'm gonna be here a long time, and this stuff is just so far from interesting that I'm going to need a lot of caffeine to get through it all."
"Can do."
Laura saved her work, walked through the cubicle maze hoping to avoid the eyes of McManus, her supervisor who insisted that it was suddenly urgent to pore through a year's worth of Florida ATM crap looking for Whitey, though he'd been missing for years.
At the end of the hall, Laura swiped her ID to unlock the door. Inside the elevator, she swiped her ID to get downstairs. In the lobby, she waved at Hassan the security guard, and then headed outside to wait for Ted with her coffee.
Only a few minutes later, Ted arrived with an extra-large Queequeg's cup in hand. God bless him.
"Oh, thank you so much. I really don't think I could complete my workday without this. You really have no idea how boring law enforcement is."
"Well, I know that you did not have a flirtatious conversation with a very hot young woman named after a Fleetwood Mac song this morning."
"Shows what you know. I stopped by Big Love's desk just this morning."
"Special agent Big Love?"
"Yeah, she sits next to Gypsy."
"Isn't that a Stevie Nicks solo song?"
"I'm pretty sure it's Fleetwood Mac."
"Who cares? Anyway, I think something's gonna happen. She lingered around the counter and gave me this heavy-lidded smile and told me she'd be back tomorrow."
"She did not give you a heavy-lidded smile. That's an exclusively post-orgasmic look."
"Well, I do make a hell of a latte." Poor poor Ted. Maybe Go Your Own Way really was flirting with him, and he'd get laid, and then he'd fall in love, and then he'd have to explain, because Ted always had to explain, he couldn't come up with a cover story, he'd come to the point where he either didn't trust her enough to tell her about the vampires, or else he did trust her enough and he'd tell her about the vampires and she would think he was nuts and he'd be devastated.
This, of course, was wildly different from what happened in Laura's relationships. Because she wasn't crazy enough to think that anybody would ever believe the part about the vampires, so there was always an important part of herself she wouldn't share, and eventually there'd be a fight, often with screaming and tears, you're so distant, you don't trust me, this isn't a real relationship, and Laura would say this is how I am, take me or leave me, and thus far, everyone had taken the latter option.
She returned to the present, and the matter of Ted's supposedly orgasm-inducing espresso drinks. "Well, I'm drinking one of your lattes right now, and I have to say I'm not even close."
"Yeah, well, you don't play for my team."
"So your lattes are so good they induce orgasm, but only in straight women. What about gay men?"
"I don't know. Okay, okay, it wasn't the latte. Maybe it was just looking into my sensitive, tormented eyes."
"Anything's possible, I guess. Anyway, thanks for bringing the coffee over. I'm going to be working late tonight and probably tomorrow, but maybe we can have Indian food on Thursday." She actually wouldn't be working late tomorrow, but
Ted answered his phone. "Hey there, Clarise Starling! What's up?"
"Confidential drudgery. Listen, I'm up to my neck in incredibly boring data that needs sifting through here. Any chance I could get a delivery?"
"Sure. I'm happy to get a break. The usual?"
"Ugh. You'd better give me an extra shot of espresso today. I'm gonna be here a long time, and this stuff is just so far from interesting that I'm going to need a lot of caffeine to get through it all."
"Can do."
Laura saved her work, walked through the cubicle maze hoping to avoid the eyes of McManus, her supervisor who insisted that it was suddenly urgent to pore through a year's worth of Florida ATM crap looking for Whitey, though he'd been missing for years.
At the end of the hall, Laura swiped her ID to unlock the door. Inside the elevator, she swiped her ID to get downstairs. In the lobby, she waved at Hassan the security guard, and then headed outside to wait for Ted with her coffee.
Only a few minutes later, Ted arrived with an extra-large Queequeg's cup in hand. God bless him.
"Oh, thank you so much. I really don't think I could complete my workday without this. You really have no idea how boring law enforcement is."
"Well, I know that you did not have a flirtatious conversation with a very hot young woman named after a Fleetwood Mac song this morning."
"Shows what you know. I stopped by Big Love's desk just this morning."
"Special agent Big Love?"
"Yeah, she sits next to Gypsy."
"Isn't that a Stevie Nicks solo song?"
"I'm pretty sure it's Fleetwood Mac."
"Who cares? Anyway, I think something's gonna happen. She lingered around the counter and gave me this heavy-lidded smile and told me she'd be back tomorrow."
"She did not give you a heavy-lidded smile. That's an exclusively post-orgasmic look."
"Well, I do make a hell of a latte." Poor poor Ted. Maybe Go Your Own Way really was flirting with him, and he'd get laid, and then he'd fall in love, and then he'd have to explain, because Ted always had to explain, he couldn't come up with a cover story, he'd come to the point where he either didn't trust her enough to tell her about the vampires, or else he did trust her enough and he'd tell her about the vampires and she would think he was nuts and he'd be devastated.
This, of course, was wildly different from what happened in Laura's relationships. Because she wasn't crazy enough to think that anybody would ever believe the part about the vampires, so there was always an important part of herself she wouldn't share, and eventually there'd be a fight, often with screaming and tears, you're so distant, you don't trust me, this isn't a real relationship, and Laura would say this is how I am, take me or leave me, and thus far, everyone had taken the latter option.
She returned to the present, and the matter of Ted's supposedly orgasm-inducing espresso drinks. "Well, I'm drinking one of your lattes right now, and I have to say I'm not even close."
"Yeah, well, you don't play for my team."
"So your lattes are so good they induce orgasm, but only in straight women. What about gay men?"
"I don't know. Okay, okay, it wasn't the latte. Maybe it was just looking into my sensitive, tormented eyes."
"Anything's possible, I guess. Anyway, thanks for bringing the coffee over. I'm going to be working late tonight and probably tomorrow, but maybe we can have Indian food on Thursday." She actually wouldn't be working late tomorrow, but
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