“I got four shots for that,” Suzie calls, patting her hip and wincing.
“But you took the shots for your team,” Mr. Bexley says, rousing himself out of his stupor, which I am beginning to suspect is caused by prescription drugs. “Good work, young lady.”
“And speaking of bravery,” Marion says, and my stomach sinks. “Little Lucy here did something quite remarkable.”
A cheer goes up and I wave it away. If one more person calls me little, small, or ridiculously small I am going to karate chop them.
“She took at least ten rounds for a colleague today, protecting him from someone who was going a little overboard. That person remains nameless.” She looks pointedly at Rob and he cowers lower to the ground like a guilty dog. Other people frown at him.
“She’s standing in front of her colleague, arms outstretched, protecting him to the death!” Marion mimes my actions, arms scarecrow straight, body jolting from the shots. She’s a good actress.
“And to my surprise, I see it’s none other than Josh Templeman that Lucy is protecting!”
A big laugh breaks out. People swap amused looks and two girls from HR elbow each other.
“But—but then! He swings her around to protect her and takes paintballs in the back! Protecting her! It was quite something.”
Another fun fact: Marion reads romance novels in the kitchen at lunchtime. I catch Joshua’s eye, and he wipes his forehead roughly on his forearm.
“It seems paintball has brought us all together today,” I manage to say and everyone claps. If this were a TV episode, we’ve just reached the little moral conclusion: Stop hating each other. Helene is pleased; her lips are pursed in a knowing smile.
The Day Off Prize is awarded to Suzie, and she accepts her little mock certificate with a deep bow. Deborah has taken some good action shots on her camera and I ask her to email them to me for the staff newsletter.
Helene catches me by the elbow. “Remember, I’m not in on Monday. I’ll be meditating under a tree.”
Everyone heads down to the bus, and I’m gratified to see it’s now harder to tell who’s Gamin and who’s Bexley. Everyone looks like a train wreck; bedraggled clothes and red, sweaty brows. Most of the women have panda eye makeup. Despite the physical discomfort, there’s a new sense of camaraderie.
Helene and Mr. Bexley peel out again like Wacky Racers. A few people are being picked up by spouses, and there’s a confusing swirl of cars and dust. The bus driver puts down her newspaper at our approach and unlocks the door.
“Please hold on for a few minutes,” I tell her, and jog back inside. I make it to the bathroom and am violently sick. Before I can feel like it’s completely out of my system there’s a sharp rap on the bathroom door. There’s only one person I know who could knock so impatiently, and put so much irritation into it.
“Go away,” I tell him.
“It’s Joshua.”
“I know.” I flush again.
“You’re sick. I told you.” He jiggles the doorknob lightly.
“I’ll get home by myself. Go away.”
There’s a silence and I figure he’s gone back to the bus. I throw up again. Flush again. I wash my hands, leaning my legs against the sink until the splash-back soaks into my jeans. Elvis clings to me damply.
“I’m sick,” I confide to my reflection. I’m fevered, eyes glittering. I’m blue and gray and white. The door is creaked open, and I squawk in fright.
“Holy shit.” Joshua’s eyebrows pinch together. “You look bad.”
I can barely focus my eyes. The floor is spinning. “I can’t make it. That bus trip. I can’t.”
“I could call Helene. She could come back, she couldn’t have gotten far.”
“No, no, I’ll be okay. She’s driving to a health retreat. I can take care of myself.” He leans on the doorframe, his brow creased.
I steel myself, cupping a little cold water in my hand and slosh it over the back of my neck. My hair has been unraveling from its bun and sticks to my neck. I rinse my mouth. “Okay, I’m all right.”
As we walk back, he pinches the little joint of my elbow between two fingers like a bag of garbage. I can feel the avid eyes watching us from the tinted bus windows. I think of the two girls nudging each other and shake him loose.
“I could leave you here and drive back and get you, but it would take an hour, at least.”
“You? Come back and get me? I’d be here all night.”
“Hey. Don’t talk like that anymore, all right?” He’s annoyed.
“Yeah, yeah, HR.” I wobble up onto the bus.
“Oh dear,” Marion calls loudly. “Lucy, you’re looking awful.”
“Lucy!” Danny calls from the rear of the bus. “Saved you a seat!” He’s so far back in the bus it telescopes claustrophobically. If I sit back there I will absolutely vomit on everyone. Sorry, I mouth at Danny and sit in the front seat and close my eyes.
Joshua presses the back of his hand to my damp forehead and I hiss. “Your hand is cold.”
“No, you’re burning up. We need to get you to a doctor.”
“It’s almost Friday night. What are the chances of that happening? I need to go to bed.”
The trip home is pretty bad. I’m trapped in an endless, unmarked period of time. I’m a bug in a jar being shaken by a kid. The bus is swaying, hot, airless, and I feel every bump and curve. I focus on my breathing and the feeling of Joshua’s arm pressed against mine. At one particularly sharp corner he uses his shoulder to support me upright in my seat.
“Why?” I ask uselessly. I feel him shrug.
We’re unloaded in front of B&G. A few women cluster around me and I try to understand what they’re saying. Joshua is holding me by the scruff of my damp T-shirt and tells them it’s fine.
He has a lively debate with Danny, who keeps asking me, “Are you sure?”
“Of course she’s fucking sure,” Joshua thunders. Then we’re alone.
“Did you drive?”
“Jerry needs another weekend. The mechanic. I’ll get a bus.”
He moves me forward; a heaving, sweating marionette. My mouth tastes like acid. His grip drops from my neck to loop a finger into the loop on the back of my jeans, the other on my elbow. I can feel his knuckle pressing above my butt crack and I laugh out loud.
The stairs to the basement parking lot are steep and I balk, but he pushes me on, hands tightening. He uses his swipe card to get us in and steers me steadily toward his black car. I can smell car fumes and oil. I can smell everything. I dry-retch behind a pole and he hesitantly lays a hand between my shoulder blades. He rubs it around a little. I shudder through another volley of nausea.
Joshua guides me to the passenger seat. He slings the bag I’d forgotten about into the backseat. He idles the car and I glimpse myself in a side mirror, my head rolled to the side, a dark flush on my cheekbones, gleaming with sweat, my mascara smudged.
“Now. Are you gonna be sick in the car, Shortcake?” He doesn’t sound impatient, or annoyed. He opens my window a few inches.
“No. Maybe. Well, possibly.”
“Use this if you need to,” he tells me, handing me an empty takeout coffee cup. He puts the car into reverse. “Tell me where to go, then.”
“Go to hell.” I start laughing again.
“So that’s where you came from.”
“Shuddup. Go left.” I navigate him to my apartment building. I keep my eyes closed, and count my breaths, and do not vomit. It is quite an achievement.
“Here. Out front is fine.”
He shakes his head and in defeat I direct him to my empty parking space. He has to help me climb out of the car and I sag against him. My cheek momentarily rests on something like his chest. My hand grips something like his waist.
He hits the button and we stand at opposite sides of the elevator car, and the Staring Game is overlaid with hot, sweaty memories of the last time we did this together.
“Your eyes were like a serial killer that day.” I must have vomited out my filter.
“So were yours.”
“I like your T-shirt. So much. It’s magnificent on you.”
He’s mystified as he looks down at himself. “It’s nothing special. I . . . like yours too. It’s as big as a dress.”