Maria cleared her throat, wondering why it suddenly felt as if she were being interrogated.
“There’s really nothing to say,” she answered. “I’m just doing the best job I can.”
The days that followed were too busy for the luxury of daydreaming, with Barney storming into her office every half hour asking her to examine additional details or to make calls, notwithstanding her work on other client matters. She barely had time to leave her desk, and on Wednesday afternoon, while working on a draft of Barney’s opening statement, she failed to notice the way the sunlight began slanting through her windows, or the departures, one by one, of her colleagues. She stared at her MacBook screen with singular concentration until a knock at her office door startled her. She saw the door slowly swing open.
Ken.
With a jolt of panic, she looked through the open doorway; across the hall, Lynn was no longer at her desk. Barney’s office was dark, and she couldn’t hear anyone else in the hallway.
“I noticed that your lights were still on,” he said, stepping into her office. “Do you have a few minutes?”
“I was just finishing up,” she improvised, hearing a trace of uncertainty in her tone. “I must have lost track of time.”
“I’m glad I caught you then,” he said, his voice smooth and controlled. “I wanted to finish the conversation we started last week.”
Maria felt a thud in her chest and began collecting the pages on her desk before slipping them back into their folders. The last thing she wanted was to be alone with him. She swallowed. “Is there any way we could do this tomorrow? I’m already late and I’m supposed to have dinner with my parents tonight.”
“It won’t take long,” he said, ignoring her excuse as he came around her desk. He stood near the window and she noted the sky had darkened beyond the glass. “It might be easier for you this way, since we’re away from prying eyes. There’s no reason for everyone to know what happened with Barney’s clients.”
Not knowing what to say, she stayed quiet.
He glanced out the window, seemingly focused on something in the distance. “How do you like working with Barney?” he finally asked.
“I’m learning a lot from him,” Maria began, choosing her words carefully. “He has great strategic instincts, the clients trust him, and as a colleague, he’s good at explaining his thinking.”
“You respect him, then.”
“Of course.”
“It’s important to work with people that you respect. It’s important that the two of you can work together as a team.” Ken adjusted the venetian blinds, closing them slightly, then returning them to their original position. “Would you consider yourself a team player?”
The question hung in the air before she was able to answer. “I try to be,” she said.
Ken waited a beat before going on. “I spoke to Barney again on Friday about the situation, and I must say that I was a bit surprised at how angry he still was over what happened. That’s why I asked you about being a team player. Because I went to bat for you in that meeting, and I think I’ve been able to defuse the situation. I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing.”
Maria swallowed, wondering why Barney hadn’t talked to her himself if he was still so upset. “Thank you,” she finally murmured.