Chapter 26 The First Lien

By January 2, it was like New Year's had never happened in New York. The only signs were the busy gyms and the prevalence of advertisements about dieting.

But life went back to normal. But not for Leah, nothing seemed normal to her as she got ready for work that day. She hadn't spoken to Gabe since he left the wedding. He hadn't returned her calls or texts and he didn't seem to be at his apartment. And if that wasn't enough, she had to sit across from Alex, who had passionately kissed her in the elevator at the holiday party.

She wasn't excited to see Alex. In fact, she hoped he'd be sick or still recovering from his New Year's hangover so he'd need a day off from work. Or better yet, maybe Brittany would still be recovering from her New Year's and HR would need Leah to take over her rightful position at Teen Club. She'd get the position she deserved and she'd never have to see Alex again! It was a win-win for everyone (except Brittany, but who cares).

Leah's mind was playing out every possible scenario as she finished getting ready for work. She took the Subway, mindful of seeing Gabe on the commute (which she didn't), but when she got to her office building, she took a minute and stood outside.

"You prefer the cold to your desk? Wow! That says a lot about how you feel about your job!" She heard her boss Tony from behind her. "Happy New Year! How was your break?"

"It was nice," she responded as she walked into the building with him. They waited for the elevator, the same one she and Alex had kissed in opened and she stepped inside with her boss. "How was your break?" She politely asked, trying to avoid the kiss replaying in her memory. It was definitely a memory. Not a dream.

"Break? I have two kids! It was harder than working! Getting on the commuter rail this morning, I had the same feeling I had when my wife and I boarded a plane for Bermuda on our honeymoon. Finally, some freedom to breathe! I tell you, it's just, there's no break when the kids are home. Things break, but there's no break for the parents."

The elevator stopped. The doors opened and Tony rushed out to his office, like a horse let loose from his stable. Leah followed behind, but more like a donkey, stubbornly being pulled to its destination.

"Happy New Year!" Leah barely heard the greeting from Malcolm who was at his desk looking like he had probably been there since last year. "How are you doing on your resolutions so far?"

"So far, so good." She gave an obligatory smile even though she didn't really have resolutions. "Yours?"

"I don't make New Year's resolutions. Why wait until New Year's to make a change? I make resolutions weekly. This week, I'm learning Esperanto. Last week, I went the entire week without eating any corn. Do you know how hard that is? I'm talking corn syrup too. Everything pre-packaged has high fructose corn syrup, which is poison!" Malcolm's voice almost rose above conversational level. "I feel so much better without that in my body."

Leah nodded in agreement. She did actually know how difficult it was to avoid corn syrup. She had also done it for one week annually during Passover. When Ashkenazi Jews didn't eat any grains including corn. While her Christian friends passed out Easter candy sweetened with you guessed what.

She continued to her desk, holding her breath. As she approached she saw that Alex and Mark were both already there quietly sitting in front of their computers typing away. That was a first. Maybe they both had resolved to become punctual and efficient. She passed Alex and plopped her bag on her desk. Had this happened before the holiday party, she would have made a comment about how they were competing for employee of the year. But since that was then and this was now, she quietly sat down and turned on her computer.

She opened her email, which was overflowing with a week's worth of junk plus the TCR and a few holiday greetings that came in after Diamond Media closed down. She promptly deleted everything that seemed worthless and started going through the old TCRs, but all she could think about was Gabe.

She quickly composed an email in the same format as Club Business' newsletter, which she knew Gabe received.

NEWS ALERT: New terms proposed for PE-backed merger which almost broke down last year

Despite defaulting on a previous agreement, counselor for merger requests second chance to enact deal. Counselor pledges new terms to avoid default. Can they strike a new deal?

Counselor assures that merging party is the first lien.

Leah's heart jumped as she pressed send. She hoped Gabe would get her point with her cutesy message coded in business talk.

"Are you OK?" Alex suddenly said, hovering over the cubicle. "You're making some weird noises. Sort of like a hippo slurping some brackish water."

"What does that even sound like?" She rolled her eyes and snapped back .

"Sort of like the noise you were just making," Alex smiled and started imitating Leah's scoffs, which she hadn't realized had been out loud. "What's wrong?"

"Everything! Why are you and Mark being so weird?"

"Weird? We're just working," Mark stood up and joined. "Alex is going to be a model employee now that he is afraid of losing his job."

"I'm not afraid of losing my job!"

"No job at Diamond, no girlfriend." Mark continued.

"What are you talking about?" Leah interrogated, suddenly afraid that Mark knew all about the kiss in the elevator and that maybe it wasn't just a kiss in the elevator. Did something else happen that she forgot in her drunken state?

"Brittany!" Mark blurted. "Leah, you shouldn't have left early! You missed all the fun." Mark detailed how Alex had accosted Brittany at the holiday party. Mark was sure it would be Alex's last hurrah at Diamond, but apparently Brittany liked being accosted. Can you believe that? Alex somehow charmed her with his perverse jokes and obnoxious demeanor. She thought he was funny! Funny enough that she didn't stop laughing the entire winter break with Alex. They had even arrived at work together that morning. Early, Mark noted, because Brittany was still new and still believed that arriving at 8:00 am was the way to get ahead at Diamond.

As Mark went on, Alex's eyes rolled and rolled. Leah wondered how he didn't get dizzy. "Is that true?" she asked. Could Alex truly have walked away after kissing her, hit on Brittany and already become an item with her? So quickly? Did their elevator kiss mean nothing? Was Leah just the warmup? A practice round? Had Alex and Brittany also kissed in the elevator? Leah's head was spinning even faster than Alex's eyes.

Alex shrugged, just as Tony screamed, summoning everyone to his office. Mark dashed away first while Alex and Leah stood still, separated by the cubicle. "What about…" Leah wasn't sure what she was going to ask.

"You have a goyfriend," he responded, answering whatever questions could have come out of her mouth.

Before she could respond, she heard Tony yelling from his office. "Leah! Alex! Get in here!"