“Everything okay?” Lisa says.
“Everything’s great.” He gives her his best smile. “How did you get so into sports?”
She starts talking about her dad and what a big fan he is. Wes tries to pay attention, but it isn’t easy. Especially when that guy keeps touching Ivy. Three times now, by his count.
Even worse, Ivy has stopped looking over at Wes.
Lisa waves her hand in front of his face. “Hello?”
“I’m here,” he says.
“You look like you’re a million miles away.”
More like fifty feet, but who’s counting. He doesn’t want to go over there. Wait, no—he does want to go over there, except that’s exactly what Ivy is trying to get him to do. She is practically begging him to walk over and interrupt her conversation with that guy.
And it works.
“Sorry, I’m not trying to be rude,” he says, “but my girlfriend is trying to get my attention.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.” If Lisa is disappointed, she does a good job hiding it. Big smile, no shock in her eyes. “You better get going. Nice to meet you, Wes.”
He walks right over to Ivy and introduces himself to her friend. Oliver. Wes shakes his hand, gripping it hard. Ivy has a big smile on her face, though not because of Oliver. It’s because Wes went to her before she came to him.
Later tonight, Ivy will tease him for that. He’s looking forward to it.
12
On Monday morning, Bianca arrives for work before anyone else in the department. Typical. And expected.
Today, she is wearing a new outfit. Or new to her, since it came from a consignment shop. But it’s a high-end designer, the same kind worn by women at the office who can afford to buy it firsthand. The outfit makes Bianca feel like she fits in.
Nobody comes in late on Mondays. At eight thirty, all the reps have to attend what they call the pregame. No alcohol, just a lot of espresso, and they map out their goals for the week. Bianca notes that Wes is in the office by eight, second only to Tanner. It looks like Wes is wearing a new tie, as well.
“Morning,” he says.
“Good morning. How was your weekend?”
“Not bad. How was yours?”
“Very good, thank you.”
Wes nods and goes into his office, giving her no clue what AB or I means. Sales is the only department where there are very few cubicles. Most have an office with a door so they can speak to clients in private. For Bianca, it’s a little annoying. It would be so much easier if Wes left his door open, but he never does.
During a midmorning break, she talks to Tanner, waiting for him to say something about the new woman he’s dating. He gives her nothing. Next, she checks in with Dana, who doesn’t drop a single hint about the guy in accounting she’s seeing. Or sleeping with. Both, probably.
The lack of trust at Siphon is the only thing Bianca hates about this job. She had hoped this would be more like a family, or at least closer to one. The same thing she had hoped about her sorority in college. But those girls had withheld more than they said, and several had outright lied. If they had just been honest, Bianca wouldn’t have had to snoop through all their rooms.
Her family was no different. Three sisters, all older, none of whom would tell Bianca about their boyfriends or their dates or even their plans for the weekend. She found out anyway, because her sisters weren’t that good about hiding things. Still . . . it was a lot of work.
But Wes: He wins the award for the most work she has ever put into someone. No friend, family member, or coworker has even come close.
After seeing Joey Fisher’s memorial fund on his browser, she tried to find out if he had actually donated. No luck getting into his bank account. She knew where he kept his money—Foundation Bank & Trust, also in his internet history—but couldn’t access it. Wes wasn’t stupid enough to save his password on a work computer.
She went through his entire social media history, all the way back to MySpace. Even back then, he didn’t post much. Even less now. Not a single connection to Joey Fisher or his family.
His friends came next. Bianca checked everyone who followed him, along with their history. It took a couple weeks to get through it all. Nothing. Again.
She ponders this in the late morning, wondering what more she can do while trying not to think about how hungry she is or that lunch is an hour and a half away.
The elevator dings, and a woman walks toward her, someone Bianca has never seen before. The woman stops in front of Bianca’s desk. Her style: designer corporate. Navy blue skirt, modest blouse, three-inch heels. Neutral makeup, manicured nails, and hair one inch above the shoulders.
“I’m here to see Wes Harmon,” she says. “My name is Ivy Banks.” Her voice is bright and cheery, as if she wants Bianca to like her.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, I’m just dropping something off. He knows I’m—”
Wes’s door opens, and he walks out smiling. Ivy smiles, too. So many smiles.
He motions for her to follow him back to his office. As she does, Ivy reaches out to hand him a phone.
His phone.
The door shuts, closing Bianca off from the rest of the conversation. Fine with her, because now she has part of the code to Wes’s schedule.
I for Ivy.
* * *
—
Wes’s phone rings as soon as Ivy is gone. The desk phone. On the caller ID: Tanner.
He takes a deep breath and picks up.
“Was that Ivy?” Tanner says.
“It was.”
Big sigh. “Jesus Christ, man.”
“Don’t worry. We’re in a good place,” Wes says. “She’s in a good place.”
“？‘In a good place’？ Did you really just say that?”
This is why Wes didn’t want Ivy coming into the office. He was supposed to meet her outside to get his phone, but his conference call ran over. He also couldn’t get mad at her for coming in. She has a job and had to get back to it.
During the five minutes she was in the office, Tanner saw her.
There wasn’t anything Wes could have done differently. He couldn’t order Ivy out of the office.
And this is Tanner. Not only his boss, but the man who hired him seven years ago. The first person who ever told Wes he could be great at sales. Tanner may not be a perfect man, but he taught Wes everything he knows about Siphon’s business.
He was also the one who got Wes into famous quotes. Tanner was always using them, starting on Wes’s first day on the job.
“？‘The problem human beings face is not that we aim too high and fail,’？” he had said, “？‘but that we aim too low and succeed.’？”
Michelangelo.
Wes downloaded his first quotes app that day. He has gone through several of them since, right up until he deleted the latest one. The quote about love being a serious mental disease was enough to break the habit. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn’t, but he didn’t want that kind of thing popping up on his phone.
Of course Tanner knew who Ivy was; they’d met on several occasions. Over the years, she has been in the office a few times. One of which was tragically memorable.
Tanner will not let him forget it. Tanner is his mentor, his friend, his boss. He’s looking out for Wes, as he has said on many occasions.