Caroline walked with Nathaniel down the hall towards the stairs. She had been considering what he had said about moving on to another guy, even though Orson wasn’t even a guy she had any interest in at all. She promised herself to message Jarrod and ask him out on a date.
“Hey CC, I’m gonna go see the art department about a project,” he said and gave her a little wink. “Maybe I will see daddy Ikeda.”
“Please don’t say that about Mr. Ikeda,” she said with a little bit of a cringe. “He’s a nice man who just hasn’t found the right person.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna go,” he told her again and walked up the stairs.
She headed down the stairs with the intention of just going down and getting a salad from the cafeteria. The cafeteria, like most of this place, didn’t lack space and definitely places to sit. A long time ago, the chief’s wife had designed the layout of the offices and expanded when the chief had enough funds for the expansion.
When she walked through the cafeteria, she noticed Victoria sitting by herself outside, on her phone as usual. Every other time they bumped to each other, they had exchanged a few awkward words and failed attempts of pleasantries in the halls. She made her way towards the outside terrace area to join her.
The sound of her name being mispronounced bothered her, especially knowing the person who had shouted it. When she turned, she saw the crazy haircut and the woman walking towards her with a gentleman in a brown henley walking towards them. Brie, dark-skinned, chatty and dressed in a nice blouse and orange skirt, gave her a smile and placed a hand on her hip.
“Leaving without us?” she asked jokingly.
“I was actually going to sit with Victoria,” Caroline said, motioning to the girl sitting outside.
“Just call her Victoria,” Mr. Ikeda said, stepping forward. “She hates the name ‘Vicky.’ I think it has something to do with her grandmother also named Victoria.”
Brie raised a brow in astonishment. “Didn’t know you were in the Victoria Club,” she responded and laughed. “Let’s go bug her already.”
They walked over to the table where Victoria sat. She didn’t even raise her head from her phone until Caroline and the other two sat down. She jumped and placed the phone on her lap. Her blue eyes darted to each person and she began to scramble to stand up.
“We’re actually joining you, Victoria,” Caroline stated which puzzled the other woman.
“Is this some sort of joke or something?” she responded skeptically.
“The real question is: who were messaging?” Brie inquired, eyes darting down the table at the phone on her lap. “Was it a boy? Girl? Otherwise?”
Victoria’s clear blue eyes shifted from side to side behind her cat-eye rimmed red glasses. She cleared her throat and straightened up. “I don’t... um...,” she stammered, eyes still shifting.
Mr. Ikeda cleared his throat, who seemed a little more bothered by the question than Victoria. “Speaking of which,” he began, his voice deep and inquisitive, “did you ever get a hold of that one couple to be featured in your section?”
Brie shook her head. “Their plane was delayed so I couldn’t start at all,” she pouted and scrolled through her phone. “It’s fine. Gives me more time with your piece, Carolina.”
Caroline frowned at the thought of having to finish the spotlight piece for IC. She furrowed her brow and glanced down at her phone. No messages. For awhile, he hadn’t stopped messaging her except for a few minutes at a time or when she asked him. What’s wrong with these men just not messaging me? she thought to herself.
“I’m working on it,” she told her, glancing over at Victoria, who had closed her eyes for a long moment and glanced away.She also saw Mr. Ikeda look at her rather intently. “I have been working on other projects and doing research on Carver’s spotlight story.”
“I would actually love to visit his studio,” Brie rested her chin on the heel of her palm.
“I’ve been to it.” Everyone at the table looked at Mr. Ikeda. “I used to mentor one of his employees, Morgan, and he showed me around once and to thank me.”
She had never looked at Mr. Ikeda or wondered why he went by Mr. Ikeda instead of his first name Minoru. Even Brie never tried branding him a nickname like everyone else. The man appeared to be in his early forties, dark hair, and an accent that made his speech seem more proper than the rest of them. She wondered if it was his way of keeping part of his culture, like her grandmother did during the warmer times of the year and going to the cultural festivals.
Caroline could see Nate coming through the glass door. She just stood up from her seat, none of the others stopping their conversation about possibly going out in a group outing, and walked over to the door to meet him.
Nate gave her a quizzical glance and over her shoulder. “Never thought I would see the day when Mr. Ikeda, Brie and Victoria would be chatting together,” he commented. “We still have a few minutes before we have to go back to work. Wanna grab something and go?”
Something was still nagging at her. She leaned closer, hoping no one sitting a few feet away would listen in to her unusual speculation. “Have you heard anything about Mr. Ikeda possibly having a crush on Victoria?”
Nate’s eyes widened. “Um, what? Isn’t he like twenty years older than her?” he exclaimed.
“Sssh, and he’s only about six or even ten at most,” she hissed and glanced behind her for a moment to see their unusual expressions, possibly reacting to something Brie had said. “I dunno. He seems different around her. Protective, gentler, and sociable.”
“Are you serious?” he asked and then he glanced over. “Now that you have mentioned it, he has asked me if she’s seeing anyone, but that was, like, a month or two ago.”
A lightbulb turned on. “We should try hooking them up,” she suggested.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He winked at her.
Part of her felt bad for suggesting it, but she also wanted him to get off her back and let her date without a backseat driver. She guided him back inside and smiled. “Let’s eat.”
