Chapter IV

The party. Anna hated the noise of the music and loud conversation. She hated the banality of the topics Sheila and Mary insisted on talking to her about.

“And ohmygod Jerry was, like, we can’t host the union party at the pool this summer! And I was like, whatever Jerry it’s, like, a good fundraising opportunity. Then he was like fundraising isn’t your job, you should be trying to recruit new members or something like, but ohmygod here he comes…Hi Jerry! How are you? We were just talking about what a great boss you are…”

As Mary turned to greet him Anna made her escape. How could the woman drone on like that? She glanced at Sheila, she wore that same grin on her face all the time, but she never spoke. The thought made Anna stop and recall their conversations. She had always assumed that Sheila spoke sometimes, but now she realized it was always only Mary talking, with Sheila grinning like an idiot at her side. Anna was perplexed, she resolved to tell Sean about it. She went to find him, but found him engrossed in conversation with their receptionist Connie. To say that Connie was pretty would perhaps be an understatement; she part-time modeled during her days off. Anna could never understand why she worked at the union. She noticed all the signs of flirting in Connie, touching his chest, flipping her hair, and suddenly her mind went blank. She retreated to the kitchen where she found Steve lurking by the stove; he glanced up quickly when she came in. Anna sank into a kitchen chair with a sigh. She was uncertain why she was so downcast, but she supposed it must be because they had no leads in their investigation. Hopefully this party would turn up something. She felt eyes on her back and turned around. Steve was staring at her intently, one of their fancy glasses in his upraised hand. She sighed again.

“What do you want, Steve?” she asked, not really caring about the answer. Steve ducked his head, almost in a bowing motion. His eyes slowly moved to the glass.

“Is it okay if I use this? I don’t want to break it. They’re pretty fancy.” He lowered his arm to examine the glass, turning it over in his hand.

“Yes, it’s fine Steve. We bought them specifically for the party.” Anna rubbed her temples; she hated dealing with this imbecile’s inane questions. Steve glanced up sharply. He crossed the room to Anna and stood behind her chair. Anna was unaware of his presence until she removed her hand from her eyes. His tall figure cast a shadow over her. She looked up, startled, into his broad, dull face. His brows had contracted and he stared at her almost angrily.

“Who’s we?” He demanded. Anna had never heard this tone from Steve before. She glanced frightened at the open doorway of her kitchen, calculating its distance. A figure appeared there and Anna broke into a grateful smile. Sean strolled over to Steve and whispered something in his ear. In a flash the docile expression was back on his face and he loped out of the kitchen, with one final glance at Anna. Anna looked up at Sean; he was still looking after Steve.

“What did you tell him?” She asked. Sean finally looked at her. Anna forgot the question she had asked as she stared into his beautiful brown eyes. He looked away again and so did she.

“I just told him the pizza’s here.” He said, and walked out of the kitchen.