I Told My Roommate My Date Rejected Me… Her Next Words Left Me Speechless
Chapter 2
The next morning, I woke up to the smell of coffee.
Claire was already in the kitchen.
She was wearing gray sweatpants, an oversized sweatshirt, and the expression of someone who had decided not to discuss emotions before breakfast.
I walked in.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
“You’ve been awake long?”
“Forty minutes.”
“That’s disturbing.”
She slid a mug across the counter.
“You need coffee.”
I took it.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
There was a pause.
Then I remembered.
“You never told me who rejected you.”
Claire looked at me over her mug.
“You’re still thinking about that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you said you’d had a bad night too.”
“I did.”
“So?”
“So nothing.”
She turned away.
I watched her.
“Was it someone from work?”
“No.”
“Someone I know?”
“No.”
“Someone you’ve been seeing?”
“No.”
I frowned.
“That narrows it down to absolutely nobody.”
She laughed.
“You’re exhausting.”
“I’m curious.”
“You’re nosy.”
“Same thing.”
Claire smiled.
Then my phone buzzed.
An email from my manager.
I was being assigned to coordinate a major charity gala next month.
The client was Sterling Foundation.
I groaned.
Claire looked over.
“Bad?”
“Very.”
“Why?”
“They’re impossible.”
“How impossible?”
“Last year they rejected an entire event design because the candles were two centimeters too tall.”
Claire smiled.
“Maybe they have standards.”
“You’re taking their side?”
“I don’t know them.”
“You will.”
I showed her the email.
She scanned it.
“This is a big account.”
“Yes.”
“You should be excited.”
“I would be if it didn’t involve twelve committees.”
She looked at me.
“Then impress them.”
“With what?”
“Yourself.”
I stared.
She smiled.
“You keep acting like you have to earn people’s approval.”
“That’s because I do.”
“No.”
She looked serious.
“You don’t.”
I laughed.
“Easy for you to say.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re…”
I stopped.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Claire narrowed her eyes.
“Say it.”
“You’re confident.”
She stared at me.
Then laughed.
“That’s one word for it.”
The truth was, Claire wasn’t confident.
Not really.
She just hid uncertainty better than I did.
Later that afternoon, I went to the office.
My manager gave me a folder.
“Client’s changing the creative brief.”
“Of course they are.”
“Also, they want the presentation tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
I spent six hours working on the proposal.
At nine that night, I finally went home.
Claire was sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop.
“You’re late.”
“I was working.”
She looked at me.
“You ate?”
“No.”
She stood.
“I made pasta.”
I smiled.
“You’re saving my life.”
“Don’t get sentimental.”
We ate together.
After dinner, I told her about the gala.
She asked questions.
Good ones.
Questions I hadn’t thought of.
By the time we’d finished, I realized she had practically rebuilt my entire concept.
“You should come to the presentation.”
She laughed.
“I don’t work in events.”
“You don’t need to.”
“I’d look out of place.”
“You wouldn’t.”
She stared at me.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because you’re good at this.”
Claire looked down.
For a second, I thought she might say something.
Instead, she said,
“Okay.”
The next morning, she came to the office.
She wasn’t supposed to impress anyone.
She wasn’t even part of my team.
But ten minutes into the meeting, she pointed out a problem in the campaign concept that three executives had missed.
The client loved her suggestion.
My manager looked at me.
Then at Claire.
Then back at me.
“Where did you find her?”
I smiled.
“She’s my roommate.”
The room laughed.
Afterward, Claire and I walked to the elevator.
“You were amazing.”
“I was nervous.”
“You didn’t look nervous.”
“I always look calm.”
She glanced at me.
“You said that about me last night.”
“I know.”
The elevator doors opened.
We stepped inside.
There were several people around us.
Claire leaned closer.
“You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think you’re finally going to stop worrying about Emily.”
I laughed.
“Maybe.”
Then she added quietly,
“Good.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
She smiled.
“Because I think someone better is waiting.”
The elevator doors opened.
She walked away.
I stayed still for a moment.
Then I asked myself a question I had never asked before.
Who was she talking about?
