The Interview

Chapter Seventeen

Glinda bid goodbye to her final client of the day and showed him to the exit. Upon returning to the meeting room, she quickly gathered the scattered documents and squared them up against the table. Rinsing out the used coffee cups, she cast a glance at the clock on the wall and sighed. There were a few minor adjustments that needed to be made to Mr. Flox's file, but if nothing else popped up, she'd be free to leave in about one hour's time.

She couldn't wait to get back home, eat a few bites of whatever she might be able to find in the fridge and retire to bed super early. One thing was for sure: she wouldn't participate in any more crazy work-around-the-clock projects for a while. She was completely and utterly exhausted, more so than she'd realised the night before. No, the full extent of her fatigue hadn't hit her until she went back to work this morning, and it was absolutely killing her. The annoying side effect of achieving a goal she'd been hyper focused on for some time, she guessed.

Every now and then, she would find herself distracted, wondering how Elphaba was coping, and it was definitely the last thing she needed. If she ever wanted to see her comfy bed again, she couldn't allow anything to interfere with her productivity. So she did her best to push any other concerns aside. After all, Elphaba deserved zero sympathy for taking on as much responsibility as she had. And besides, her weird short sleeper condition surely would have made it easier on her than Glinda. That being said, she wasn't entirely heartless. Maybe later she could spare a moment to shoot her a text and ask anyway, simply to be nice. Or maybe now; it would only take a second or so.

She chuckled to herself and shook her head. Was she already experiencing withdrawal symptoms? If so, how would she survive the entire rest of the week without seeing her Elphie? What a hopeless case she was!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a dynamic knock on the frame of the open door. Surprised, she reeled around and, recognising the person looking at her, her eyes grew wide.

"Hi, Glinda," he said, an easy smile playing on his lips.

"Mr Chuffrey," she replied stiffly, her throat dry. It took a clock-tick before she could add, "I didn't realise we had an appointment today?"

Dumbfounded, she watched him as he brushed past her and entered the room just as if he owned it. He placed his briefcase on the table and casually leaned against it.

"My dad," he said, eyes fixed on hers, "told me that he passed my number on to your mother. Not like you needed it, since you've already got it on file. But you still haven't called or texted."

"So you stalk me at work?" she asked, rather incredulous.

"I am your client."

"Which is part of the reason why I think that this is a terrible idea."

Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she made sure nobody was around to overhear their exchange. She considered closing the door, but decided that it might be safer to keep it open.

He chuckled quietly.

"But in the end, it would still make your life a lot easier, wouldn't it? If you just gave us a chance, I promise I'd make it worth your while."

Glinda stared back at him blankly, finding it hard to believe his audacity. He tried to change his approach and offered her what must have been meant to be a sympathetic smile, yet to her it came across as rather patronising.

"Look, I've heard through the grapevine that you find this whole relationship stuff... difficult. Your mother seems very concerned."

"It's none of your business," Glinda managed to grind out, but he shook his head.