Page 13 of Meet Me in a Mile

Thirteen

Lydia

T here were a few things Lydia was willing to be late for, and a toasted lox and cream cheese bagel was one of them. It was a farther walk than her usual lunch spot, so she hurried back into the elevator, waiting impatiently for it to spit her out in front of Poletti’s. She wanted to sit for ten minutes and enjoy every last caper before she had to get ready for the firm’s marathon training session. Since she’d completed her long run yesterday with Luke, and was technically doing another run today with the office, on what was usually her rest day, she’d decided to give herself the weekend off.

As she popped out of the elevator, she texted Luke to let him know her plan. I just don’t want to overuse all these excellent muscles I’m building. Also, how did your appointment with the bank go?

That’s probably a good idea if you’re running back-to-back , Luke replied almost instantly. Maybe just do some light cross-training Monday so it’s not three full rest days between now and our next short run. He said nothing about his business plan, so either he was really busy with all his recertification training, or maybe he hadn’t heard anything yet. People always said no news was good news, but how long would the bank take to make a decision about his loan?

Lydia carried on to her office, staggering to a stop when she reached the doorway.

There, on her desk, sat her proposal for the Manhattan Youth Center with a bright red pen mark scratched through the front page. She dropped her tinfoil-wrapped bagel on the desk and flipped the first page of her proposal open just to be sure she wasn’t seeing things. No , this was definitely the proposal she’d handed Jack last week.

It had taken her weeks—no, months —to complete. How could it possibly have passed through every member of the leadership team already?

Lydia skimmed through the pages looking for comments...for notes. Even a little frowny face would have made her feel like someone had actually taken the time to read it. There was nothing but the red pen on the front: a single, straight line, left there like the words and diagrams beneath it meant nothing. She was so shocked, all she could do was stand beside her desk, hugging her arms to her chest like that might contain the all-consuming disappointment that threatened to spill out of her. She hadn’t even noticed that Jack had stopped outside her office door until he spoke.

“Hey, running buddy! You brought your running shoes, right? I know most of the office isn’t looking forward to our little training session, but I’m hoping we can stir up a little excitement. Maybe I’ll try bribing them with doughnuts. You know, dangle them on a little string like in those old cartoons.”

His smile, which would usually be infectious, only made Lydia frown more.

“You okay?” Jack asked. “Sorta looks like someone stole your favorite drawing pencils.”

Lydia pushed the proposal toward him.

He walked across the room and reached for it, his brows drawing together.

“I didn’t expect to get it back so soon,” she said, surprised she could force the words out at all.

“I only passed it off to the rest of the team a few days ago,” Jack admitted.

“Did you even read it?” She hoped she didn’t sound as hurt as she felt.

“Of course I did,” he assured her. “I thought what you did was really inventive. Great use of the space. It really felt like you were catering to the kids’ needs while also being conscious of the environment and the community.”

Any other day his words would have made her beam. Now she was just confused. How could the rest of the team think so little of her design? “Did the leadership team have any notes? Maybe I can scrap a few ideas and get it to where they want or—”

“I’m really sorry, Lydia. They didn’t say anything to me. I could ask for you, but it looks like the rest of the team just didn’t think it was a good fit for what Marco wants to put forward from Poletti’s.” He laid the proposal down on the desk and reached for her, his fingers curling over her shoulder.

Despite his warmth, all Lydia wanted to do was shiver. Maybe it was because of the soft smile he gave her—the consolation smile.

“I’d chalk this one up to a learning opportunity and move on to the next project.”

“Right,” Lydia said, feeling unsure of herself, of her talents, of her ideas. Of the evening spent with Luke, exploring the center, picking his brain. Everything felt like a waste. Logically, she knew that only one project was going to be selected to represent Poletti’s in the competition. Even if only a third of Poletti’s decided to submit something, she’d still be competing against nine or ten other proposals. She wasn’t foolish or naive enough to assume her work was better than everyone else’s, but Jack himself said he’d only given it to the rest of the leadership team a few days ago. Maybe they hadn’t bothered to read her work before rejecting it.

That thought infuriated her, but what Lydia hated more was that she’d kind of expected Jack to go to bat for her. Had he just scribbled his thoughts on some Post-it note and tossed it onto the next person’s desk? She shook her head, trying to displace some of her disappointment. If the rest of the team didn’t think she’d made the cut, then why did Jack’s actions matter?

“I’ll see you at training,” Jack said, letting his hand slide down the length of her arm to her hand. He smiled and squeezed, and Lydia felt her heart lob against her ribs. She’d always wanted Jack to smile at her like that, to look at her like that, she just sort of wished she didn’t feel so wretched when it finally happened.

“See you out there,” she said, trying to salvage the moment. “I’ll be the one in the sneakers.”

“Ah, no. That’s what I was going to wear.”

Lydia watched him disappear from her office, knowing that in the end, he was only one voice on the leadership team. If she was ever going to prove herself in this office, she needed more support than just Erik’s and Jack’s. That thought didn’t make her feel any better, and by the time she’d changed into her activewear and met the rest of the office nearby at Chelsea Park, the bagel she’d scarfed down sat in her gut like a waterlogged brick.

“Running makes me want to puke,” Kirsten complained as they made a slow lap of the park together. They’d quickly broken off into groups, some running, some walking and some cheering the team on from shady benches. “Maybe I should start taking private lessons from your sexy trainer.”

“They do help,” Lydia said, knowing her old self would have already pitched over into a bush. “At least Jack didn’t make us do a long warm-up. Luke makes me do burpees.”

“Ew. And you’re paying him for that?”

“Yeah. I’m actually funding my own torture.”

Kirsten hummed. “Well, it’s working, because you’re all fit and glowy lately. That’s part of the reason I’m out here sweating with you instead of opting for team bench . I want to be fit and glowy, too.”

Lydia didn’t feel particularly glowy right now.

Kirsten took a gasping breath. “I figure it’s either the exercise or the hot sex with your trainer.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “I’m not sleeping with Luke...anymore.”

“Boo! I like it better when you’re both being unprofessional,” Kirsten said.

“Well too bad,” Lydia said. “Though I am sort of in the mood to make bad decisions with someone right now.” She could use a good distraction.

“Oh? Why?”

“I got my proposal for the youth center back today—nothing but red pen.”

Kirsten snorted.

“It’s not funny,” Lydia complained. “I’m kind of devastated here.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t laughing at you. I’m just not surprised to hear that. Actually, I’m a little confused as to why you are.”

“What do you mean?”

Kirsten’s perfectly manicured brow arched to a point. “Most of the leadership team is gunning for partner at the firm. It makes sense that they’d want their designs front and center for Marco to choose from.”

Lydia stopped abruptly, feeling like she’d been jostled from a dream. “What?”

“Didn’t you know?” Kirsten slowed, clutching her sides.

“I had no idea.”

“They’re probably hoping one of them gets selected and Marco will take note of it when he makes his decision. It would give them a leg up as far as the partner race goes.”

“God, you really do hear everything at the front desk, don’t you?”

“Kind of my job,” Kirsten said. “Marco’s been hinting at bringing someone on as partner for a while. Honestly, Lyds, no matter how good your proposal was, it might not have made the cut for that reason alone.”

Dammit , Lydia thought. Was this why she was always struggling to have her work move up the ladder? Because the leadership team was there squashing anything that didn’t directly make themselves look good? How long had this jockeying game for partner been going on? Weeks? Months? “Is Jack going out for partner too?”

“He’s on the leadership team. It would be weird if he wasn’t.”

Lydia didn’t know what to say. If Jack had known all along that she had no chance, why didn’t he say something? Maybe he doesn’t realize , she thought. He wouldn’t have deliberately let her make a fool of herself, right? It wasn’t like he’d sabotaged her. He’d been just as surprised when she showed him her rejected proposal. He’d even had good things to say about it.

“Are you okay?” Kirsten asked.

Lydia didn’t want to be annoyed with Jack, but the fact that he was involved with the rest of the leadership team, who were all vying to impress Marco, made her feel even more defeated. If she’d understood this from the beginning, she never would have bothered entering. In fact, she’d hazard to guess most of her colleagues would have also saved themselves the trouble if they knew this was going to be a popularity contest between the leadership team. “I’m a little pissed off, actually...”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, I’m glad you did. It helps put everything in perspective.” They started jogging again, even slower than before. “I guess I just wish Jack would have given me a heads-up.”

“Why would he?”

Lydia shrugged. Because they’d been getting closer lately. Because they had a rapport. Because he called her his running buddy .

“Ladies,” a familiar voice said, and they both looked up as Jack ran past them. He wore sleek shades and shook his head, dislodging the hair that stuck to the back of his neck. Every exposed muscle was coated in a thin sheen of sweat. As he coasted by them, Lydia’s eyes traced the fine definition of muscle in his calves. Jack was a regular runner. She could tell by his form. Luke would be impressed if she ever managed to stride that gracefully.

“Hot damn. He’s like a cover of Men’s Health ,” Kirsten said.

“Yeah,” Lydia sighed, cocking her head.

Kirsten nudged Lydia and they came to a stop. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“You. Looking at Jack. All starry-eyed.”

“I’m not starry-eyed. You’re the one who pointed him out, talking about Men’s Health .”

“But I didn’t sigh like that.” Kirsten’s entire face shifted from confusion to glee in an instant. “You have a thing for him!”

“I absolutely do not.”

“Is it mutual? Did I miss an office romance developing? Is this why you’re not getting unprofessional with Luke?”

“You didn’t miss anything.”

“Are you sure? Should I just go catch up with your running buddy and get all the hot gossip? Don’t underestimate how fast I’ll run for this information.”

“Calm down, Sherlock. Okay,” Lydia conceded. “I might have had a small office crush on Jack.”

“Had? As in past tense? Because that look you gave him had present tense written all over it.”

“I don’t know. Present Tense Lydia is still kind of pissed about this whole proposal thing.”

“Just promise to warn me if you two start banging in your office at lunch. I do not want to walk in on that.”

“Oh, please. You’d be standing outside the door the moment it was over for a play-by-play.”

Kirsten snorted. “Okay, yeah, true.”

“It’s bullshit, is what it is,” Ashley said as she grabbed plates from the cupboard.

Lydia shrugged, cradling her wineglass. She’d felt like drowning her sorrows after work and had shown up on Ashley’s doorstep with dinner and a frown. “I guess I have to accept the possibility that my proposal was actually terrible.”

She’d spent enough time in school having her projects critiqued to know there was a possibility she’d completely missed the mark. Only Marco had never given them a brief. He’d basically handed them the task and set them free. That’s what had made her so excited initially.

“It wasn’t terrible,” Ashley said. “You know how I know? Because it’s like this everywhere. Women are consistently judged to have less leadership potential so they’re less likely to be promoted. And they’re held to much higher standards in the workplace. You know, it’s these ingrained societal attitudes that make women undersell their work. That make them more tentative when applying for—”

“Okay, okay ,” Lydia said, holding her hand up to interrupt Ashley’s rant before she started pulling out old case law to prove her point. “I believe you. And I love you for being so passionate about all this. But can you stop being a lawyer for five minutes and just be sad with me?”

Ashley sucked in a breath and let it out. “Fine.”

“Good,” Lydia said. “You can fight the injustices of the world later.”

Ashley sat down on the couch and needled her side. “Show me the proposal.”

“I don’t want to look at it anymore.”

“C’mon,” Ashley said. “I know you worked really hard on it. You deserve to show it to someone who cares.”

Lydia smiled a bit. Sometimes she liked being the younger sibling. She put her wineglass down on the coffee table and got up to retrieve her laptop from her workbag. She sat back down, turning it on. “So, how goes the wedding conversation?”

“We’re reevaluating our options and finally prioritizing what we want,” Ashley said.

“Are the moms going to freak out?”

Ashley grinned. “Oh, definitely.”

“Why does it sound like you’re keeping a secret?”

“You’ll know when you’re supposed to know.”

“Okay, Yoda, just remember, I’m your maid of honor, so some notice would be nice if I have to have a speech ready.” Lydia turned back to the computer screen, opening her proposal.

Ashely took the laptop from her. “What am I looking at?”

Lydia pouted as she pointed to the screen. “Massive double gymnasium. Industrial kitchen. New theater wing. And this was my favorite part. The rooftop garden.”

“The kids would have thought that was so cool,” Ashley agreed. Sitting like this reminded Lydia of when they used to play together as kids. Lydia would make intricate drawings of castles and villages, and Ashley would make up rules for their kingdom. Their parents should have known they’d have an architect and a lawyer in the family way back then.

“I worked really hard on this.” Lydia leaned her head against Ashley’s shoulder. “The corporate ladder sucks.”

“I know you did, and it does,” Ashley said softly, scrolling through Lydia’s design. “More wine?”

Lydia got up to get it herself. “We’re gonna need the bottle.”