The Job Proposal

by Wendy Chen

  Kate smiled. He was in a pair of jeans and an old T-shirt. “Aside from the fact that New York men don’t wear flip-flops, you’re actually dressed completely appropriately. This place is a total dive.”

  Adam chuckled. “Should I be insulted?”

  “You know what I mean,” Kate said, swatting him playfully. It really was nice having him around. She went to grab a clutch from her closet, along with a pair of casual kitten heel sandals that she wouldn’t be able to wear much longer once fall weather arrived.

  When Kate and Adam arrived, Nick, Mia, David, and Suzanne were already there, at the table that Alberto reserved for her. The club was far from packed, but Kate always enjoyed a table front and center. Kate introduced Adam and was immediately glad that his first meeting with her closest friends (minus Cass, who had a rehearsal dinner tonight) was at a casual place where Adam clearly felt comfortable. They got a couple of pitchers of beer for the table, and Kate dove into the wings and chips, having skipped dinner for her meeting. Suzanne leaned into her. “He’s kinda cute.”

  “Who?” Kate looked around. She’d met plenty of guys at Alberto’s shows; this wouldn’t be the first time.

  “Adam,” Suzanne replied.

  Kate looked over at Adam, who was absorbed in some conversation with Nick and David that she couldn’t hear but was apparently very entertaining. “Really?” she said back to Suzanne. “Are you interested? I thought you were dating that guy you met online, but hey, you know my motto—” Rule Number Three—manage men like money. Take a portfolio approach and don’t put your emotions or your dollars in one basket. Where one investment fails, you’ve still got others.

  “No,” Suzanne replied, “but I don’t think it would matter even if I were.”

  “What are you talking about?” Suzanne shrugged and then took an exaggeratedly long swig of her beer while she wiggled her eyebrows. “Stop speaking in riddles!”

  At that moment, Alberto’s band came on and all conversation stopped for cheering and music. Kate had always enjoyed his performances—maybe the former performer in her was a little envious that he had the guts and talent to pursue his dream. She could never have lived the life he did, though, not knowing when the next paycheck would come in, eating ramen noodles and eggs for weeks on end sometimes. And even if Kate could stomach the lack of security, the lack of control over her day-to-day life, she certainly couldn’t stomach the nagging from Linda that she would surely incur with such a lifestyle. And she had to face facts: even if she had the moxie, she never quite had the talent. It sometimes hurt back in high school when Linda reminded her (repeatedly) that singing was a hobby, not a profession, and that glee club was only there to bolster her college applications, which would ultimately pave the way to a better (richer) future. Kate never argued with Linda about it back then, knowing she was right.

  Kate caught Alberto’s gaze as he sang and played his guitar. He was handsome, no doubt about it, could probably find a number of women to marry him. She looked over at Adam again. He seemed to be enjoying the music as well, relaxing against the back of his chair, not taking his eyes off the band while he drank his beer. It often annoyed her when groups of people would continue their chatting, just getting louder and louder as the evening and beer wore on. Sure, it was a divey club and the band barely made any money from this show, but Alberto’s original music had not been written strictly for the sake of being their background noise.

  A couple of songs in, the crowd was starting to get livelier. Kate caught the eye of a guy at the next table and smiled. She checked for a wedding ring—none. She checked for a nearby girlfriend—none. She smiled wider and was about to get up when he broke eye contact. Then she noticed that Adam had draped his arm around the back of her chair. She let out a low sigh. She hadn’t thought of Adam as a cockblock, and Suzanne had that weird smirk on her face again. Oh well. Adam wouldn’t be around forever. She’d just get back her game when he was gone.

  Chapter 7

  This wasn’t going to be easy, Adam realized. It was Monday and he had decided to fix up Kate’s computer while she was at work. Simple projects like upgrading memory and installing a new hard drive had always relaxed him when he had other things on his mind. He was still trying to figure her out. He’d had lots of glimpses of the old Kate that he loved as his friend—the singing in the shower after the daily morning run made him laugh out loud with nostalgia the first time he heard her. Even her grumpiness in the morning, when she acted surprised to see him at 5:30 a.m., made him smile. Was it love, then, that he thought her grumpiness was cute? Or was he just satisfied that he was showing enough endurance to accompany her on a daily run at such a ridiculously early hour? That is what some would call love. He had a lot of respect for such discipline; she hadn’t skipped a run since he’d been here, not even over the weekend after late nights with her friends.

  She seemed to certainly apply this discipline to her work, which was something he didn’t quite get. He understood ambition and her desire for success. What he didn’t understand was the coldness—in the way she dressed, the way she talked about her coworkers. She was unapproachable on purpose. It was so different from the way she was with her other friends, from the way she was with him.

  Adam guessed it had to do with Linda. She had long been a well-respected finance professor at the University of Michigan and would often make comments to Kate about the need for financial independence, the importance of having a career. There was one day when Linda had driven the two of them through a not-so-great neighborhood with unkempt houses and lawns, probably on the way to some math team competition. “This is where you’d be if I didn’t work like I do,” Linda had said to Kate. He tried to pretend like he hadn’t heard the comment from the backseat; after all, his own neighborhood was only a notch better. But comments like that had to have had an impact on Kate’s decision to pursue the kind of career that she chose, and in the manner in which she pursued it.

  It was as if she felt like she had to choose one extreme or the other, Adam mused. Either become a frustrated performer in the arts like her father was a frustrated writer or become a relentless financial shark. Her personal life was the more or less happy medium, though she still didn’t give herself enough credit to be able to have a real relationship. Adam wondered if her parents’ divorce did more damage than Kate was willing to admit. How should a kid take it when her mother told her she was moving out because Kate was old enough to take care of herself now? That she no longer needed both parents at the ripe old age of sixteen?

  Adam let out a long sigh. Complicated woman. His friends would have told him to steer clear, to not bother with someone with so much emotional baggage. But he couldn’t. Kate’s mere presence got under his skin, made his heart beat faster. Whether it was just the two of them in her apartment having dinner or when he was having to glare at that guy at the club, he wanted to be with her.

  Alberto’s presence was another complication. Adam believed Kate’s story about the impending marriage. But there was still no doubt that Alberto was Kate’s type. Struggling artist, but a good performer, Adam had to admit. They were entering into a marriage of convenience, sure, but then what? Maybe he would move in with her to save money? She already admitted to sleeping with him—and enjoying it. Adam scowled. She could be on her way to a real marriage. He almost wished he could call one of the guys back home, to get some perspective, maybe help him see clearly and get his head on straight. But there was no way. His friends were Claudia’s friends now, or they were married to Claudia’s friends. And with the way he left things with her, had left their home and life that they were building together—well, it seemed fair that she get to keep their friends.

  There was no doubt Kate clouded his judgment. Here he was in New York after all, for who knows how long, putting off various business requests for his return. Surely his friends would just tell him to forget her, to come back to his life in Palo Alto.

  The more he thought about th
at life, the more he thought he needed a change. There was nothing wrong with that life. He liked mentoring and helping out these smart kids with great ideas. He liked helping them with their pitches for funding, for getting them to the next step in their development work. What he didn’t like was the personal life that he spent so long building and then caused to crash around him. His friends thought he was having some early midlife crisis (because he was too old for a quarter-life one, as Claudia said). They couldn’t understand why he chose to live in a tiny apartment again, eating pizza and takeout, living the bachelor life that they thought he’d been so happy to leave behind. In so many ways, he was a simple guy, with simple needs, happy to go along with whatever Claudia had planned for them. But then he realized what his life was lacking—and it was color.

  He wanted the vibrancy again, to feel as energized about his personal life as he did about his work. He had tried to explain this to Claudia, but she just couldn’t understand why he’d want to do things like go all the way into San Francisco to hang out in a crowded bar or club when they could just have all their friends over to their house for an evening of wine and cheese. Adam felt that flush of guilt all over again. She had accused him of changing on her, how he hadn’t wanted anything different during the years they were together, but now suddenly they were supposed to get married and he was getting cold feet, finding excuses.

  Maybe he had been trying to find excuses. Because if he was honest with himself, an evening in with wine and cheese sounded great—it sounded great if it was Kate he was with. Because she brought the color and vibrancy with her, and she always had. He tried to imagine his current California life with Kate. He could easily picture her there—a bit too easily. Adam shook his head. He was ahead of himself here, a useful trait when planning the vision for a new tech start-up, completely useless when planning to seduce Kate. He was going to seduce her in a way that she’d never been seduced before, body and soul. She was going to fall in love with him. She just didn’t know it yet.

  First things first. Adam booted up Kate’s computer and logged in to his e-mail. It was time to get back in touch with an old mentor of his, who was now at the Engineering school at Cooper Union. He set up a meeting for this afternoon and then texted Kate:

  Come straight home after work, I’ll handle dinner.

  “I’m home,” Kate called as she threw her bag on the floor of her apartment. “Are you really cooking?” she asked incredulously on her way to her bedroom to change out of her work clothes. She had to admit it had been nice to have Adam around to relax with. They’d even gotten into something of a routine that surprisingly didn’t feel boring.

  She padded out to her kitchen in her bare feet and peered over his shoulder. “Mahi mahi with mango salsa,” he responded to her silent inquiry.

  “Mmmm,” she inhaled. “Is that coconut I smell?”

  “Coconut rice.”

  She got out wine glasses and a bottle of red from the counter rack, closing cabinets and drawers along the way. “You’re going to have to figure out where everything is in this place if you’re going to keep cooking for me,” she smiled.

  “If I don’t leave the drawer open—”

  “You won’t know you’ve looked there. Yeah, I know,” she said. “I’m just kidding. You’re probably not going to be cooking for me much longer.”

  “Actually, I have some news.” Adam expertly plated the fish over mounds of rice. “It looks like I’m going to be in town for a while. A couple of months maybe.”

  “Oh yeah? What for? Where will you live?”

  “Some business prospects are panning out, and I want to see where those go. I got an apartment on a month-to-month lease. Nothing fancy, just a studio.”

  “Oh wow, that’s great. You’ve been busy. Where’s the apartment?”

  “Downstairs.”

  “You mean downstairs, as in, in my building, downstairs?”

  “I was here already—I decided to pop into the leasing office this morning. Some good deals on rent right now; I hope you’re not overpaying yours—”

  “You got an apartment in my building?”

  “Yeah, isn’t that convenient? I’ll meet you for a run, I’ll make you dinner—”

  “I guess so.” Kate wasn’t sure how she felt about this. It was one thing for Adam to be around because he was visiting, an opportunity to reconnect because they didn’t see each other. Now he was going to be living here? She took a bite of fish with some salsa. Delicious. Well, having him around was nice in a lot of ways. “So you’re not actually working, though. I mean, you have a job in California, right?”

  “It’s more like consulting. I’ve been doing my own thing for a little while.”

  “That sounds nice. You sure don’t have the daily grind like I do.”

  “Why do you do it? Do you like it?”

  “I do like the work. I don’t like my firm.”

  “Or your boss.”

  “Hate the boss. Oh, but I got good news. That dinner I told you about, where he pretends to want to get to know his staff’s significant others, is next week. I have to remember to tell Alberto. I’ve never been invited before!” Truly, Kate believed it was a pretty decent day at work. She was sure she got the invite because of her eagerness on Friday and because she was engaged.

  It pierced Adam to hear her talk like this. To mention Alberto and how she needs to suck up to her idiot boss all in the same breath. He wanted to pull her to him, to whisper against her ear, Don’t do this. Don’t get married. Be yourself. The way she’d pulled her hair back into a braid, wearing ratty yoga pants and a worn tank top, the way she took huge bites of food and licked her lips. It all reminded him of who she really was. Approachable, lovable. Of course, he couldn’t dwell on those lips too much, or he really would just grab her to him. He cleared his throat and tried to concentrate on his food. Doesn’t she ever wear a bra at home?

  After dinner, Kate decided to get a drink with her friend Cassandra. She invited Adam along, but he declined. He did have some work to do—another Skype meeting actually—but really he knew he needed to give her some space. He could tell that she wasn’t exactly thrilled about his new apartment being downstairs. But his plan called for proximity.

  He bit his lip when she changed into a shiny tank top that barely had straps. Wouldn’t she be cold? Her cropped pants hugged her curves like a second skin. And those “eff me” shoes—he stared hard at his computer, trying not to look up at her. “Have a nice time,” he muttered.

  Kate always made the effort to see Cass, whose work schedule didn’t always mesh with others’. Suzanne was often on call, and Mia was a homebody—a thirty-year-old body with a fifty-year-old mentality. Maybe seventy-year-old, actually—Kate had no intention of being such a homebody at fifty.

  Tonight they’d decided to meet at another newish bar that opened. Kate had been there before and she hoped it would make it through the recession. There was a decent crowd here, Kate was satisfied to see, and even more satisfied that Cass had snagged them a little table. She was not so young that standing three deep at the bar all night would suit her. Cass, of course, was in the middle of typing a message on her Blackberry and gave her a “one sec” sign. Kate wasn’t the least bit offended, knowing full well that work often had to take precedence, and besides, it gave her a moment to scan the crowd. There were some cute guys here.

  “So I hear you’re living with a hottie who’s not your husband-to-be,” Cass said in greeting, as she tucked her phone back in that giant purse she carried everywhere.

  “Shh, lower your voice,” Kate responded in mock seriousness. “No need to advertise. Besides, Adam is hardly a hottie, and I’m not really living with him. He’s just … hanging out … at my place. A lot.”

  “Not hot? Suzanne said he was ‘gorgeous.’”

  “What, are you interested? You’re with Nick, remember, who happens to be a good friend of mine.”

  Cass rolled her eyes. “N
ot me, idiot.”

  “Suzanne then? I guess she is always on the lookout for someone. I hadn’t really thought—”

  Cass cut her off impatiently. “Suzanne says there was chemistry—between Adam and you.”

  “Oh, that’s silly. That’s just two people who have known each other for eons. Nothing sexual.” The thought of her and Adam was truly preposterous. They were so platonic, he barely even looked at her. And he was well … just so not her type! Her type was one of those guys at the bar, one who kept glancing over to her table.

  In a little while, the crowd got more energetic, more fun. She and Cass joined a handful of others in dancing toward the back of the bar. Poor Adam was stuck in her apartment—working and eating takeout was no New York experience. She decided to text him to meet them and gave him the address—she wanted Cass to see for herself how platonic they were, anyway. He didn’t text her back right away; maybe he was asleep already, so she put her phone away.

  Whether because of the great vibe or having had a few drinks, Kate and Cass made quick friends with three guys at the bar and decided to join them in a round of shots. It reminded Kate of how much fun she and all the girls had when they were all single, all carefree, before things like serious relationships and serious careers came into the picture. Cass was busy chatting with one of the guys who was about to get married—where was the venue, who was doing their music, how to get his fiancée to calm down about things. Kate looked over at the one she had noticed earlier in the evening, she thought he said his name was Will—or maybe Bill. She liked ‘Will’ better, so that’s what she called him. She crooked her index finger toward her to draw him away from his friends a little. “So, Will, are you getting married too?”