Free Sparkle by Rudy Yuly Page B

there. “Happy Saturday,” he smiled broadly, flashing white teeth. “You’re up early.”
    “Yep.”
    “Exciting Friday night?”
    Jolie laughed as she finished stashing her stuff in her small locker. “Stayed home and watched a movie. Actually, I didn’t even finish it.”
    “Coffee?” Mark offered.
    “Sure.”
    “I ground the beans myself. Torrefazione Italia. White and sweet, right?”
    “Uh, yeah, actually.”
    “This is your mug, right?”
    Jolie nodded. Mark poured the coffee, added a healthy splash of organic half-and-half from the small fridge under the counter, and stirred in a packet of raw sugar.
    “I’m getting the hang of this whole Seattle coffee thing.” He presented it to her proudly.
    “White and sweet. I’m forcing myself to not say ‘just like you.’”
    Jolie grimaced. “Ooooh.” She took a sip. “Good coffee. Bad joke.”
    “Actually, your night sounds about as exciting as mine,” he went on, oblivious. “I was kind of bored.” Mark took a sip of his own coffee. “In fact, I almost called you.”
    “Oh, yeah?” She hadn’t given him her number. Not that he couldn’t just look in the staff directory.
    “Yeah. Remember Jim, the old on-call vet? His sister sings with some jazz group, and he called me up last night to say she was playing at a club in Fremont. Do you like jazz? I haven’t really listened to it much, but I thought it might be worth a try. I almost called you to see if you wanted to go.”
    “Oh, wow. Yeah, I remember Jim.” Jolie grabbed her clipboard. “Well, I guess I should get going. Thanks for the coffee.”
    “Hold up,” Mark said. “I’ll come with you.”
    They walked out into the rising sun.
    Mark was quiet for a moment. “So…do you think you might’ve gone?”
    “Well, I liked Jim,” Jolie said.
    “Yeah, he’s a nice guy.”
    “But…I’m not really into jazz,” Jolie said. “I guess I probably wouldn’t have, to tell you the truth.” She noticed Mark’s discomfort. “It’s not you, though. Just jazz.”
    They walked in uncomfortable silence for a few moments.
    “Is it me, though? Mark said. “Because I’m kind of getting a not-too-hopeful vibe here. If it’s me, just tell me so I can retire from the field with dignity.”
    Oh boy. Jolie blew out a breath. “The thing is, Mark, I do think you’re a great guy, and a good boss, but that’s the problem. The whole work thing.”
    “It’s not really a problem if you don’t want it to be. There’s no actual policy against it.”
    “You checked?” Jolie laughed.
    “Yeah, “I did. Wanna know the page number?”
    Jolie smiled. Maybe she was being too hard on him. “It’s not about the policy, Mark. You seem like a very nice guy. I’ve just never really had good experiences dating coworkers. And especially bosses.”
    “Dated a lot of your bosses, have you?”
    “None, actually.”
    “Well, at the risk of sounding hopelessly pathetic—will you at least think about it?”
    “You know, I’m absolutely at a loss for what to say.”
    “Your birthday’s in a couple of days, right?”
    “Yeah. How’d you know?”
    “I’m your supervisor. It’s my job to know.”
    “Uh-huh,” Jolie said.
    “Listen, I’d love to buy you a beer or something on your birthday. It doesn’t even have to be a date. I bet everyone would want to celebrate after work. Will you just think about it?”
    Jolie hesitated. She suddenly felt she was acting like a prude. Mark “wasn’t her type?” Actually, she hadn’t dated enough guys recently to even know what her grownup type was. The bad boy musicians she’d favored in college had been uniformly disastrous.
    “I guess I am thinking about it,” she finally said. “Would you mind if I invited everyone but you?”
    Mark’s face fell. She saw him stiffen.
    “I’m just kidding. Sheesh. I’m not going on a date with you, okay, Mark? Not now. But sure, let’s all go have a beer.”
    “Say no more. Besides, you’ve already got a