Chapter 55: The Chairman

The ride was only about five minutes, but for Jackie, it felt like an eternity.

Before Bob arrived, she had imagined it’d be magical -- that they would see each other again and miraculously everything would be as right as rain.

But it wasn’t to be. Fiddling with the satchel on her lap, her mind flittered here and there, thinking of what to say.

*Sure was awkward in the lobby! Boy, can you believe it, he offered me a handshake?*

Then she thought it’d be a good idea to update Bob on the progress of the project, but found it hard to gaze into his eyes. Part of her wanted him to hold her in his arms while the other still felt resentful. She knew she was being trivial, but she had not forgotten the Natasha episode.

Bob, on his part, was trying to make Jackie feel comfortable by giving her all the space she needed, not realizing it had the opposite effect.