"Where have you been?" Eddie asked as Bobby strolled in after 9:30.
"I had to drop off some documents for Matt. What's going on?" Bobby asked, noticing that Nick, Lisa and Matt were all standing outside of Brian and Nick's office, laughing.
"Nothing really, just an exec meeting. Why?" Eddie asked.
"I... always prepare the meetings. I didn't know there was one." She said, frowning.
"Don't worry, Kevin took care of it. Besides, you were out delivering those documents." Eddie said, walking over to her desk as she settled in.
"Yeah, but why didn't they tell me?" Bobby asked.
"It was last minute. Brian and Nora just called it this morning." Eddie said, looking up as Lisa and Matt walked over towards them, laughing.
"Yeah, I guess." Bobby said, looking up in the same direction. She watched how casually the walked, Lisa putting her hand on Matt's arm for a second and laughing as if he had said something funny.
This morning, she'd woken to find that Matt DID text her... two hours after she'd gone to bed and it was just a goodnight.
She was so confused. She knew she shouldn't allow her anxiety to get the best of her but she couldn't help it. She continued to watch them as she held her phone up, completely ignoring the messages as they played. She watched them stop, talking as they stood outside Emma's office and then she saw Emma walk out and smile.
They seemed so far. They seemed so untouchable, so unreachable. They were from a completely different world from hers- beautiful, elegant, rich people. She would never be a part of that world. Then they turned, looking directly at her as they spoke. Bobby quickly averted her gaze and nodded as if she was actually on the phone.
"Right away. Yes, Thank you." She said to the machine as Matt and Lisa approached, trying to sound like she was focused on the call. She sighed, putting down the phone slowly and then looked up at Matt and Lisa who were now standing by her desk.
"Good Morning, Bobby." Lisa said in a friendly manner.
"Good Morning." Bobby said, reaching towards her purse and then turning back .
"The receipt for the documents." She said, holding out a paper to Matt who nodded as he took it.
"Thank you, Bobby." he said, looking at Lisa again.
"1 pm." He said to her and she nodded with a smile.
"1 pm." she said with a nod, turning in the direction of her office.
Bobby immediately turned back to the computer, starting it up and then glancing at the calendar. She didn't remember a meeting schedule for Matt and Lisa at 1... still, she saw they both had two hours blocked off now, so did Nick... actually, Brian and Nora had the same two hours blocked. She was about to ask if there was another last minute meeting scheduled but Matt spoke.
"I'm jumping on a call and then I have to run out." he said, turning back towards his office.
"Hold your calls?" She asked, waiting for him to look at her but instead he continued to walk .
"Yep." He said, disappearing behind his office door. She stared after it for a second, disappointed and fighting back an urge to walk in there and ask him what was wrong.
"Bobby?"
She looked up and saw Emma standing in front of her with a smile.
"Good Morning, Emma. What can I do for you?" She asked, forcing herself to act normal.
"I need you to run out and get these documents delivered. I would send one of the interns but they're extremely important and we need someone we can trust." Emma said and Bobby nodded.
"Okay sure." Bobby said.
"Bobby?" Nora said, approaching her.
"Good Morning." Bobby began and then Brian appeared.
"Hey Bobby." He said, making her stare blankly. She sure was popular that morning.
"Good Morning Brian." She said, feeling a little bit overwhelmed by how many people were now looking directly at her.
"Bobby, would you mind dropping these checks by the bank?" Nora said, handing her an envelope.
"Sure." Bobby said, taking it and thinking it was strange that they would ask her to do these types of things.
"Perfect, I need you to pick up some papers on your way back." Brian said, handing her a paper with a name and address.
"Sure, I can do this on my way to lunch." She said but Emma shook her head .
"No, it's pretty urgent. We'd appreciate it if you went now. " Emma said.
"Okay, sure. Let me just check with Matt." Bobby said but Emma again shook her head.
"It's okay. We asked him this morning and he said it was fine if you ran a few errands for us this morning." Emma said. Bobby stared at them for a second and then she nodded.
"Sure, okay. great." Bobby said, turning back towards the computer and turning the screen off.
"Why don't you take Eddie with you?"
----
"What's wrong?" Eddie asked, watching as Bobby stood in line at the bank, tapping her foot impatiently.
"What's wrong is that this line is taking forever, it's nearly noon and I still have to pick up what Brian asked me to." She said, looking at her phone for what seemed like the hundredth time. She sighed, putting it back in her pocket. Nothing, not a single text.
"Relax, we'll be back when we get back." He said, noting that she'd been distracted all moment.
"I have a lot of work to do." She said but Eddie laughed .
"trust me, it'll get done." He said.
"By who? We're too busy to be sent off on dumb errands like this." She said huffily. "I mean, dozens of interns and they send me to do this kind of nonsense?"
"Well, they're important things, besides, everyone is busy." Eddie said but Bobby let out a sound of frustration.
"Is this line ever going to move?" she said. Eddie watched her for a second. He could understand that it would bother her that she'd be sent on these menial errands like some office gopher but it couldn't be helped. Instead, he changed the subject to try to distract her.
"How are things going with Matt?" He asked suddenly, making her look at him wide-eyed.
"Shhh... someone will hear you." She whispered and he frowned.
"Not everyone in New York knows him and besides, I could literally be talking about any Matt." Eddie said.
"Still, be careful." She said.
"Yeah okay. But we haven't had a chance to talk and I want to hear how it went on your date Friday." He said with a smile, noting how she suddenly turned red.
"It was fine." She said, staring towards the front impatiently.
"Yeah... how fine?" He asked grinning ear to ear, enjoying how she was blushing. "Oh my god... you two totally did..."
"Eddie, shhhh." She said, looking around and hoping no one was watching them.
"You definitely did. Well, well, well... Roberta Darling... a woman." He said and she rolled her eyes.
"That is private." She said, moving forward as the line did.
"So... how was it?" He asked and Bobby turned to look directly at him.
"What part of private don't you understand?" She snapped.
They were both quiet for a second and the line moved forward again.
"I'm sorry." She said, feeling ashamed for having raised her voice at him.
"It's okay, I shouldn't have insisted." He said quietly. Bobby shook her head.
"You're my friend, you're curious." Bobby said, "I shouldn't have been so rude."
"Are you okay, Bobby? I noticed you were a little bit off yesterday and today you're just... not quite the bossy little Bobby I'm used to." He said. Bobby was quiet for a second.
"Actually..." She began, stepping forward again as the line did. "I don't think I am."
"What's wrong?" Eddie asked and the line moved forward again.
"We're next." She said and Bobby nodded, thinking the conversation would be over. He knew Bobby too well, she didn't like to talk about things, didn't like to admit when something was bothering her.
"Why don't we grab coffee after this and talk?" Eddie said, thinking she would say no.
"We have a lot of work waiting for us." She said and he nodded.
"Next." The woman at the window said and he moved but Bobby put her hand on his sleeve.
"But okay. Coffee sounds good." she said, stepping to the window.
---
"I know I'm being crazy. I know that but I can't help it." She said, both hands on the coffee mug. She stared down at the coffee, feeling embarrassed at talking about it but she needed to get it out, needed to say something before she actually did go insane.
"But you said he texted you goodnight?" Eddie asked.
"Only after I texted him and hours later." She said.
"So what happened this weekend? I mean, after you woke up on Saturday?" He asked, knowing it must be hard for her to talk about it, she was such a private person.
"We had breakfast and then, when I told him I needed to go home, he insisted on coming with me. We spent Saturday watching TV and he left after dinner." She said.
"And did he call you Sunday?" Matt asked. Bobby shook her head.
"No. He texted me around lunch, asked me how my day was going. I responded but he never replied after that." Bobby said. Eddie watched her, thinking how pathetic she looked sitting there, so forlorn. He felt sorry for her, felt like he needed to reach out and tell her she was okay but he wasn't sure how to.
"I think you just really need to talk to Matt." He said after a few minutes. "You need to tell him, explain to him how you've been feeling. This isn't some small thing, you just lost your virginity."
"so that means it's normal for me to be crazy?" She asked and he sighed.
"Not crazy. You feel insecure. It's a big thing, a big deal. Talk to him." He said and Bobby shook her head.
"No, there's absolutely no way. No way I could tell him..." she said.
"Well, then you're just going to have to be okay with things as they are." He said and Bobby groaned.
"I just don't understand the change from last week to this week." She said, "I know we're busy but last week he called, he texted me and now..."
Eddie stared at her for a moment.
"What if... what if he's not interested anymore?" Bobby finally said the words out loud and Eddie just stared at her.
"Bobby, you know him best. I know that in the past, he wasn't the most constant when it came to women..." Eddie began.
"Oh god." She muttered, feeling like she would be sick. "what if he regrets it? what if he realizes how much better Lisa was for him?"
"Bobby, let me finish... BUT I also know that you're different. You've always been different." Eddie said, making her look up at him. "You have to make up your mind and trust him. Not just that he's not playin with you but trust him enough to tell him how you feel."
"You're right." Bobby said, looking at the clock. "We should get going."
Eddie looked up. Almost 1.
"Let me just finish my coffee and we can go."
---
Bobby set her things down at her desk and looked around. Everyone was quiet, focused on the work they were doing. She scanned the room, deciding she would talk to Matt a the first opportunity. She just couldn't continue driving herself crazy like this- it wasn't rational and Bobby believed in being rational.
She noticed Emma, talking to Brian and Nora, then Nick talking to Danny... so where was Matt.
"Yeah, right." Lisa's voice suddenly boomed, making her turn as she heard the laughter that followed. It was Matt and he was walking out of Lisa's office. Bobby straightened herself out, thinking that she would tell Matt when he approached her that she needed to talk to him. She looked up and opened her mouth but Matt didn't even turn to look at her.
He only continued to walk on with Lisa, laughing at everything she said.
Bobby stared for several minutes, her heart feeling like it was literally ripping in her chest.
"Bobby?"
She couldn't explain it, the urge to run and keep running.
"Bobby?"
"I'm sorry. What can I do for you?" She said, turning suddenly to Nora and Brian who stood in front of her, their faces completely serious.
"Bobby, we need to see you in the conference room... now."