Page 84 of The Apparent Trap

And I particularly hate that the only person I think I could explain it to is Lee.

But he’s not moving. And I have to accept that this doesn’t change anything between us. The list of his reasons was long, and his choice was never for us to try and stay friends. His choice was strangers.

And I guess after today, now with that last tether severed, we really will be.

I get up to go put out dessert plates. And we all eat Carmen’s tres leches with so much more out in the open. And yet with so many things still beating under the surface.

Chapter 27

Whenever Christmas is on a Friday, the following Monday, every single person in the office appears to be dragged back against their will. It’s bad enough that Christmas is over. It’s bad enough that you work in a place that unfortunately can’t shut down between Christmas and New Year’s (a moment to regret working in news production). But the extra layer of the Monday of it all really feels like a second spin on a broken carousel.

Which is why I’m shocked when I see Georgia rolling into the studio looking fresh as a daisy. I shuffle over to her. “What are you doing in today?” Typically the biggest perk of being the main anchor is that you get all the best holiday periods off. When the ratings are softer because everyone’s on vacation, there’s no reason to call in your top players.

“Carmen asked me to swap,” she says, nonchalant, like nothing could be more normal.

I’m not buying it.

“You can’t swap with someone whose job is below yours. Any of the third-hour anchors who cover the first and second hours are doing it because you have the day off. You don’t fill in for them.”

The hair and makeup team swoop in to touch her up, and now I know I’m not getting a straight answer out of her. It’s hard to grill someone who’s surrounded by people making it very clear who’s the most important character in the scenario.

“Why does it matter?” she asks, her words hard to make out because she’s getting extra gloss put on her lips.

“You’re being weird.”

“You should understand someone coming into work when they’re bored.”

“Oh, this is boredom related?” I tease.

“This conversation certainly is.” She flashes an amused grin. “Gotta start the show. Watch and enjoy!”

She shoos me away, and my eyes narrow on her as I walk backward out of the studio. Something is up with her. She’s not fooling me.

I sit down at my desk but can’t shake wanting to know why Georgia came in today. I’m too nosy for my own good. Maybe Carmen confided to her about my dad, and Georgia’s just being a good colleague and filling in so no one notices Carmen needs a day off? No way. Carmen’s maybe opening up a little bit, but that level of confession feels like a bridge too far.

Maybe Carmen is genuinely sick, unrelated to my dad, and asked Georgia to fill in? Also unrealistic. Not because Georgia wouldn’t jump in for anyone—she’s the kind of person who’ll go one hundred steps out of her way for a person she’s just met—but because I know Carmen’s spine is too full of steel to call out sick from work unless she’s on her deathbed.

I text Carmen. Didn’t realize you’d be out today. All okay?

I stare at my phone, waiting for a reply that never comes.

The show starts, and I watch it out of the corner of my eye. Tate—the other 9:00 a.m. anchor who’s usually with Carmen and Jenny—is filling in as the other coanchor this morning. They start with news, but everything’s a little light because of the holidays. There’s a segment about an earthquake in Indonesia. Georgia does an interview with our lead economics reporter about the end-of-year stock market gains. There’s a feel-good piece about a community that came together to adopt all its shelter animals for Christmas. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

I zone out for a while and get through a backlog of emails I have—pitches, scheduling, research for future shoots. I could be working on my Olympics segments, since I have some rough cuts I should be going over. Selfishly, though, I think I’m going to give myself a few more days before I have to look at Lee’s face on repeat.

But I do a double take when I glance up at the screen and see that he’s there.

Why is Lee on the show today? It’s Monday. He’s never on the show on Mondays?

And in a segment with Georgia?

I grab the remote and turn the volume of the closest television on. There aren’t many people in the office today, but everyone who is is wearing noise-canceling headphones anyway.

“Our favorite chef Lee Morgan is here!” Georgia says. Despite the fact that she’s been salty toward him for months, today she’s beaming at him like he’s the most interesting man on earth. “With the holidays over and New Year’s coming up, there’s a lot of resolutions happening—including resolutions on dating! Since food can be the way to people’s hearts, Lee is here with some great tips for asking someone out through a recipe, and then he’s going to show us one. Tell me what you’ve got, Lee.”

What the hell kind of segment is this?

He turns toward her, confident. “So you know the famous marry-me chicken recipe? Where it’s so good someone would marry you just so they could have it all the time?”