I saw Michael get up out of his seat and quickly jumped out of mine, collecting a bunch of loose papers off my desk so nobody would immediately question me as I stood up.
‘Good morning,’ I whispered, falling into step with him in the office corridor.
‘Why are you whispering?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know,’ I frowned. ‘I’m feeling extra sneaky, I guess.’
‘Well, it makes you look extra suspicious.’
‘Noted.’
‘Did you have any coffee this morning?’ he asked, gesturing to the office kitchen.
‘Not yet,’ I lied with a grin. ‘First cup, here we come.’
He turned into the kitchen, dropping his stack of files onto the rickety break-room table. I collected some mugs from the drying rack.
‘Do you know who Jeanine is?’ I asked, reading a label on the bottom of the mug.
‘No, why?’
‘No reason,’ I said quickly, spooning coffee into it. ‘Have you heard the rumours?’
‘You’ll need to be more specific,’ Michael sighed, sitting down and flicking through his phone.
‘They’re talking about installing a new office design. Melbourne had someone visit them last week and everything.’
‘That doesn’t make sense,’ Michael frowned. ‘Didn’t we just get a new office fitout?’
‘Nah, that was seven or eight years ago,’ I shook my head, pouring the boiling water.
‘Seven or eight—’ Michael cut himself off, white-knuckling the side of the table. ‘We’ve been working here nearly ten years?!’
‘Time flies, eh?’
‘Yeah,’ he sat back, considerably paler. ‘Something like that.’
‘Hopefully, they hire a company that specialises in office fitouts in the Melbourne CBD at least,’ I snorted. ‘That one we had last time was a nightmare. I think it was the boss’s cousin?’
I turned around with two mugs, but Michael was gone. I frowned and ducked my head into the hallway – just in time to see him step into an elevator, undoing his tie.
‘Michael!’ I called after him. ‘Michael, your coffee!’