A Quiet Man

It is a very pregnant Amanda Park that meets Geoffrey the following day for lunch.

She waddles over to his table, skillfully maneuvering her enormous stomach around other café patrons, making sure to smile cheerfully at everyone she passes. When she arrives in front of him, Geoffrey stands to hug her before helping settle her into a chair.

“I love when you call me,” she says. “It means something’s bothering you. I love when something bothers you.”

Geoffrey gives her a small grin. “I hope that kid of yours is due soon,” he tells her in the most playful way he can.

Amanda laughs. “I really hope that was your polite way of calling me fat, Geoff.”

Geoffrey has known Amanda since his first year of college. He hasn’t been able to get rid of her since.

“How’s Joseph?” Geoffrey asks.

“Oh, you know, he’s been awful busy knocking me up. Oh, I’m pregnant, by the way. Did you know?” She points to her stomach, which looks considerably larger than it should because of her tiny 5’1” frame. “Other than that, he’s just crunching numbers and bringing home the bacon.”

Geoffrey nods and smiles. “And you?”

“Well, they’re sticking me on more domestic cases because of the growth in my stomach. Sympathy from the jury or something to that effect.” She rubs her stomach and falls into the baby talk that she knows really grinds Geoffrey’s ears. “And this little winner makes Mommy want to dig out her insides with a spork. Yes he does.”

Geoffrey rolls his eyes and throws a piece of ice from his water at her. “I resent that, Geoff. I am with child. You almost struck your godson.” The she sticks her tongue out and throws a piece of ice right back. “No need to ask how you are. I haven’t seen you this wound up since they offered you the junior partnership at Ole Whatshisface & Clarke three years ago. What’s going on with you?”

They are interrupted momentarily by their waiter, who takes their orders while eyeing Amanda’s bulging stomach. He stops when Amanda tells him that she is a lawyer at a very lucrative firm (which she is) and would have no problems suing the pants off of him if he didn’t stop ogling her stomach (which she wouldn’t do).

Geoffrey and Amanda both graduated college in three years instead of four, and they both attended the same law school and graduated at the top of their class. Somewhere in there, they managed to date for two years before Amanda decided she would prefer Geoffrey’s oldest friend, Joseph Kellerman. Geoffrey had been friends with Joseph since that day in middle school when they were dropped into the same dumpster. If it hadn’t been for Geoffrey starting an internship with one of the top law firms in the country, an internship Amanda had turned down to spend more time with Joseph, he might have been a little upset.

So Geoffrey had basically gotten the life Amanda probably would have had: an internship people would kill for, a job right out of law school, a junior partnership in just over a year, and absolutely no one waiting for him when he got back to his apartment in the evening. Instead, Amanda chose a less demanding internship, a job with a lower stress level and smaller chance of promotion, and Joseph, an accountant. Geoffrey never decided who got the better deal.

Once the waiter leaves, Amanda repeats her question. “Well,” Geoffrey begins, “we’ve recently replaced Mrs. Bates at the firm, and—“

“What happened to the dinosaur?” Amanda asks, confused.

“She died,” Geoffrey replies.

“Oh. Please continue,” she says.

“Well the girl we’ve hired to replace her… She’s… Well, she’s something,” Geoffrey finishes lamely. “And I don’t—That’s is, I can’t seem to… I just—I don’t know.”

“Awww,” Amanda’s smile turns mocking. “I think you’ve got a crush, Geoff!”

“What?” Geoffrey can feel his face heat up. “N-No, I don’t think—Absolutely not, Amanda. She’s… Just, no.”

“Don’t tell me no, Geoffrey. I know you better than you do most of the time,” she tells him. “I bet she’s pretty, but the exotic kind of pretty. That’s more your type. She probably never shuts up, too. That’s also your type. I’m also willing to bet that you haven’t said more than ten words at a time to her, and you were probably rude.”

Geoffrey fiddles with his napkin and tries to remember why he called Amanda Park if she was only going to sit there and be honest with him. Was that what he really needed? And he wouldn’t say Mickey was exotic…

“Amanda, I—“ Geoffrey begins.

“You don’t need to make excuses, Geoff. It’s okay for you to like someone. It’s not a promise or a commitment. It just means you’re not dead.” Amanda shoves more salad into her mouth.

Geoffrey opens his mouth so say something that would put an end to the conversation, though he hasn’t figured out exactly what yet. He is saved the trouble by Amanda slamming down her fork and exclaiming, ”HOLY MARY MOTHER OF FUCK!” and clutching her stomach.

Ignoring the stares of the other customers, she scrunches her face up tight before letting out a slow, steady breath. “I swear this kid is a ninja or something with the way he kicks. Why am I Asian?” she whines.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Amanda is one of the best lawyers in the state.

Amanda doesn’t bring up Mickey again until they have finished eating and Geoffrey has paid for their meals. She manages catch Geoffrey in a bone-crushing hug, despite the huge height difference and her protruding tummy.

She whispers something in his ear then, and if he were more in touch with his emotions they would be stirred. “You have so much love in you Geoffrey, it’s written all over how you do your job. But a job can’t love you back, and you’re wasting your heart on a cold hardwood courtroom. Don’t be afraid of how you feel, babe.”

She kisses him on the cheek, tweaks his nose, and marches off towards her car.

Geoffrey doesn’t fully understand what she means just then, so he files it away with all the other advice she’s ever given him and goes back to the office. He arrives to find Mickey’s desk cluttered with photos and keepsakes and files but openly Mickey-less. He knows she’s in the Archives, and he specifically tells himself that under no circumstances will he enter the Archives until he is sure she is not there, not that he’s avoiding her. No, he’s going to go right to his office and return a few phone calls.

He finds Mickey Magee sitting on the floor between two shelves. She is staring hard at a long row of files, not blinking or moving, as if trying to fuse her mind with the dusty papers and learn their secrets. Geoffrey recognizes the look, because it is one he has often worn while perusing the shelves.

She does not acknowledge him for several moments. Finally, she throws up her hands before slamming them back down onto her wrinkled black trousers. ”Who the hell was this woman?!” Mickey shrieks. “I can’t start fixing this damn system until I figure out the old system! At this rate, I’m going to have to get the NSA or freaking MIT on the phone before I get started!” She slams her head back into the shelf behind her, winces, and rubs furiously at the place of impact.

A crease appears between her eyebrows as she frowns at the names and dates. She chews her bottom lip and taps impatiently on her knee. She fidgets, something else Geoffrey decides he doesn’t like about Mickey Magee.

She turns her face up to look him in the eyes, her olive skin catching right in the overhead fluorescence. The harsh light creates shadows all along her long and slender neck. She looks at him as if she is just realizing he is there. “Was there something you needed, Mr. Downing?”

Geoffrey fights to keep him face composed, though he suddenly realizes he has no reason for being down there. “I wanted to see if there had been any messages or clients for me since I stepped out,” he lies smoothly. “But I guess you haven’t really been upstairs since then.”

“Oh,” she replies, turning her face back to the object of her frustration. The shadows rise up from her neck and paint themselves across her lovely face. “Yeah, I haven’t really moved from this spot in the past few hours. I’m thinking maybe if I sit here long enough, these old shelves will speak to me and divulge their dusty secrets.”

Geoffrey doesn’t tell her that he’s thought the exact same thing hundreds of times. Instead, “You’ve been down here for the last few hours? You didn’t have lunch or anything?”

“Hm?” Mickey responds. Geoffrey gets the feeling she still doesn’t fully realize he’s there. “Oh, uh, Craig brought me a sandwich earlier, so I’m doing okay.”

Geoffrey nods, and he feels as though an itch is starting just below his skin. “Right,” he says tightly, “I’ll just head back to my office then.”

“K,” is all she says.

Geoffrey stalks back to his office, all but slamming the door behind him. He immediately buries himself under paperwork, throwing his mind into every single detail before him. It is only then that he feels himself starting to understand what Amanda meant.