post Nadine & Mike break-up.
"Besides," she tells Daisy, "he'll be back."
"How do you know?"
Nadine shrugs a little, half her mouth quirking in a tiny smile. "I know." Daisy brandishes the champagne bottle in front of her again, and Nadine gives in. "Yeah, hell. That champagne's not gonna drink itself."
She drinks a little too much; certainly more than she usually allows herself to have at work. No one else can tell but she can feel it, all the bubbles swimming around in her head. She hiccups a little as she's gathering all her things to go home for the night.
He doesn't call her.
The thing is, she isn't used to this. She isn't accustomed to being the one who's dumped; isn't sure what to make of a situation where she's the one left behind. She misses him. She doesn't know what to do with that, either.
The bigger problem, of course, is that they still work together. Mike may have broken up with her, but they still have to figure out how to maintain that part of their relationship. He won't even speak to her at the moment, so hell if she knows how they're going to accomplish this.
/
Mike is standing at the elevator bank waiting for the doors when he hears the clack of heels behind him. He tenses for a moment — he really was just hoping to get in and out without running into her today — before he realizes that it isn't Nadine's footsteps. Nadine's gait is different and her heels sound different, too.
Daisy stops a few feet away from him, nose buried in a memo. He relaxes.
"You should call her," Daisy says without looking up. There's no one else around, so he knows she's talking to him.
"Excuse me?"
"She won't admit it, but I think she misses you. And I think you miss her, too."
Mike glances at her, but she has a good poker face and he doesn't know her all that well to begin with. "It's not that simple."
"That's what she said, too."
"She did, huh." He wants to ask what else she said, if she seemed sad or upset or if she mentioned him or if she cares at all.
The elevator dings, and then the doors slide open. Daisy snaps her folder shut. "I mean, do what you want," she says, shrugging. "But the ball is in your court, now. And you shouldn't let your pride make your decisions for you."
As he gets into the elevator, she spins on her heel and walks back in the direction she came. Figures she wouldn't have anything better to do than to seek him out for nothing more than a dressing down. He sighs, and the doors slide shut and elevator begins to descend.