
Kris is sitting by herself, eating lunch. She scrolled through her emails and checked her Reddit. She is feeling bored. It's been a while since she and Marian had lunch together. She is starting to miss her best friend. She looks around at the other employees eating in the cafeteria, but none of them are people she knows well enough to talk to at lunchtime. She goes back to looking at her phone. A few minutes later, Graham walks in. He is looking to see if Robin is in the cafeteria, but he isn't. Graham remembers that Robin is moving Aurora in this week, which probably means they are returning to their place at lunchtime to unpack stuff.
Graham sees that Kris is eating by herself. He feels bad for her, so he starts to walk towards her. Kris looks up again and makes eye contact with Graham. She hopes that he isn't coming this way to sit next to her. After their late-night overtime assignment, she has avoided going down to accounting with all her effort. She doesn't know what was in the water that day because she was feeling something for Graham that she had never felt before. Graham reaches Kris's table and asks, "Can I sit with you?" She motions to a chair next to her and hears the thud of Graham sitting in the seat.
Graham has a large smile on his face. He always does. Kris starts to realize that she thinks that she hasn't seen Graham in a bad mood, ever. Graham smiles at Kris and asks, "Hey boss, how was your kitty?" Kris relaxes after hearing this. She is happy he wants to talk about her cat and not them. Kris smiles at Graham. "She's great. Thanks for finishing up our job that night. I needed to get home to feed. Her." Graham smiles, "Not a big deal. What's her name again?" Kris, "Olive." Graham puts his hands on his cheeks, "That's a cute name for a cat. Even when she gets fully grown, it will work. Do you have any new pictures?' Kris has an even bigger smile on her face as she pulls her phone over, "Okay, but remember that you asked for this!"
She starts showing Graham about 20 different pictures of her cat. Graham politely reacts to each new one. He then says when she is done, "So cute." Kris excitedly replies, "I am glad you think so. As her owner, I think she is cute, but it's nice to hear that, objectively speaking, it is true." Graham nods and says, "Totally." Next, Kris asks him, "Do you have a cat of your own?" Graham chuckles, "Oh no, I know better than that." Kris starts cracking up, "Don't think you are ready yet?" Graham starts nodding, "Not to have my own. Maybe in a few years. But for now, I will have to be content with cat pictures from my friends."
Kris had never considered her and Graham to be friends, but it didn't feel forced when he said it today. She wonders what it will be like to have another friend from work. Marian is a girl, so it's different. She has never befriended any of the male employees. She is going into uncharted territory. She decides to try something new. She looks at Graham and tells him, "You can come play with Olive if you want." She had said it as a way to help build a friendship, but after saying it out loud and to Graham, it felt almost like a date. She tries to backpedal. "Just so you can get in some kitten time before she grows into a cat." Graham ponders this for a moment. He has never really hung out with another female from work. He has dated them. He has gone to do some things with Marian, but Robin is always there. He looks at Kris and realizes that she is his supervisor, and she would never allow anything inappropriate to happen, so he says, "I will take you up on that." After this, there is a long pause between the two of them. Both are sitting at the table waiting for the other to take the conversation.
Finally, Graham caves in and says, "What about if we went out for a drink and then visited your cat?" Kris ponders this for a minute and says, "I could do that. I have been wanting to find a way to pay you back for dinner the other night, so I will buy the drinks." Graham smiles at Kris, "You don't have to pay me back. I was doing something nice. I don't expect something in return when I do something nice." Kris folds her arms and says, "Okay. But I still want to."
Kris does not like feeling like she owes anyone anything. This would be the perfect opportunity to settle the debt and show off her cat. Kris continues, "Does Friday night work for you?" Graham smiles even more, "Sure. Friday night for beers and..." He stops himself mid-sentence. Kris winces and says, "You were about to say a bad word for a cat, right?" Graham looks at her and defends himself, "At least I stopped myself before I said it out loud." Kris gets annoyed. This is the classic Graham. She is ready to leave. "Good for you? I will see you later." She gets up, throws her trash away, and then leaves the cafeteria.
While walking out, Kris texts Marian and tells her that Graham and she are going out for drinks and that Marian needs to come as a buffer. Marian agrees immediately to come. At the same time, in the cafeteria, Graham is texting Robin. He tells Robin that he and Kris are going to drinks, and Robin needs to come so it doesn't look like a date. Robin refuses. Then Graham says he will do anything for Robin if he comes. Robin requests that Graham lend him and Aurora his truck and help them move. Graham begrudgingly agrees to help. Anything to make it less awkward.


