The Circle

You?”
    “Good.”
    “Well, you
should
be good,” Annie said. “You are killing it!”
    “You think?”
    “C’mon. False modesty won’t work here. You should be psyched.”
    “Okay. I am.”
    “I mean, you’re like a meteor here. It’s insane. People are coming to
me
trying to get to
you
. It’s just … so crazy.”
    Something had crept into Annie’s voice that Mae recognized as envy, or its close cousin.
     Mae ran through a string of possibilities of what she could say in response. Nothing
     was right.
I couldn’t have done it without you
would not work; it sounded both self-aggrandizing and condescending. In the end,
     she chose to change the subject.
    “Sorry about asking stupid questions back there,” Mae said.
    “It’s okay. But you put me on the spot.”
    “I know. I just—I saw you and wanted to spend time with you. And I didn’t know what
     else to ask about. So are you really okay? You look wiped out.”
    “Thank you, Mae. You know how much I like to be told seconds after I appear in front
     of your millions that I look terrible. Thank you. You’re sweet.”
    “I’m just worried. Have you been sleeping?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe I’m off-schedule. I’m jet-lagged.”
    “Is there anything I can do? Let me take you out to eat.”
    “Take me out to eat? With your camera and me looking so terrible? That sounds fantastic,
     but no.”
    “Let me do something for you.”
    “No, no. I just need to get caught up.”
    “Anything interesting?”
    “Oh you know, the usual.”
    “The regulatory stuff went well? They were really putting a lot on you out there.
     I worried.”
    A chill swept through Annie’s voice. “Well, you had no reason to worry. I’ve been
     doing this for a while now.”
    “I didn’t mean I was worried in that way.”
    “Well, don’t worry in
any
way.”
    “I know you can handle it.”
    “Thank
you
! Mae, your confidence in me will be the wind beneath my wings.”
    Mae chose to ignore the sarcasm. “So when do I get to see you?”
    “Soon. We’ll make something happen.”
    “Tonight? Please?”
    “Not tonight. I’m just gonna crash and get fresh for tomorrow. I have a bunch of stuff.
     There’s all the new work on Completion, and …”
    “Completing the Circle?”
    There was a long pause, during which Mae was sure that Annie was relishing this piece
     of news, unknown to Mae.
    “Yeah. Bailey didn’t tell you?” Annie said. A certain exasperating music had entered
     her voice.
    “I don’t know,” Mae said, her heart burning. “Maybe he did.”
    “Well, they’re feeling very close now. I was out there removing some of the last barriers.
     The Wise Men think we’re down to the last few hurdles.”
    “Oh. I think I might have heard that,” Mae said, hearing herself, hearing how petty
     she sounded. But she
was
jealous. Of course she was. Why would she have access to information that Annie did?
     She knew she had no right to it, but still, she wanted it, and felt she was closer
     to it than this, than hearing about it from Annie, who had been halfway around the
     world for three weeks. The omission threw her back to some ignominious spot at the
     Circle, some plebeian place of being a spokeswoman, a public shill.
    “So you’re sure I can’t do anything for you? Maybe some kind of mudpack to help with
     the puffiness under your eyes?” Mae hated herself for saying it, but it felt so good
     in that moment, like an itch scratched hard.
    Annie cleared her throat. “You’re so kind,” she said. “But I should get going.”
    “You sure?”
    “Mae. I don’t want this to sound rude, but the best thing for me right now is to get
     back to my desk so I can get back to work.”
    “Okay.”
    “I’m not saying that in a rude way. I actually just need to get caught up.”
    “No, I know. I get it. That’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow anyway. At the Concept Kingdom
     meeting.”
    “What?”
    “There’s a Concept King—”
    “No. I know what it is. You’re going?”
    “I am. Bailey thought I should go.”
    “And broadcast it?”
    “Of course. Is that a problem?”
    “No. No,” Annie said, clearly stalling, processing. “I’m just surprised. Those meetings
     are full of sensitive intellectual property. Maybe he’s planning to have you attend
     the beginning or something. I can’t imagine …”
    Annie’s toilet flushed, and Mae saw that she’d stood up.
    “You leaving?”
    “Yeah. I’m really so late I want to