The Circle

stuff yet.”
    “In stores? No, none of this stuff is in stores yet. These are prototypes and test
     runs.”
    “These are actual Levi’s?”
    Mae was holding a pair of beautiful jeans, and she was sure they did not yet exist
     in the world.
    “They might be a few months till market, maybe a year. You want those? You can ask
     for a different size.”
    “And I can wear them?”
    “As opposed to what, wiping your ass with them? Yeah, they want you to wear them.
     You’re an influential person working at the Circle! You’re a style leader, early adopter,
     all that.”
    “These are actually my size.”
    “Good. Take two. You have a bag?”
    Annie retrieved a cloth bag with the Circle logo on it and gave it to Mae, who was
     hovering over a display of new phone covers and accessories. She picked up a beautiful
     phone shell that was sturdy as stone, but with a chamois-smooth surface.
    “Crap,” Mae said. “I didn’t bring my phone.”
    “What? Where is it?” Annie asked, astounded.
    “I guess at my desk.”
    “Mae, you are incredible. You’re so focused and together, but then you have these
     weird spacy lapses. You came to lunch without your phone?”
    “Sorry.”
    “No. It’s what I love about you. You’re like part human, part rainbow. What? Don’t
     get upset.”
    “I’m just getting a lot of input today.”
    “You’re not still worried, are you?”
    “You think it’s okay, that meeting with Dan and Alistair?”
    “It’s definitely okay.”
    “He’s just that sensitive?”
    Annie rolled her eyes. “Alistair? Beyond all reason. But he writes great code. The
     guy is a machine. It’d take a year to find and train someone to do what he does. So
     we have to deal with the crazy. There are just some nuts here. Needy nuts. And there
     are those, like Dan, who enable the nuts. But don’t worry. I don’t think you’ll overlap
     much—with Alistair at least.” Annie checked the time. She had to go.
    “You stay till that bag is full,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”
    Mae stayed, and filled her bag with jeans, and food, and shoes, and a few new covers
     for her phone, a sports bra. She left the room, feeling like a shoplifter, but encountered
     no one on the way out. When she got back to her desk, there were eleven messages from
     Annie.
    She read the first:
Hey Mae, realizing I shouldn’t have gone off on Dan and Alistair that way. Wasn’t
     very nice. Not Circly at all. Pretend I didn’t say it
.
    The second:
You get my last msg?
    The third:
Starting to freak out a little. Why aren’t you answering me?
    Fourth:
Just texted you, called you. Are you dead? Shit. Forgot you forgot your phone. You
     suck
.
    Fifth:
If you were offended by what I said about Dan don’t go all silent-treatment. I said
     sorry. Write back
.
    Sixth:
Are you getting these messages? It’s v. important. Call me!
    Seventh:
If you’re telling Dan what I said you’re a bitch. Since when do we tattle on each
     other?
    Eighth:
Realizing you might just be in a meeting. True?
    Ninth:
It’s been 25 mins. What is UP?
    Tenth:
Just checked and see that you’re back at your desk. Call me this instant or we’re
     through. I thought we were friends
.
    Eleventh:
Hello?
    Mae called her.
    “What the hell, spaz?”
    “Where
were
you?”
    “I saw you twenty minutes ago. I finished in the sample room, used the bathroom, and
     now I’m here.”
    “Did you tell on me?”
    “Did I what?”
    “Did you tell on me?”
    “Annie, what the fuck?”
    “Just tell me.”
    “No, I didn’t tell on you. To who?”
    “What did you say to him?”
    “Who?”
    “Dan.”
    “I haven’t even seen him.”
    “You didn’t send a message to him?”
    “No. Annie, shit.”
    “Promise?”
    “Yes.”
    Annie sighed. “Okay. Fuck. Sorry. I sent him a message, and called him, and hadn’t
     heard back. And then I didn’t hear back from you, and my brain just put all this together
     in a weird way.”
    “Annie, shit.”
    “Sorry.”
    “I think you’re overstressed.”
    “No, I’m fine.”
    “Let me get you some drinks tonight.”
    “Thanks, no.”
    “Please?”
    “I can’t. We have too many things going on here this week. Just trying to deal with
     this clusterfuck in Washington.”
    “Washington? What about it?”
    “It’s such a long story. I can’t say, actually.”
    “But you’re the one that has to handle it? All of Washington?”
    “They give me some of the government-hassle stuff because, I don’t