Phone a frenemy

I look at the phone for a while, then make another call.

Penelope answers. “Hello, Warren. Do you have news for me?”

“Hello, Penelope. I have a little. Victoria asked me to work late tomorrow for a charity gala coming up soon.”

“That isn’t much... anything else?”

“Not yet. But if I am going to be spending a lot of time with her... maybe there is something in particular I could ask her for you? What kind of information are you looking for?”

She doesn’t reply immediately, maybe judging what to trust me with. “I would like to know if she is dating anyone. Even when we are talking, she doesn’t tell me much about her love life. Perhaps you will have better luck.”

“We have’t talked about it before, but I will look for an opportunity to bring it up.”

“Ideally, I hope to hear that she is back with her ex-fiancé, but she has a tendency to disregard my advice.”

I know literally nothing about her dating life. Not even a rumor... except the rumor that she is fucking someone in HR... but that is just the joke we make secretly for how the people she mistreats never seem to have any recourse. I have never heard of an ex-fiancé. “Fiancé... oh yeah, what was his name again?”

“Terrance. He the closest Vikki got to closing the deal with a respectable man. I may be old fashioned, but I won’t be able to rest as a mother until she is married and secure.”

“How long ago did they split things off?”

“Oh, around... five months ago. What more can you tell me about this gala?”

“Nothing yet, but I should find out more tomorrow.”

“Alright. I appreciate that you are sharing this with me, but remember that the goal is to get her to open up to me again, then I can better help you. Otherwise I can only offer things I hear through the grape vine.”

“I remember.”

“Goodbye, Warren.” Click.

Whew. That went alright. Something about her makes me nervous. Like there is a ferocious mama-bear stalking in circles with pent up energy. I shiver.

So five months ago Victoria had a breakup... Oh fuck. That was a bad month. No fucking wonder. She was tough before that, but that is about the time I decided I hate her. Since then, it’s been a constant, office-wide erosion of morale. Is it her bad dating life that is fueling her office rampages? I don't know. It sounds too simple, but it gives me an angle to investigate.