-          You’ve got quite a view here. I bet you love this corner.

-          Yeah, it is nice and cozy but you know, it’s a pain in the ass to try to keep the glass clean.

I took a seat on a chair. The situation was getting awkward, since I had no idea why she decided to invite me into her house on a Wednesday night. I decided to fill the silence with a small talk until she finally tells me what the fuck am I doing here. I pointed to the pictures:

-          So, where the rest of the Family?

-          The kids are at the summer camp. And I divorced Dave a few months ago.

Ok, this small talk just made the entire conversation even more awkward. And why on earth would you keep the pictures of the man that you recently divorced at the most visible spot of the house? Come on, spit it out, why am I here?

-          Oh, I’m sorry for that.  Must be hard for the kids. I assume you called me here to talk about the supplies?

I had no idea why she called me, I just had to say something and bring the conversation to the point. She hesitated for a moment, like she was deciding whether or not to tell the truth.

-          … Oh… yes… Supplies. Right. Hey, you want an apple pie? I just made an apple pie.

-          No, thanks, I’ll have a glass of water though…

She looked happy that she could use this moment and delay the conversation for a bit.

-          You want a club soda?

-          Tap is fine – and realizing that we are drifting away from having a real talk I decided to bring it up again – So, what about supplies?

She instantly turned red. She is actually quite pretty despite looking a little beaten by life. In her mid-late thirties, skinny body, dark circles. She looked around the room like looking for the answers and it seemed like she made a decision that made her feel better.

-          Yes, supplies, sorry to ask you to come here, I know we could have talked in my or in your office, I just thought it would be better to have a less official ambience – she was almost justifying herself and rambling from one topic to another – and the supplies, you know, we might not need as many as we are using now, are they going to expire?

This is clearly not the reason why she called me here. She changed her mind on having real conversation. Just pussed out in the middle of it.

-          It depends on the item, you know, they all have different expiration dates. I don’t know the expiration date of every single item off the top of my head, but I have a spreadsheet that I can send you if you want.

-          That would be nice, thank you…. Em… I… I also wanted to talk about Jim, you know we don’t use him as much, so if you need an extra pair of hands – you can always borrow him from us.

I have never seen her like this, she was always easy to approach and easy to talk to. Our strictly work relationship was always full of short messages, straight-to-the-point emails without formal headers and footers and friendly jokes with mutual respect and professionalism. She is a head of adjacent department that we work closely with and is very reliable to make the right decision at the right time. Now, for the first time since I know her she was mumbling, avoiding eye contact and talking about things that don’t matter. This is one of the weirdest conversations I have ever had.

-          You sure you don’t want an apple pie?

Realizing that she is not going to talk the real business I finally gave in and decided to put an end to it.

-          No thanks, you know what… I just remembered that I was invited to a birthday party. Thanks for the invitation though. Next time let’s meet at a bar, I know a place and I’m buying.

I left the house with the strangest silly feeling in my guts.