Kyle sat on the bench and sipped his coffee. Still a little too hot for his liking, but not the worst it could be.
He idly pulled out his phone and checked his social media for the 3rd time in as many minutes. Same old, same old. He pulled down from the top and refreshed the page, watching the loading icon spin around as it pulled in new posts.
Nothing yet. He tried it again, noticing the way the icon spun around and feeling a small, almost imperceptible twinge of sadness when it went away. He refreshed again, just to see the icon once more. And again. And-
"Kyle? Is that you?"
He looked up suddenly, jolted out of his reverie. The woman who spoke to him gasped. "Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to startle you, you just..." She paused and cocked her head to the side. "Wait, that really is you!"
Kyle stared at the woman for a moment, and, after a moment, gasped as well. "Oh, wow! Quinn!" He stood up and gave her a somewhat awkward hug. "How've you been? I haven't seen you since graduation!"
Quinn broke off the hug and pushed her glasses back up with her index finger. "Good, really good. Ended up getting an internship at that research firm, one thing led to another, now I'm the head of HR!"
"That's amazing!" replied Kyle. "I'm, uh, doing okay. Just got bumped up to regional manager, so I'm pretty stable. Not quite head of HR, though."
"Hey, that's still really good!" She looked at her watch. "Hey, I'm on break right now, do you wanna get some coffee and..." Her eyes shifted to the half-empty cup in his hand. "Oh, you already got some. But let's meet up some time, alright? We'll get dinner or something."
"Absolutely."
"Tonight at 7? We'll meet back here, agreed?"
"Agreed," said Kyle.
Quinn blinked a couple times, then blushed and stammered "S-See you then!" as she walked off.
* * *
"So," said Kyle, "how is it you managed to go from an intern fresh out of college to the head of HR in just two years?"
Quinn held up a finger, signaling for him to wait as she chewed her food. Finally, she swallowed. "Oh, y'know, just strong work ethic and speaking up in meetings. I mean, having a woman in a high position is good for PR, and you know how, uh, 'eager' I can be. I just kinda pushed for it, I guess."
Kyle whistled. "Well, let me just say, I'm super proud of you. That's really amazing what you pulled off, you know that?"
"Oh, stop! It's nothing special, really!"
"Though, I do gotta ask..."
Quinn cocked her head to the side. "Yeah?"
"Why HR? I mean, I thought you were a psychology student. Doesn't seem like a natural evolution for me."
She shrugged. "I dunno, it was interesting to me. Plus, a lot of HR people ended up quitting a little while after I got there, so it was an easy slot to fit into."
"I guess that makes sense. Still, do you miss not getting to flex your psych muscles?"
"Oh, I get plenty of workout in that area, believe me."
"How so?"
Quinn smiled. "Trade secret," she winked.
Kyle laughed. "Alright, don't tell me then."
Quinn took a sip of her drink. "Hey, Kyle? Do you remember that time you helped me on that one psych project?"
He thought for a moment. "Uh... I know I helped you study a lot, but..."
"You know, the one with the..." She blushed and lowered her voice. "Like the pocketwatch and stuff?"
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah. That time you tried to hypnotize me?"
"Tried?" Quinn looked almost offended. "I succeeded!"
"Yeah, right. I'd remember if it happened, wouldn't I?"