"Wait, mistletoe?" he asks, lifting a brow. Though the second it's brought up, a lot of things make sense about this situation that didn't before - why Joan had sounded so annoyed and still did, why they weren't already heading to someplace more private, and why Annie had chosen to obviously not approach too closely. Those answers did not even slightly make the situation less awkward.
Even with optimal conditions with it just being Joan and he, this would be weird for him, especially when she goes and mentions Arthur, who he would never want to be on the bad side of. Adding Annie standing right next to him makes things about twenty times worse. That Joan wouldn't realize exactly why Annie's presence just adds to it, as if it weren't already bad enough.
He knows Annie is nervous, their proximity allowing him to feel the slight stiffening in her posture and there's a noticeable guilty tone in her voice. He has a good idea of why she'd be reacting that way, and while he knows already it's hardly anything they need to worry about, this really isn't the place to go bringing that up, either. It puts a bit of a damper in outright making sure Annie'd be okay with it, which seems like something he ought to do before kissing another woman in front of her. After a long beat, he exhales a slow breath, frowning.
"I guess I'll do it, then. Unless -" he trails off, almost desperately hoping Annie gets the hint that he's waiting for some kind of approval from her without spelling it out, or for her to take the job instead if there's an issue. He doesn't care at this point what happens - it'll certainly mean nothing to him - but he'd rather not upset her in the process.
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Date: 2011-12-30 09:53 pm (UTC)Even with optimal conditions with it just being Joan and he, this would be weird for him, especially when she goes and mentions Arthur, who he would never want to be on the bad side of. Adding Annie standing right next to him makes things about twenty times worse. That Joan wouldn't realize exactly why Annie's presence just adds to it, as if it weren't already bad enough.
He knows Annie is nervous, their proximity allowing him to feel the slight stiffening in her posture and there's a noticeable guilty tone in her voice. He has a good idea of why she'd be reacting that way, and while he knows already it's hardly anything they need to worry about, this really isn't the place to go bringing that up, either. It puts a bit of a damper in outright making sure Annie'd be okay with it, which seems like something he ought to do before kissing another woman in front of her. After a long beat, he exhales a slow breath, frowning.
"I guess I'll do it, then. Unless -" he trails off, almost desperately hoping Annie gets the hint that he's waiting for some kind of approval from her without spelling it out, or for her to take the job instead if there's an issue. He doesn't care at this point what happens - it'll certainly mean nothing to him - but he'd rather not upset her in the process.