Anna sat up excitedly. Much Ado was one of her favorites. “’I took no more pains for those thanks than you take pains to thank me. If it had been painful, I would not have come!’” she quoted, replying with a Beatrice quote to counter his Benedick.
Jariah smiles. He knew this scene by heart.
"'You take pleasure then in the message?'" he replies.
So did Anna.
“’Yea, just so much as you may take upon a knife’s point and choke a daw withal,’” she retorted, still quoting from memory. “‘You have no stomach, Signior. Fare you well.’”
Of all the ways she thought this conversation with her boss would go… this was not one of them.
"'Ha! Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner. Theres a double meaning in that. I took no more pains for those thanks than you took pains to thank me. Thats as much as to say, any pains that I take for you is as easy as thanks. If I do not take pity of her, I am a villain. If I do not love her, I am a Jew. I will go get her picture.'" Jariah ends the scene, starting to laugh.
Anna giggled quietly as well. “Benedick and Beatrice make quite the pairing,” she remarked. The thought and focus her work demanded was long forgotten thanks to the friendly banter with Jariah.
"They truly do, but I like the other one - Hero and what's-his-name." Jariah replies, his laughter dying down to occassional chuckles.
Anna pursed her lips in thought. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that one. I’m only familiar with a few, to be honest, like Much Ado. I’ve dabbled a bit in poetry, too,” she added, almost as an afterthought.
Jariah raises an eyebrow.
"They're from Much Ado, Anna!' he snickers.
"Oh, poetry?"
(Ah… I have fucked up 😂)
Anna blushed brilliantly. “Maybe I‘n more tired than I thought I was,” she admitted reluctantly. “But yes, poetry. ‘Show me the heart unfettered by foolish dreams and I'll show you a happy man.’”
(lmao it's fine)
"You're definitely more tired than you thought you were." Jariah laughs.
"'But only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be.'" he chuckles.
Anna couldn’t help it as she laughed in return. She beamed with uncharacteristic excitement as he replied in kind to her, again.
“Oh, my God!” she cried in disbelief. “I can’t believe we haven’t had this conversation before.”
Jariah beams right back.
"Honestly, same. I was actually supposed to be an English major when I went to college, but, um, now I'm running an accounting agency."
“I had no idea,” Anna murmured. “My major was simply business, nothing fancy… So which do you like better?” she asked teasingly. “Letters or numbers?”
"Yeah, looking at me, you'd think I was going to be, like, a weightlifter or something." he nods, amused.
"Both, in all honesty, are frustrating, but at least numbers don't lie!" he explains cheerfully.
Anna laughed quietly. “That’s not what I meant. I’m surprised that you didn’t major in something like… extraordinary complicated! And yes, that’s very true.”
"I nearly decided on quantum and theoretical physics, but I was convinced to choose English because of my love of books." he chuckles.
Anna’s eyes widened. “That’s incredible. I’m not nearly intelligent enough to understand such a topic… simple English is much easier for me to understand.” She tilted her head slightly with a smile.
"It's actually a lot simpler than people think. Sure, the equations are complex, but the theories that inspired them are easy to understand. Or so I think." he laughs.
Anna shook her head. “Easy for you to understand. My mind is not as sharp as yours is,” she quipped, her eyes studying him evenly. “I’m afraid my small mind isn’t able to conceptualize such things.”
Jariah tilts his head, then smiles.
"Sure it is. You understand numbers way better than I do, for instance."
Anna laughed softly. “You flatter me, but that’s not true. You’re always correcting me on the quarterly report spreadsheets. You notice the smaller details.”
Jariah laughs as well. "Ah, no. I just pay attention. Not that difficult, really."
Anna sighed softly. “I suppose you’re right.” She rubbed her forehead tiredly. “God, I could’ve at least grabbed a coffee or something before I came in this morning,” she muttered.
"I have some brewing, actually!" Jariah says cheerfully, standing up fluidly, like silk falling against gravity.
"Keep in mind, it's a dark roast, and it's strong enough to possibly kill God."
Anna’s eyes lit up. “That’s exactly what I need right now to get my mind back on track.” She rose gracefully to her feet and smiled softly at him. “Lead the way to the God-killing sustenance.”