Chapter 20 - Day 2 Counteroffer #2
"I know."
Maya stared at me.
"You've wanted that for months."
I pointed my fork at her.
"Exactly."
She paused.
Then-
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Ben looked between us.
"What?"
Maya's face slowly transformed.
"Oh."
"What?" Ben repeated.
I groaned.
"Maya."
"He remembered."
"Don't."
"Angel."
"Don't."
Ben's eyes widened.
"Vale remembered she wanted it?"
"Yes."
Daniel frowned.
"How did he know?"
"Apparently he heard me talking about it."
Maya stared at me.
"When?"
"Great question."
I looked directly at her.
"Because I remember telling you."
She thought about it.
Then her eyes widened.
"Oh my God."
"What?"
"That was months ago."
"I know."
"No, like-months."
"I know, Maya."
"And he remembers?"
"Yes."
Ben sat back.
"This is getting weird."
"Thank you."
"I mean weird even for him."
"Thank you again."
Nicole looked at me.
"Are you taking it?"
"No."
Four faces fell.
I frowned.
"Why does everybody keep looking at me like I kicked a puppy?"
"Because Coral House is gorgeous," Daniel said.
"I know."
"And you wanted it."
"I know."
"And he's offering it to you."
"I know."
Maya studied me.
"But you're still leaving."
"Yes."
She nodded slowly.
"Okay."
That was it.
No argument.
No attempt to convince me.
Just-
okay.
I appreciated that more than she probably knew.
Ben, however, had apparently not received the memo.
"What if he offers you a yacht tomorrow?"
I looked at him.
"I'll ask if it comes with dental."
Daniel laughed.
Nicole nearly choked on her drink.
And lunch moved on.
The afternoon felt-
normal.
Dangerously normal.
Adrian and I disagreed twice.
Neither disagreement ended with anyone emotionally destroyed.
Progress.
At one point, he appeared beside my desk with a drawing.
I looked up at him.
He stopped.
Actually stopped.
Then glanced at the drawing in his hand.
"This is work."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"You said yesterday that if we couldn't maintain a professional relationship, there was no point in you being here."
I blinked.
"I did."
"So."
He placed the drawing on my desk.
"We're maintaining one."
Oh.
I looked at the drawing.
Then at him.
"Congratulations."
His eyebrows pulled together.
"On?"
"Professionalism."
"Look at the drawing, Angelica."
"There he is."
His jaw tightened.
I smiled.
Then looked down.
We spent ten minutes arguing about the drawing.
Ben walked past once.
Stopped.
Looked at us.
Then kept walking.
Five minutes later, Nicole walked by.
Same thing.
I ignored both of them.
Adrian either didn't notice-
or pretended not to.
When we finally agreed, he picked up the drawing.
"Two and a half."
"Two and a half."
He nodded.
Then walked away.
I watched him for approximately one second too long.
"Don't."
I turned.
Maya was looking at her computer.
"I didn't say anything."
"Good."
"I wasn't even looking at you."
"Excellent."
"I definitely didn't see you watching him walk away."
"Maya."
"Working."
I threw a paperclip at her.
At 3:26, Claire stopped beside my desk.
"Do you have the Marina House notes?"
"Almost."
"Send them to Daniel when you're finished."
"Okay."
Daniel looked over from several desks away.
"I'm ready to inherit your empire."
"Don't get excited. It's mostly emails and suffering."
"Sounds like architecture."
Claire smiled faintly.
"Once Angelica leaves, you'll take over the client calls too."
Something changed behind me.
I didn't need to look.
I knew.
Which was ridiculous.
But I knew.
Adrian had been walking past.
He stopped.
Only for a second.
Claire continued talking to Daniel.
I turned slightly.
Adrian's eyes were on me.
Not Claire.
Not Daniel.
Me.
Then he looked away.
And kept walking.
The moment lasted maybe two seconds.
Nobody else seemed to notice.
I did.
Once Angelica leaves.
The sentence stayed with me for the rest of the afternoon.
Apparently-
it stayed with him too.
At five-thirty, people started leaving.
At five-forty, I finished the Marina House handover notes and sent them to Daniel.
At five-forty-six, I shut down my computer.
Maya had already left.
Ben shouted goodnight from somewhere behind me.
I grabbed my bag.
Then noticed the coffee cup beside my monitor.
Empty.
Again.
I picked it up.
For a second, I thought about Tuesday.
You don't have to talk to me anymore.
Wednesday.
A raise.
Thursday.
Coral House.
I looked toward Adrian's office.
The door was open.
He was standing inside, reading something.
As if he felt me looking, his head lifted.
Our eyes met across the office.
Neither of us moved.
Then I raised the empty coffee cup slightly.
Not really a thank-you.
Not really anything.
Just-
an acknowledgment.
His eyes dropped to it.
Then returned to mine.
He gave one small nod.
That was all.
I threw the cup away.
Put my bag over my shoulder.
And headed toward the elevators.
This time, I was almost there when footsteps sounded behind me.
I turned.
Adrian.
I stared at him.
"What?"
He stopped several feet away.
"Nothing."
I frowned.
"You followed me to the elevator to say nothing?"
"I was leaving."
I looked at his empty hands.
Then toward his office.
Laptop still open.
Light still on.
I looked back at him.
"You're terrible at lying."
His jaw tightened.
"I wasn't lying."
"Sure."
The elevator arrived.
The doors opened.
I stepped inside.
Then turned around.
Adrian was still there.
I pressed the lobby button.
He looked at me.
"Twelve days."
I stared.
His face immediately hardened.
I smiled.
"You're definitely counting."
The doors started closing.
"Goodnight, Angelica."
My smile disappeared.
"Goodnight, Adrian."
The doors slid shut.
And as the elevator started down-
I looked at my reflection in the metal doors.
Twelve days.
Apparently,
I wasn't the only one who knew exactly how many we had left.