Chapter 21 - Day 3 Eleven Days
Friday morning, the coffee was there.
I didn't stop.
I didn't stare at it.
I didn't look toward Adrian's office.
I put my bag down, sat in my chair, picked up the cup, and took a sip while my computer started.
Perfect.
Obviously.
Apparently this was just my life now.
For eleven more days.
I immediately regretted thinking that.
I opened my email.
At 8:34, Claire had sent me a revised transition schedule.
Marina House was officially moving to Daniel.
The Biscayne renovation would go to Nicole.
Two of my smaller projects had already been reassigned.
Solara-
I stared at those three letters.
That one made sense.
I had been brought onto Solara specifically for the western fa?ade work, and we were far enough into it that transferring everything immediately would be unnecessarily disruptive.
Still.
There was something deeply unpleasant about watching pieces of my job acquire other people's names.
I closed the document.
"Morning."
I looked up.
Adrian.
Standing beside my desk.
Dark gray shirt.
Black tie.
Rolled sleeves.
Drawing tube in one hand.
I looked toward his office.
Then back at him.
"Did you get lost?"
His eyebrows pulled together.
"No."
"Your office is that way."
"I know where my office is."
"Just checking."
He put two drawings on my desk.
"I want you to look at these."
I stared at them.
Then at him.
"You emailed me drawings yesterday."
"Yes."
"You also have an entire project team."
"Yes."
"And Claire."
"Yes."
"And yet here you are."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Do you have a point?"
"I'm trying to determine whether you still have a company to run."
"I'm running it."
"From my desk?"
A beat.
"Apparently."
I stared at him.
His face remained completely serious.
I laughed before I could stop myself.
The corner of his mouth moved.
Barely.
Then he tapped the drawing.
"Look at it."
"Bossy."
"Architect."
"Those aren't synonyms."
"With you, apparently they are."
I looked up.
He was already walking away.
I watched him go.
This man was losing his mind.
Then looked at the drawings.
Then toward Maya.
She was typing.
Good.
I turned back to my work.
"Subtle," she said.
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
At 10:12, Adrian came back.
At 10:47, he emailed me.
At 11:03, he appeared again.
By 11:05, I had questions.
I leaned back in my chair.
"Mr. Vale."
"What?"
"Why are you here?"
He looked at the detail on my monitor.
"I'm reviewing this."
"No. Why are you physically here?"
His eyes moved to mine.
"I work here."
"Big building."
"Yes."
"Lots of desks."
"Yes."
"Yet somehow you keep ending up at mine."
His expression didn't change.
"Your point?"
"I don't have one yet. I'm collecting evidence."
"For?"
"I'll let you know when the investigation is complete."
He stared at me.
I smiled.
"Anything else?"
"Yes."
He pointed at my screen.
"That's wrong."
My smile disappeared.
"It is not."
"It is."
And there went the investigation.
For the next eight minutes, I forgot all about it because Adrian Vale had apparently come to my desk specifically to insult a perfectly reasonable detail.
By the time he left, we'd compromised.
Again.
I stared after him.
This was getting concerning.
Adrian Vale was learning compromise.
Civilization might collapse.
Lunch was unusually peaceful.
Mostly because Ben had gone out with someone from structural, Daniel had a client call, and Nicole was eating at her desk.
Which left Maya and me alone downstairs.
She stole one of my fries.
I slapped her hand.
"Get your own."
"I have my own."
"Then why are you eating mine?"
"Yours taste better."
"They came from the same kitchen."
"It's psychological."
"You need help."
She stole another one.
I moved my plate.
For a while, we talked about everything except Adrian.
A dress Maya wanted.
Nicole's ongoing war with the printer.
Ben's inability to understand that replying-all was not a personality trait.
Normal things.
Then Maya said, "Eleven days."
I stopped.
She looked at me.
"Sorry."
I picked up another fry.
"No. It's fine."
"It doesn't feel like eleven days."
"No."
That was the problem.
It didn't.
Wednesday had felt like leaving.
Forms.
Handover lists.
A raise.
Yesterday had felt-
almost normal.
Today felt even more normal.
Except my projects were slowly disappearing from my name.
And Adrian kept appearing beside my desk like an extremely expensive ghost.
Maya watched me.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"Actually?"
I thought about it.
"Ask me in eleven days."
Her face changed.
Just a little.
"Asshole."
I smiled.
"You brought it up."
"I know."
She pushed one of her fries onto my plate.
"A peace offering."
I looked at it.
"One fry?"
"Times are hard."
I ate it.
At 2:18, I was sitting in the Solara review meeting with Adrian, Claire, Daniel, Nicole, Ethan, and two members of the interiors team.
The meeting had been going perfectly normally.
Which, in retrospect, should've warned me.
Adrian stood at the end of the table, reviewing the latest elevation.
"The western screening needs more depth."
"Two inches," I said.
"Three."
"Two."
"Three."
"Two."
"Three."
"Adrian."
It came out sharper than I intended.
A little higher too.
And definitely louder.
The entire room went silent.
I froze.
Adrian froze.
Oh.
Daniel's pen stopped halfway across the page.
Nicole was staring at me.
One of the interiors architects had looked up from her laptop.
Ethan's eyes moved slowly from me to Adrian.
And Claire-
Claire was watching both of us.
Nobody had missed it.
Not one fucking person.
I had just called the founder and CEO of Vale Architecture Adrian in the middle of a project meeting.
Something I had never done in front of anyone.
Adrian's eyes moved around the table.
He saw it too.
The silence.
The faces.
Everyone noticing.
His jaw shifted once.
Then his eyes came back to mine.
For one strange second, neither of us seemed to know what the hell to do with it.
Then Adrian looked back at the elevation.
"Two and a half."
I blinked.
"What?"
"Two and a half."
He hadn't corrected me.
He hadn't called me Ms. Stone.
He hadn't done anything.
He'd just-
let it stay there.
I swallowed.
"Fine."
Daniel's pen started moving again.
Nicole looked down.
Ethan leaned back in his chair.
The room slowly remembered how meetings worked.
Claire said nothing.
Adrian moved to the next drawing.
And I tried very hard not to think about it.
A few minutes later, Claire pulled up the latest field report.
"We have a discrepancy here."
She enlarged one of the measurements.
I leaned forward.
"That doesn't match the survey."
"No," Claire said. "It doesn't."
"Could be field condition," Ethan said.
"Or the survey is wrong," I said.
Adrian studied it.
"We need to verify it."
"I can have someone check Monday," Claire said.
"Tomorrow."
I looked at him.
Claire did too.
"It can wait until Monday."
"We have consultant coordination Monday afternoon."
"We've coordinated around worse."
Adrian didn't look at her.
"Ms. Stone and I will go tomorrow."
I stared at him.
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Tomorrow is Saturday."
"I'm aware."
"I understood the word. I was questioning the Saturday."
Daniel looked down at his notes.
I was fairly certain he was hiding a smile.
Claire leaned back slightly.
"It really can wait until Monday, Adrian."
"It'll take an hour."
I looked at him.
"Are you asking me to work Saturday?"
Adrian paused.
Just long enough for me to notice.
Then-
"I'm asking if you're available."
Oh.
That was different.
A week ago, I wasn't sure he would have made the distinction.
I looked at him.
He waited.
No order.
No expectation.
Just the question.
Unfortunately-
I was available.
I had laundry.
Groceries.
A deeply committed relationship with my couch.
Nothing that couldn't wait two hours.
"What time?"
Something in his face changed.
So quickly I almost missed it.
"Ten."
"Ten?"
"Yes."
"At least you're not making me wake up at seven."
"I considered eight."
"Then I would've resigned again."
"You can't resign twice."
"Watch me."
Claire coughed.
I looked at her.
She was looking down at her notes.
Suspiciously.
Adrian turned back to the screen.
"Ten."
"Fine."
And that should have been it.
Except I looked at Claire again.
This time, she wasn't looking at the drawings anymore.
She was looking at Adrian.
Then at me.
Thoughtfully.
Oh, great.
I had barely made it back to my desk when Maya appeared.
"You called him Adrian."
I put my notebook down.
"Yeah. That's his name, right?"
"You never call him by his first name."
"Apparently I do."
She stared at me.
"No. You don't. That was the first time."
I opened my laptop.
"Apparently not."
Silence.
Shit.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Maya's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean, apparently not?"
"I mean nothing."
"Angel."
"Maya."
"When have you called him Adrian before?"
"I am already regretting telling you so many things."
Her mouth fell open.
"What did I miss?"
"Nothing."
"I missed something."
"You missed absolutely nothing."
"Angel."
I opened an email.
"I have work."
"You have secrets."
"I have a job."
"For eleven more days."
I looked at her.
Her face immediately changed.
"Sorry."
"Good."
She waited approximately three seconds.
"But seriously, when did you start calling him Adrian?"
I picked up my stapler.
Maya walked away.
"I'm going."
"Excellent."
"This conversation isn't over."
"It absolutely is."
"Eleven days, Angel. I have time."
I stared after her.
Apparently everybody was fucking counting.
At 3:41, an email arrived.
Tomorrow. 10:00 a.m.
Then, beneath it:
His response came two minutes later.
My fingers stopped over the keyboard.
That had been months ago.
Before coffee.
Before cheerful carrots.
Before ice cream shops and divorces and dances and crying in hallways.
Before us had become a thing I was desperately trying not to define.
I typed:
His reply:
I rolled my eyes.
Another message appeared.
I stared at it.
Then typed:
His response came almost immediately.
My mouth fell open.
I stared across the office.
Adrian was sitting behind his desk, looking at his monitor as though he hadn't just insulted me electronically from forty feet away.
I typed:
Three dots appeared.
Oh, this asshole.
I looked toward his office again.
This time, his eyes lifted.
Straight to mine.
I narrowed mine.
He didn't even pretend not to know why.
The corner of his mouth moved.
Barely.
I typed:
His reply came immediately.
I hated him.
Mostly.
At 4:17, Claire stopped beside my desk again.
"Tomorrow?"
I looked up.
"Apparently."
"You know that measurement could wait until Monday."
"I mentioned that."
"And?"
"He owns the building."
Claire smiled slightly.
"Technically, the client owns the building."
"Don't tell him. It'll hurt his feelings."
Her smile grew.
Then she looked toward Adrian's office.
Back at me.
"Have a good site visit."
There was something in the way she said it.
Not teasing.
Claire didn't tease.
Just-
observant.
"It's work."
"I know."
She walked away.
I watched her go.
Oh God.
At 5:26, I shut down my computer.
Friday.
Finally.
Maya was already packing her bag.
"Plans tonight?"
"Couch."
"Exciting."
"I'm very popular."
"Clearly."
Ben appeared from nowhere.
"Drinks?"
"No."
"Dinner?"
"No."
"Exist in public?"
"Absolutely not."
"She's busy tomorrow," Maya said.
I looked at her.
"Don't."
Ben immediately became interested.
"Doing what?"
"Working."
"On Saturday?"
"Unfortunately."
"With who?"
I zipped my bag.
"Goodnight, Ben."
"Oh my God."
"Nothing has happened."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face did."
Maya started laughing.
I walked toward the elevator before either of them could continue.
The doors were almost closed when a hand appeared between them.
They opened again.
Adrian stepped inside.
Of course.
He pressed the lobby button.
"Ten."
I looked at him.
"I know."
"Appropriate shoes."
"I know."
"Don't be late."
"You are literally picking me up."
"Exactly."
I stared at him.
"Do you wake up every morning and decide how irritating you're going to be, or does it happen naturally?"
He looked straight ahead.
"Naturally."
I laughed.
His mouth twitched.
The elevator doors opened.
"Goodnight, Angelica."
"Goodnight, Adrian."
He walked toward the garage.
I headed for the front doors.
Tomorrow was Saturday.
Day four.
And apparently I was spending part of it with Adrian Vale.
By 9:43 that night, I had showered, eaten, done half my laundry, and convinced myself approximately seventeen times that tomorrow meant nothing.
It was a site visit.
That was all.
Adrian wasn't taking me anywhere.
My boss was providing transportation to a work site.
On a Saturday.
Because apparently I couldn't be trusted to arrive on time.
Asshole.
My phone buzzed beside me.
I picked it up.
I stared at the message.
Not What's your address?
Not Can you send me your address?
Just-
Of course.
His reply came quickly.
I smiled despite myself.
I blinked.
Of course.
He didn't actually know where I lived.
Three dots appeared.
I stared at the screen.
Then sent it.
His reply came immediately.
I typed:
Then froze.
Oh God.
I had actually sent that.
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then-
Three dots appeared.
My smile disappeared.
I stared at the words.
Eleven days.
Again.
He was counting.
Still.
I typed:
His reply came almost immediately.
I laughed.
This time his answer took longer.