Chapter 45 - Just Friends #3
I ended the call.
Emma was still standing beside her desk.
She had heard enough.
"Did he call you over?"
I nodded.
For a second, she just looked at me.
Then she smiled.
Not the frustrated smile from earlier.
Not disappointed either.
Something closer to resignation.
"Go."
Oh.
I picked up my phone.
Then headed toward Adrian's office.
Emma sat back down.
And somehow that made me feel worse than if she'd followed me.
I walked into Adrian's office.
I didn't knock.
That realization came approximately three seconds too late, and unfortunately Emma's entire speech from this morning chose that exact moment to replay in my head.
You don't even knock.
Wonderful.
I sat in the chair across from him.
"What is it this time?"
Adrian didn't answer.
He reached toward something beside his laptop and placed a small box on the desk in front of me.
I looked at it.
Then at him.
Then back at it.
It was a jewelry box.
Oh no.
"What is that?"
"Open it."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Why?"
"Angelica."
Fine.
I picked up the box.
Opened it.
And stopped.
Inside was a necklace.
Delicate.
Beautiful.
I stared at it.
Then at Adrian.
"What's that?"
"Your benefit package."
My brain stopped.
Then the thought crossed my mind.
No way.
No fucking way.
I looked down at the necklace again.
Is that a diamond?
I looked closer.
Three of them.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
White gold, I thought.
Three diamonds sat inside a slender, flowing curve of polished metal, the center stone slightly larger than the other two. It wasn't huge or flashy.
It was worse.
It was beautiful.
The kind of beautiful that looked simple until you looked closely enough to realize absolutely nothing about it was simple.
I went completely silent.
Then-
"Adrian."
"Yes?"
"What is it?"
"Your diamond."
"No."
"Yes."
"Adrian."
"What?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm being very serious."
"That's bullshit. I was joking and you know that."
"I know."
"Then what is it for?"
"For you."
"No."
His expression didn't change.
"I can't take it."
"Angelica-"
"No. No discussion."
"No, Angelica. Listen."
"No. It's very unfair, Adrian."
He frowned.
And suddenly I remembered every word Emma had said this morning.
He treats you differently.
You don't try.
You don't have to.
He already wants to be around you.
I looked down at the diamond necklace sitting between us.
Then back at him.
"You can't get a diamond for your employee."
"Angelica-"
"No."
"Listen to me."
"What?"
"It's not from the company."
I stopped.
"Then where is it from?"
"Me."
"What?"
"It's from me. Not from the company."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to."
Of course.
Of fucking course that was his answer.
"I was joking, Adrian."
"I know."
"Then?"
"It's a gift."
"I can't take that expensive a gift."
"Angelica."
"No."
"Angelica."
"No way, Adrian. It's not a gift. You got me flowers. That's a gift. If you give me chocolate, I'll consider that as a gift. This is not a gift."
I pointed at the necklace.
"This is a personality disorder."
Adrian stared at me.
Then-
"You said the same thing when you saw my Corvette."
"Yes, because you have it."
His eyebrows pulled together.
"What?"
"Personality disorder."
For one second, nothing happened.
Then he smiled.
Actually smiled.
Asshole.
"I'm still not taking it."
"You are."
"No."
"Angelica."
"No, Adrian."
He looked at me for a moment.
Then stood.
I immediately became suspicious.
"What are you doing?"
He didn't answer.
"Adrian."
He came around the desk.
I looked up at him.
"No."
He reached into the box and lifted the necklace.
"Adrian."
Then he walked behind my chair.
Oh.
Oh no.
"Don't you dare."
He did.
His hands came into view on either side of me.
The necklace passed in front of me, the tiny diamonds catching the light before settling against my chest.
And then Adrian's fingers touched the back of my neck.
I froze.
Ridiculous.
After everything, I should've been getting used to his touch.
His hand on mine.
His fingers around my wrist.
His arms around me.
My fingers in his hair.
His head in my lap.
Sleeping beside him.
That tiny, stupid kiss neither of us had mentioned.
At some point, my body should've learned that Adrian touching me was no longer an emergency.
Apparently my body was an idiot.
His fingertips brushed my skin as he gathered my hair away from the clasp.
Slowly.
Carefully.
My breath caught.
He was standing directly behind me.
Close enough that I could feel his warmth.
Close enough that the familiar scent of cedar surrounded me.
His knuckles brushed the back of my neck again.
I stared straight ahead.
Do not move.
Do not breathe weird.
Definitely do not think about the fact that Adrian Vale was standing behind me putting diamonds around my neck.
The clasp clicked.
Done.
Except he didn't immediately move.
His fingers stayed at the back of my neck for one second.
Maybe two.
Then they slid lightly away.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Fantastic.
He stepped back.
I breathed again.
"There."
I looked down.
The pendant rested just below my collarbone.
Small.
Delicate.
Beautiful.
And completely insane.
I touched it carefully.
"I'm taking it off."
"No."
I turned around in the chair.
"You don't get to say no."
"I just did."
"I'll put it back in the box."
"I'll put it back on you."
My mouth fell open.
"You can't keep putting jewelry on me against my will."
"You're currently wearing it."
"That is not the point."
"It seems relevant."
"I hate you."
"No, you don't."
I stopped.
Adrian stopped too.
Oh.
The words from yesterday.
The words Emma had spent half the morning using as evidence against us.
And here we were.
Doing it again.
His eyes stayed on mine.
Deep blue.
Calm.
Certain.
I looked away first.
"I really shouldn't take this."
This time I wasn't arguing.
Adrian seemed to hear the difference.
His expression changed slightly.
"Why?"
I looked at him.
Because Emma had spent the morning listing every way he treated me differently.
Because she'd stood exactly where I'd stood during the accident and watched him see only me.
Because she'd tried to get close to him while I'd somehow stopped realizing how close I already was.
And now Adrian had apparently disappeared for half the morning and come back with a diamond necklace for me.
A diamond.
From him.
I couldn't pretend that was normal.
"Because it's a diamond, Adrian."
"I know."
"People don't just give people diamonds."
"I did."
"That's not helping."
"It wasn't supposed to."
I stared at him.
"You make absolutely no sense."
"You wanted a diamond."
"I wanted to win an argument."
"You didn't."
"I absolutely did."
"You still did the alternate entrance."
"That's irrelevant."
"It seems relevant."
"Adrian."
His mouth moved slightly.
Asshole.
I looked down at the necklace.
My fingers touched the pendant before I could stop them.
Adrian noticed.
Of course he noticed.
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face did."
"My face didn't say anything."
"Your face is extremely annoying."
"I've been told."
"By me."
"Frequently."
I looked down again.
The diamonds caught the light.
"I'm still not keeping it."
"You are."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"Adrian-"
That argument lasted considerably longer than it should have.
After a long negotiation, several increasingly creative refusals, and absolutely no progress whatsoever, I eventually walked out of Adrian's office.
Wearing the necklace.
I had no idea how that happened.
I blamed Adrian.
I came back to my desk.
I made it approximately four seconds before-
"Is that a necklace?"
Of course.
Emma.
I closed my eyes.
Apparently, during the entire walk back from Adrian's office, while my brain had been occupied with diamonds, Adrian's fingers on the back of my neck, the fact that I'd somehow lost an argument I had very clearly refused to lose, and the increasingly concerning state of my life-
I had forgotten about them.
All of them.
Now I had to answer them.
I opened my eyes.
Emma was staring directly at my chest.
Maya looked over.
Then immediately got up from her chair and came closer.
"Did Adrian give you that?"
Good guess.
Considering I had just walked out of his office wearing jewelry I hadn't been wearing when I walked in.
Obviously.
I said nothing.
Maya leaned closer.
"What is that?"
"Nothing."
"That is very clearly something."
"It's a necklace."
"Yes, Angel. We've established the category."
I glared at her.
Nicole looked up from her desk.
"What are you guys looking at?"
"Angel came out of Adrian's office wearing a necklace."
Nicole's head snapped toward me.
Oh no.
She got up.
"No."
I put a hand over the pendant.
"Go away."
She did not go away.
Nobody ever listened to me in this office.
Nicole came closer, looked at the necklace-
And covered her mouth with one hand.
Her eyes went wide.
"It's a diamond!"
Every head within hearing distance turned.
Fuck.
"No, it is not."
Nicole looked personally offended.
"It absolutely is. Don't lie, Angel. I know jewelry well."
That was true.
She knew it pretty well.
Ben appeared from absolutely nowhere.
"A diamond?"
"No."
Nicole pointed at my chest.
"Three diamonds."
"Nicole."
"Three?"
That was Maya.
"Can everyone stop counting them?"
Apparently not.
Daniel looked over his monitor.
"Why are we counting diamonds?"
"We're not."
"Angel has three."
"Nicole!"
Ben was already coming closer.
I took a step back.
"Do not inspect me."
"I wasn't going to."
"You absolutely were."
"I was going to inspect the necklace."
"The necklace is currently attached to me."
"Temporary logistical complication."
"Ben."
He stopped.
Mostly because I looked prepared to kill him.
Maya was still staring.
"Wait."
No.
I knew that tone.
"Did Adrian actually give you a diamond necklace?"
I looked at her.
She looked at me.
Nicole looked at me.