Chapter 4 After Midnight #2
The office felt different without him.
Quieter, certainly, but not in the comfortable way Adrian usually preferred. There was an uncomfortable emptiness around him, as though the room had become larger the moment Noah walked out of it.
He looked at the campaign documents on his screen.
The Singapore revisions were still open.
So was the regional framework.
So was the message Noah had sent earlier.
Adrian should have been working.
Instead, he found himself thinking about Noah's question.
Why do you dislike me?
It had been asked without accusation. That was what made it difficult.
Adrian had expected Noah to be angry. He had expected another argument, another sharp remark, another challenge.
Instead, Noah had simply wanted an explanation.
And Adrian hadn't been able to give him one.
Not an honest one.
The truth was complicated.
Noah irritated him because he was unpredictable.
He challenged Adrian because he didn't seem intimidated by him.
He questioned decisions instead of accepting them.
He walked into rooms and somehow made Adrian more aware of himself.
That last part was the problem.
Adrian looked at the clock.
Eleven fifty-seven.
He should leave.
Instead, he opened the campaign deck again.
A few minutes later, he heard the elevator doors open.
Adrian looked toward the entrance.
Noah walked back into the office carrying two paper bags.
Adrian frowned.
Noah noticed.
"Don't look so surprised."
"I thought you left."
"I did."
"Then why are you back?"
Noah lifted the bags.
"Food."
Adrian stared at him.
"You came back to eat?"
"I came back because I realized I was starving and the restaurant downstairs was still open."
Noah walked toward the conference room.
"I bought too much."
Adrian watched him put the bags on the table.
Noah pulled out two containers.
"Unless you plan to survive on coffee."
Adrian looked at the food.
"You bought something for me?"
Noah shrugged.
"I bought too much."
"That's convenient."
"It happens."
Adrian stood.
He didn't know why he was walking toward the conference room.
He simply found himself doing it.
Noah opened one of the containers.
"Don't worry. I didn't poison it."
"I wasn't worried."
"You looked suspicious."
"I always look suspicious."
Noah smiled.
"That's true."
Adrian sat across from him.
The food was simple. Rice, grilled chicken, vegetables, and something spicy Noah warned him about twice.
Adrian took a bite.
"It's good."
Noah looked pleased.
"See? You can admit when something is good."
"I do it occasionally."
"You should practice more."
Adrian gave him a look.
Noah laughed quietly and continued eating.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
That surprised Adrian.
At work, silence usually meant someone was preparing another argument.
Here, it simply meant they were eating.
Adrian looked at Noah across the table.
Without the office around them, Noah seemed different.
Less guarded.
The sharpness was still there, but it wasn't constantly directed outward.
Adrian wondered how much of Noah's confidence was genuine and how much had been learned as a defense.
"You always work this late?" Adrian asked.
Noah looked up.
"Sometimes."
"Why?"
"Because I like finishing things."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the answer you're getting."
Adrian almost smiled.
Noah noticed.
"You almost smiled again."
"I didn't."
"You did."
"You're imagining things."
Noah pointed his fork at him.
"One day I'm going to make you admit it."
"I wouldn't recommend making that your career goal."
"Too late."
Adrian shook his head.
They returned to eating.
After a moment, Noah asked, "Why did you get into project management?"
Adrian looked at him.
"That's a strange question."
"You asked me why I work late."
"That was work-related."
"So was this."
"No, it wasn't."
Noah smiled.
"You don't like talking about yourself."
"There's nothing particularly interesting to say."
"I don't believe that."
Adrian leaned back.
"Why?"
"Because people who say they're not interesting usually have something they're avoiding."
Adrian studied him.
"You analyze everyone?"
"Only people who make me curious."
The answer caught Adrian off guard.
He looked down at his food.
"I started in account management."
Noah waited.
"I was good at keeping difficult projects organized. Eventually I moved into larger accounts, then project leadership."
"That's it?"
"That's enough."
"No."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
"You skipped the interesting part."
"There isn't one."
"Everyone has one."
Adrian considered refusing to answer.
Instead, he said, "I liked solving problems."
Noah nodded.
"That I believe."
Adrian looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because you don't seem comfortable unless there's something to fix."
Adrian was silent.
Noah had noticed more than Adrian expected.
"You do the same thing," Adrian said.
"I solve creative problems."
"You create some of them."
Noah laughed.
"Fair."
The conversation drifted naturally after that.
They talked about work at first, then somehow moved away from it.
Noah told Adrian about growing up in a family that had never understood why he wanted to work in advertising. He spoke about his first internship and the first campaign he had worked on that actually mattered to him.
Adrian listened.
He found himself asking questions.
Not because he needed information for the project.
Because he genuinely wanted to know.
Noah told him about a failed pitch that had taught him more than any successful campaign.
He admitted that being underestimated still bothered him.
"I hate when people decide what I can do before they see what I can do," Noah said.
Adrian understood that more than he expected.
"You've had that happen often?"
"Enough."
Noah shrugged.
"It gets old."
Adrian looked at him.
"You don't seem like someone who lets people underestimate you."
"I don't."
There was quiet confidence in the answer.
Adrian respected it.
"I noticed."
Noah smiled.
"That's almost another compliment."
"Don't get used to it."
"Too late."
They finished eating.
Neither immediately stood.
The clock had passed midnight.
Adrian realized they had been talking for nearly an hour.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd spent that long talking to someone without discussing a project, a deadline, or a problem that needed solving.
Noah leaned back in his chair.
"So what's your biggest weakness?"
Adrian stared at him.
"That's your question?"
"Yes."
"No."
Noah laughed.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't have one."
"Of course."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"You asked."
"And you lied."
"I didn't."
"You absolutely did."
"What's yours?"
Noah thought for a moment.
"I care too much about being right."
Adrian looked at him.
"That's surprisingly honest."
"I have moments."
"Occasionally."
Noah smiled.
"Your turn."
Adrian considered it.
"My biggest weakness is probably that I don't trust people easily."
Noah's expression softened.
"That's not a weakness."
"It can be."
"Only if you let it keep you alone."
The words settled between them.
Adrian looked at Noah.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Noah reached for the empty container and stood.
"Well, that got serious."
Adrian nodded.
"Very."
Noah gathered the trash.
"Come on."
"Where?"
"Home."
Adrian looked around the empty office.
Then he stood.
They walked toward the elevators together.
Noah pressed the button.
While they waited, he glanced at Adrian.
"You know, for someone who supposedly dislikes me, you spent a lot of time talking to me tonight."
Adrian looked at him.
"I don't dislike you."
Noah smiled.
"I know."
The elevator doors opened.
They stepped inside.
Noah leaned against the wall.
"You know what I think?"
Adrian glanced at him.
"That you think too much?"
"Exactly."
Adrian shook his head.
Noah laughed.
The sound echoed through the empty elevator.
And Adrian laughed too.
It happened before he could stop it.
A real laugh.
Not the polite sound he used at corporate dinners.
Not the brief exhale he occasionally gave when someone made an intelligent joke.
An actual laugh.
Noah stared at him.
Adrian realized what had happened.
He stopped.
Noah's smile widened.
"Was that a laugh?"
"No."
"It absolutely was."
"You imagined it."
"I heard it."
"You were mistaken."
Noah laughed harder.
Adrian tried to maintain his composure.
It didn't work.
He laughed again.
The elevator reached the lobby.
The doors opened.
Noah stepped out, still smiling.
Adrian followed.
They reached the entrance and stopped beneath the bright lobby lights.
"Good night," Noah said.
"Good night."
Noah walked toward the elevators leading to the parking area.
Adrian remained where he was.
He watched Noah walk away.
There was something unsettling about how natural the evening had felt.
They had argued.
They had disagreed.
They had challenged each other.
But somewhere between the campaign notes and takeout containers, something had shifted.
The rivalry hadn't disappeared.
Adrian was certain of that.
Noah would challenge him again tomorrow.
Adrian would probably challenge Noah right back.
But underneath the arguments, something else had begun to take shape.
Respect, perhaps.
Curiosity.
Something Adrian wasn't ready to name.
The elevator doors closed behind Noah.
Adrian stood alone in the lobby for another moment.
Then he turned toward the exit.
For the first time since meeting Noah Bennett, Adrian wasn't thinking about how difficult he was.
He was thinking about how much he wanted to know him.
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