Chapter 9 - The Quiet #2
I gathered my notes.
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Okay. Goodnight, Mr. Vale."
I turned toward the door.
"Angelica."
I stopped.
There was that name again.
I turned around.
He was still behind his desk.
His eyes were on me.
"Did I do something?"
I stared at him.
"What?"
"You're avoiding me."
My chest tightened.
"No, I'm not."
He looked at me.
I held his gaze.
Neither of us said anything.
Then-
"Okay."
That was it.
No argument.
No demand for an explanation.
Nothing.
I left.
But I knew he didn't believe me.
And somehow, that conversation stayed with me all night.
Did I do something?
Why would he care?
Why did he notice?
Why had he asked me twice now what was wrong?
Why had he looked worried?
Why had he grabbed my hand?
Why-
No.
I wasn't doing this.
He was my boss.
He was married.
End of story.
The days kept passing.
And I got better.
At least, I got better at looking better.
The ache wasn't as sharp anymore.
I slept.
I ate.
I laughed without forcing it every time.
Ethan and I started getting lunch together more often.
Usually other people came.
Sometimes they didn't.
It wasn't a thing.
Ethan was easy.
There was nothing complicated about being around him.
He stole my fries.
I complained.
He bought me coffee when he lost a bet.
I helped him fix a presentation twenty minutes before a meeting.
He waited for me one evening so we could walk to the parking garage together.
Normal.
Daniel was around more too.
Solara gave us plenty of reasons to work together, and sometimes those reasons turned into coffee or lunch or conversations that had absolutely nothing to do with architecture.
And through all of it, Adrian became increasingly-
Irritated.
At least, I thought he did.
He was harder on revisions.
Shorter in meetings.
His jaw seemed permanently tight whenever Ethan appeared near my desk.
Once, Ethan leaned against the edge of my desk while telling me about something that had happened on his project.
I laughed.
Then I happened to glance up.
Adrian was walking past.
His eyes moved from Ethan.
To me.
Then back to Ethan.
His expression didn't change.
But his jaw did.
Interesting.
No.
Not interesting.
Nothing about Adrian Vale was interesting anymore.
That was the whole point.
Nearly two weeks after the ice cream shop, we were reviewing Solara again.
Friday evening.
Of course it was Friday.
Apparently Fridays had developed a personal vendetta against me.
The client had requested another round of changes, and Adrian wanted to review them before Monday.
It was almost seven when we finished.
"I'll come in tomorrow," he said, looking over the drawings.
I looked up.
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Saturday?"
He gave me a look.
"I'm familiar with the days of the week, Ms. Stone."
Two weeks ago, I would have had an answer for that.
Something irritating.
Something unnecessary.
Instead, I looked back at the drawings.
"You don't have to."
His eyes lifted.
"Don't have to what?"
"Come in tomorrow. I can finish this."
"I know you can."
"Then I'll do it."
"I'll be here."
I hesitated.
"You should spend the weekend with your family."
Something shifted in his expression.
Barely.
"I spend plenty of time with my children."
"I didn't say you didn't."
"Then what are you saying?"
"Nothing."
I gathered the drawings.
"Forget it."
"Ms. Stone."
I stopped.
He was watching me now.
I sighed.
"I'm just saying you don't need to be here every weekend. You have a family to go home to."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"A family."
"Yes."
"Meaning?"
I stared at him.
What the hell did he think I meant?
"Your children."
He said nothing.
"Your wife."
Silence.
Not normal silence.
Something else.
Adrian went completely still.
His eyes stayed on mine.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
I suddenly wished I'd kept my mouth shut.
This was exactly why I'd stopped having unnecessary conversations with him.
His personal life was none of my business.
"I shouldn't have said anything."
Still nothing.
I picked up the drawings.
"Sorry."
His jaw tightened.
And for one strange second, it looked like he was going to say something.
He didn't.
Finally-
"You don't need to concern yourself with my personal life, Ms. Stone."
The words landed exactly where they shouldn't have.
I nodded.
"You're right."
Of course I didn't.
Why would I?
"I shouldn't have."
I tucked the drawings against my chest.
"Goodnight, Mr. Vale."
I walked out.
He didn't stop me.
And as the door closed behind me, I told myself that was good.
The distance was good.
Necessary.
Whatever strange thing had started happening between Adrian Vale and me over late nights, black coffee, crooked tattoos, accidental touches, and conversations that lasted longer than they needed to-
it was over.
It had to be.
Behind me, Adrian's office door stayed closed.
And I had absolutely no idea that he'd just been given the answer to the question he'd been asking for two weeks.