Chapter 11 - Four Years
By the following Thursday, I had almost convinced myself everything was normal again.
Almost.
The coffee continued.
Not every day.
Just often enough to be noticeable.
Sometimes it appeared on my desk.
Sometimes Adrian handed it to me himself without explanation.
I had stopped asking why.
Mostly because his answers were useless.
Also because I kept drinking it.
Which weakened my argument considerably.
That morning, I was in the break room with Maya when Claire Bennett walked in.
Claire was one of the senior project directors and had apparently been at Vale Architecture since dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Or at least since the company was small enough that everyone knew everyone else's business.
She was competent, calm, and generally uninterested in gossip.
Which was probably why I liked her.
She poured coffee while Maya and I discussed a client request that had arrived at seven thirty that morning.
"They want another revision by Monday," I said.
Claire laughed softly.
"Of course they do."
"Adrian's probably going to work all weekend."
"He probably will."
I reached for the sugar.
"His wife probably has the patience of a saint."
Claire stopped.
I didn't notice immediately.
Maya did.
I saw her glance at Claire.
Then Claire looked at me.
"His wife?"
I looked up.
"Adrian's."
Claire frowned.
"Adrian isn't married."
My hand stopped.
"What?"
"He's divorced."
For a second, I forgot what I was holding.
The packet of sugar stayed suspended over my coffee.
"Divorced?"
"Yeah."
My heart did something strange.
"How long?"
Claire thought about it.
"Four years? Around there."
Four years.
I stared at her.
"But-"
I stopped.
Claire waited.
"The kids?"
"Luke and Elena?"
The fact that she knew their names somehow made this more real.
"Yes."
"He has them part of the time."
"Oh."
That was all I managed.
Oh.
My lungs expanded.
A full breath.
Easy.
Deep.
And suddenly-
Something inside my chest loosened.
The pressure I'd been carrying for weeks eased so quickly that I noticed it only because it was gone.
I could breathe.
Actually breathe.
And then I realized I could breathe.
Oh.
Oh no.
Claire had gone back to making coffee.
Maya said nothing.
I could feel her saying nothing.
Loudly.
I looked at her.
She was staring into her cup.
"Don't."
Her eyes lifted innocently.
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was drinking coffee."
"You're thinking loudly."
"I didn't know that was possible."
"With you, it is."
Claire glanced between us.
"I feel like I'm missing something."
"You're not," I said immediately.
Maya took a very deliberate sip of coffee.
Claire shrugged.
"Okay."
She grabbed her cup.
"See you both at the eleven o'clock meeting."
"See you."
She left.
Silence.
I looked at Maya.
Maya looked at me.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Say it."
"I don't have anything to say."
"Then stop looking at me."
"Angel."
"What?"
"You look better."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"You look better."
"I look exactly the same."
"No, you don't."
"Maya."
"Five minutes ago, you looked like someone had been slowly draining your soul through a straw."
"That is extremely dramatic."
"And now you look-"
"Finish that sentence and I'll kill you."
Her mouth closed.
Good.
I picked up my coffee.
Then stopped.
Adrian wasn't married.
He'd been divorced for four years.
Four.
Years.
My brain immediately replayed Friday evening.
You have a family to go home to.
A family.
Your children.
Your wife.
His silence.
The way he'd gone completely still.
The way he'd looked at me.
And then-
You don't need to concern yourself with my personal life, Ms. Stone.
My relief disappeared beneath something much hotter.
I put the coffee down.
"Oh, that asshole."
Maya blinked.
"What?"
"He knew."
"Who knew what?"
"Adrian."
Maya stared at me.
"He knew I thought he was married."
"How do you know?"
"Because I told him."
"You told him?"
"Not exactly."
"What does not exactly mean?"
"I mentioned his wife."
Maya's eyes widened.
"And?"
"He said I shouldn't concern myself with his personal life."
Silence.
Then-
"Oh."
"Exactly."
"He didn't correct you?"
"No."
"And he knew?"
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
"I said your wife, Maya."
"Okay, yeah. He knew."
I grabbed my coffee.
"He fucking knew."
There she was.
Maya's mouth twitched.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Why are you smiling?"
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I just haven't heard you swear about him in weeks."
I glared at her.
Her smile widened.
"Welcome back."
I lasted approximately forty minutes.
That was impressive.
I attended the eleven o'clock meeting.
Took notes.
Answered two questions.
Pretended I wasn't mentally planning the murder of my employer.
At eleven fifty-three, the meeting ended.
At eleven fifty-four, I walked directly to Adrian's office.
His door was closed.
I didn't knock.
I opened it and walked straight in.
Adrian looked up from his computer.
And actually looked surprised.
Not Adrian Vale's usual microscopic version of surprise where one eyebrow moved half a millimeter.
Genuinely surprised.
His hand stopped over the keyboard.
For a second, he just stared at me.
Fair.
I had just opened the closed door of the CEO's office and walked in without knocking.
You don't do that.
Under normal circumstances, I probably would've been horrified by my own behavior.
These were not normal circumstances.
I was angry.
Relieved.
Confused.
Weirdly excited.
And so completely fucking overwhelmed by all four that apparently basic workplace etiquette had been temporarily removed from my skill set.
I didn't care.
"You're divorced."
His surprise disappeared almost immediately.
His eyes stayed on mine.
"Yes. For four years."
A beat.
"Who told you?"
I stared at him.
"That's your question?"
"What would you prefer I ask?"
"How about why I spent the last several weeks thinking you had a wife?"
His eyes stayed on mine.
"I never told you I had a wife."
Oh.
My.
God.
"No."
I stepped farther into the office.
"You just conveniently forgot to mention that you didn't."
"My marital status isn't something I generally discuss at work."
"I said your wife to your face."
Silence.
"You knew exactly what I thought."
His jaw tightened.
"Yes."
The single word hit harder than I expected.
I laughed once.
There was absolutely nothing funny about it.
"Wow."
"Angelica-"
"Why didn't you correct me?"
He didn't answer.
I waited.
"Why?"
His gaze shifted away from mine for half a second.
Then back.
"I didn't think it mattered."
There it was.
Something in my chest tightened again.
Not the same ache.
Different.
Sharper.
"Right."
I nodded.
"Of course."
I turned toward the door.
"Angelica."
I stopped.
My hand was already on the handle.
For a second, I almost left.
Then anger won.
I turned back.
"Then stop doing things that make it matter."
Adrian went still.
"What things?"
Shit.
I hadn't planned this far.
"The coffee."
His brows drew together slightly.
"What about it?"
"Stop buying it."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want you to."
His eyes dropped briefly to the cup in my hand.
The coffee he'd bought me that morning.
Then back to my face.
"You're drinking it."
Oh, for fuck's sake.
"That's not the point."
"What is the point?"
"You know my exact order."
"Yes."
"How?"
"I've already answered that."
"No, you haven't. You said you've seen it around. What does that even mean?"
He said nothing.
I took another step toward his desk.
"Why did you care that I was quiet?"
His expression changed.
Barely.
"Why did you ask me what was wrong?"
Silence.
"Twice."
His jaw tightened.
"Why did you ask if you'd done something?"
Nothing.
"And why do you-"
I stopped.
My mouth closed.
Oh God.
What the fuck was I doing?
Adrian watched me.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
These weren't normal questions.
Not really.
Not when asked together.
Not when I cared about the answers.
I looked away.
"This is ridiculous."
"Angelica."
"No."
I shook my head.
"Forget it."
"You're reading too much into it."
The words landed quietly.
That somehow made them worse.
I looked at him.
His expression was controlled again.
Perfectly unreadable.
Of course.
Maybe he was right.
Maybe I had turned coffee and concern and a few strange moments into something they weren't because I-
No.
Absolutely not.
I nodded.
"You're right."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"I probably am."
Something moved across his face.
Gone before I could identify it.
I placed the coffee on the corner of his desk.
His eyes dropped to it.
"I told you to stop buying it."
Then I walked out.
Maya took one look at me when I returned to my desk.
"Oh."
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face did."
"What happened?"
I dropped into my chair.
"He knew."
Her expression changed.
"Knew what?"
"That I thought he was married."
"I thought we established that."
"No. He admitted it."
Maya pulled her chair closer.
"And?"
"And apparently he never technically told me he had a wife."
Her eyebrows rose.
"Oh, fuck him."
"Thank you."
"What else?"
"I asked why he didn't correct me."
"And?"
"He didn't think it mattered."
Maya's face tightened.
"Asshole."
"Exactly."
I opened a file.
Closed it.
Opened another one.
Closed that too.
"And then he said I was reading too much into everything."
Maya was quiet.
I looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Maya."
She picked up her coffee.
"Are you?"
I frowned.
"Am I what?"
"Reading too much into it?"
"Yes."
The answer came immediately.
Maya nodded.
"Okay."
There it was.
That fucking okay.
"Why did you say it like that?"
"Like what?"
"You know exactly like what."
She took another sip.
"I'm drinking my coffee, Angel."
I glared at her.
She smiled into the cup.
I turned back to my computer.
Annoying woman.
For the rest of the day, I avoided Adrian.
This time intentionally.
At four twenty, he passed my desk.
I didn't look up.
At five, an email arrived from him.
That was it.
No criticism.
No request.
No unnecessary words.
Fine.
Perfect.
Exactly what I wanted.
At five fifteen, I packed my bag.
Ethan appeared beside me.
"Food?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
"Thai?"
"Absolutely not."
"You love Thai."
"I ate there twice last week."
"Burgers?"
"Yes."
"Daniel's coming."
"Fine."
We headed toward the elevators.
As the doors opened, I glanced back without meaning to.
Adrian stood outside his office.
Watching us.
I looked away.
Good.
Let him.
The next morning, there was no coffee on my desk.
I noticed immediately.
Which pissed me off.
I dropped my bag into my chair.
Turned on my computer.
Opened my email.
Didn't look at the empty space beside my keyboard.
Definitely didn't.
Maya arrived ten minutes later carrying her own coffee.
She looked at my desk.
Then at me.
I pointed at her.
"Don't."
She kept walking.
Smart woman.
At nine fifteen, Adrian stopped beside my desk.
"Ms. Stone."
I looked up.
"Yes?"
"The western fa?ade option you sent last night."
"What about it?"
"The secondary shading element."
"What about it?"
"It's unnecessary."
I stared at him.
"No, it isn't."
Silence.
His eyebrows lifted slightly.
There it was.
The first argument I'd given him in weeks.
I realized it at exactly the same moment he did.
Neither of us spoke for a second.
Then-
"It is," he said.
"No. It balances the horizontal line."
"It complicates the elevation."
"It makes the elevation interesting."
"The architecture should do that without decorative compensation."
I leaned back in my chair.
"It's not decorative compensation."
"It is."
"It's not."
His mouth moved.
Barely.
Not a smile.
But dangerously close.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Are you enjoying this?"
"No."
"You look like you're enjoying this."
"I assure you, Ms. Stone, arguing with you before nine thirty is not something I enjoy."
"Could've fooled me."
There.
Again.
Sarcasm.
Automatic.
Familiar.
His eyes stayed on mine.
Something in his shoulders seemed to loosen.
So slightly I almost missed it.
I looked away first.
"I'm keeping the shading element."
"No, you're not."
"Then why are we discussing it?"
"Because apparently you needed the exercise."
I looked back at him.
"Did you just make a joke?"
"No."
"That was absolutely a joke."
"Revise the elevation."
He turned.
"Mr. Vale."
He stopped.
I shouldn't.
I knew I shouldn't.
But-
"Did you eat breakfast?"
His back stayed toward me for a second.
Then he turned his head slightly.
"Yes."
"You're lying."
"I am not."
"You have the face."
"What face?"
"The haven't-eaten face."
He stared at me.
I stared back.
And then I realized what I'd done.
Oh.
We were doing it again.
I looked down at my screen.
"Never mind."
Silence.
Then-
"I had coffee."
I looked up.
"That isn't breakfast."
"I didn't say it was."
"Then you didn't eat."
"I'll survive."
"Debatable."
That almost-smile appeared again.
Gone immediately.
"Revise the elevation, Angelica."
And he walked away.
I sat there staring after him.
Maya rolled her chair slowly into view.
"No."
She hadn't even said anything yet.
She raised both hands.
"I wasn't going to."
"Good."
She rolled back.
I looked at my screen.
Then at the empty space where my coffee should have been.
This meant nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
The coffee returned Monday.
Adrian placed it on my desk himself.
No greeting.
No explanation.
Just coffee.
I stared at it.
Then at him.
"I told you to stop buying me coffee."
"And yet you're holding it."
I looked down.
At some point during the conversation, I had apparently picked it up.
Traitorous hands.
"I'm preventing waste."
"Of course."
"This means nothing."
His eyes met mine.
"I didn't say it did."
My stomach did something deeply unhelpful.
I took a sip.
Perfect.
Still.
I hated him.
Probably.
Adrian turned to leave.
"Thank you."
He stopped.
Just for a second.
Then-
"You're welcome, Angelica."
And kept walking.
I watched him go.
This time, I didn't even bother pretending I hadn't.