Chapter 25 - Day 7 Nature Is Healing #3
Nicole frowned.
"What emergency?"
He pointed at the rendering.
"That chair."
We all looked.
It was a chair.
"What about it?" I asked.
"It looks judgmental."
I stared at him.
Daniel leaned closer.
"It kind of does."
"Oh my God."
Maya started laughing.
Nicole buried her face in her hands.
And just like that, the moment passed.
I laughed with them.
Because they were ridiculous.
Because I loved them.
Because I still had eight days.
And suddenly, eight days didn't feel like very much time at all.
By four-thirty, I had accomplished exactly two things.
Reviewed three drawing sets.
And become painfully aware of Adrian Vale.
He hadn't come to my desk again.
No new offer.
No suspiciously urgent project.
No sudden reason we needed to drive somewhere together.
Nothing.
Which was weird.
Because for six days, the man had treated my resignation like a hostile takeover.
Today-
Silence.
I glanced toward his office.
He was behind the glass, reading something.
Black shirt.
Red tie.
Still offensively attractive.
Still suspicious.
I looked back at my screen.
Maybe he'd finally accepted it.
The thought landed badly.
Which was stupid.
Wasn't that what I wanted?
For him to accept my decision?
Respect it?
Stop trying to negotiate me into staying?
Yes.
Obviously.
So why did the possibility that he'd actually given up make something uncomfortable twist inside me?
I stared at the same line on my screen for another thirty seconds.
Then-
No.
Absolutely not.
I was not going to sit here psychoanalyzing myself because my boss had gone several hours without attempting to bribe me.
At five-fifteen, I started packing up.
Maya had already left for a meeting downstairs. Nicole and Daniel were still working. Ben had disappeared somewhere twenty minutes ago, which probably meant someone else's productivity was currently being destroyed.
I slipped my laptop into my bag.
"Leaving?"
I looked up.
Adrian stood a few feet away.
"Eventually."
His eyes dropped to my half-packed bag.
"That generally indicates leaving."
"Excellent observational skills."
He ignored that.
"Did you finish the west elevation review?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"You're still wrong."
His expression didn't change.
"I'll survive."
"So you've claimed."
A tiny pause.
Then silence.
He should've walked away.
He didn't.
I zipped my bag.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
And because apparently I had lost every survival instinct I'd ever possessed-
"You haven't tried to make me stay today."
His expression went still.
There.
I'd said it.
Why had I said it?
Adrian's eyes stayed on mine.
"No."
I leaned one hip against the desk.
"No raise?"
"No."
"Another project?"
"No."
"Promotion?"
"No."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Building?"
One eyebrow lifted.
"I don't own one I'm willing to give you."
I almost smiled.
"Wow. So there are limits."
"Apparently."
I folded my arms.
"So you've given up?"
"No."
Immediate.
Something in my chest shifted.
"Then what are you doing?"
For once, Adrian didn't have an answer ready.
His gaze moved away from me.
Toward the windows.
Then back.
"I don't know."
I stared at him.
Adrian Vale had just admitted he didn't know something.
Someone should've documented this.
"You don't know."
"I believe that's what I said."
"I'm just making sure. This feels historically significant."
"Ms. Stone."
"There you are."
His mouth tightened.
But there was no real irritation behind it.
I looked at him for another second.
"Seriously."
His expression changed.
Just slightly.
"I've offered you more money."
"Yes."
"More responsibility."
"Yes."
"Coral House."
"Yes."
"You said no."
"Yes."
A pause.
"I heard you."
That took the humor out of me.
I looked at him.
He continued before I could say anything.
"You made a decision. I don't have the right to keep treating it like you haven't."
Oh.
That-
I hadn't expected that.
"But you haven't given up."
"No."
"Those seem contradictory."
"They aren't."
"How?"
His jaw shifted.
"I haven't figured that out yet."
I stared at him.
There was something almost absurdly Adrian about that answer.
He knew the old methods weren't working.
He knew he couldn't keep pushing.
And apparently his current strategy was-
Nothing.
Stand there in a black shirt and red tie and hope for divine intervention.
Honestly, it might be his most effective strategy yet.
I picked up my bag.
"Well."
"Well."
"Good luck with that."
"I'll let you know."
I smiled despite myself.
Then started toward the elevators.
"Angelica."
I stopped.
Turned.
Adrian was still standing beside my desk.
His hands were in his pockets now.
Expression controlled.
Eyes not quite.
"Goodnight, Angelica."
Something warm and painful moved through my chest.
"Goodnight, Adrian."
I walked away.
Eight days.
And for the first time since I'd resigned, Adrian wasn't trying to convince me to stay.
He was listening.
Somehow, that was making it harder to leave.