Chapter 26 - Day 8 Your Majesty 👑 #2
Not because she didn't know.
Because she absolutely did.
And she knew exactly what was about to happen.
"Nothing."
Ben stared at me.
"Nothing is calling you?"
"Mind your business."
Nicole leaned slightly across the table.
"Your Majesty?"
"Everybody stop saying it."
Daniel looked over.
"With a crown?"
"Daniel."
My phone kept ringing.
Why was he calling me?
He was approximately twenty feet away.
Then Adrian walked back into the conference room.
Phone in his hand.
Everyone went quiet.
He stopped.
His eyes moved across the table.
Ben.
Nicole.
Daniel.
Maya.
Me.
Then my ringing phone.
Then the phone in his own hand.
Oh God.
Understanding arrived slowly.
Painfully.
Beautifully.
Ben looked at Adrian's phone.
Then mine.
Then Adrian.
His mouth fell open.
"No."
I grabbed my phone.
"Ben."
"No fucking way."
Nicole covered her mouth.
Daniel made a strangled sound.
Maya folded forward over the table.
Adrian looked at me.
Then at my phone.
Then back at me.
I wanted the building to collapse.
Not enough to hurt anyone.
Just enough to create a distraction.
Ben pointed at my phone.
"YOUR MAJESTY?"
"Shut up."
"With a CROWN?"
"Ben."
"You put a fucking crown-"
"I WILL FIRE YOU MYSELF."
That did it.
Nicole broke first.
Then Daniel.
Then Ben.
Maya was already gone.
Completely useless.
Even Claire turned her face away, shoulders moving suspiciously.
I looked at Adrian.
He wasn't laughing.
Of course he wasn't.
He was just standing there.
Watching me.
His expression almost completely unreadable.
Almost.
There was something at the corner of his mouth.
Barely there.
Oh, absolutely not.
I pointed at him.
"Don't."
His eyebrow lifted.
"I haven't said anything."
"You're about to."
A pause.
Then-
"Your Majesty?"
The room exploded again.
I closed my eyes.
"I hate all of you."
Ben was laughing too hard to breathe.
Daniel had turned away from the table.
Nicole had her face in her hands.
Maya was making absolutely no attempt to help me.
I opened my eyes.
Adrian was still looking at me.
And now I could see it.
Not a smile.
But dangerously close.
"You were unbearable," I said.
His eyebrows rose.
"Were?"
The room broke all over again.
I stared at him.
He stared back.
And for one horrible second, I could've sworn he was enjoying this.
I picked up my notebook.
"I'm resigning."
Ben managed, between laughs-
"You already did."
I looked at him.
"I'm doing it again."
That somehow made everything worse.
The meeting ended twelve minutes later.
Mostly because Claire finally said, "I think we've accomplished what we needed to accomplish."
Which was corporate language for none of you are getting anything done anymore.
I gathered my notebook without looking at anyone.
Especially Adrian.
Ben was still smiling.
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You don't have to. Your face is irritating."
"My face is delighted."
"That's worse."
Nicole stood and collected her papers.
Then she looked at Adrian.
"Good meeting, Your Majesty."
Oh God.
Adrian's eyes moved slowly to her.
Nicole lasted approximately two seconds.
Then she laughed and headed for the door.
I covered my face with one hand.
"This is never going away."
"No," Ben said cheerfully. "Absolutely not."
Daniel walked around the table.
He reached Adrian.
Stopped.
And bowed.
Actually bowed.
Not much.
Just a small, ridiculous dip of his upper body.
Adrian stared at him.
Completely expressionless.
Except for the slightest tightening at one corner of his mouth.
Daniel saw it.
So did I.
He straightened and walked out before either of us could prove it had happened.
Ben followed him, laughing.
Maya picked up her laptop.
"This might be the best thing that's ever happened to me at work."
"I hope you get fired."
"You don't have that authority."
"I know someone who does."
My eyes went to Adrian.
Maya's did too.
Then she smiled.
"Oh, apparently you do."
"Maya."
She escaped before I could kill her.
Claire was the last one to leave.
She stopped beside Adrian.
For one terrifying second, I thought Claire was going to do something.
Instead, she looked at him.
Then at me.
Her mouth twitched.
And she walked out without saying a word.
Somehow that was worse.
I shoved my phone into my bag.
When I looked up, Adrian was still near the screen.
Of course he was.
I picked up my notebook.
"I'm leaving."
"Ms. Stone."
"No."
A pause.
"I haven't said anything."
"You don't need to."
"I was going to ask about the west elevation."
I looked at him suspiciously.
"Were you?"
"Yes."
His face was completely serious.
Too serious.
"You're enjoying this."
"I don't know what you're referring to."
"Liar."
One eyebrow lifted.
I walked toward the door.
"The alternative will be in your inbox before two."
"Good."
I reached the doorway.
"Ms. Stone."
I stopped again.
Slowly, I turned around.
His expression hadn't changed.
"Your Majesty requires it before two."
I stared at him.
His mouth moved.
Barely.
Not a smile.
But close enough.
"You are the worst person I have ever met."
"Before two."
I walked out.
Behind me, I heard absolutely nothing.
Which somehow made everything worse.
By four-thirty, the office had finally recovered from the discovery of YOUR MAJESTY ??.
Mostly.
Ben had stopped laughing every time he looked at me.
That was progress.
I was reviewing the material specifications for Solara when my desk phone rang.
I stared at it.
Suspiciously.
Then picked it up.
"Yes?"
A pause.
"Come here."
Of course.
"Do you own any other sentences?"
"Several."
"Could've fooled me."
"Ms. Stone."
"I'm coming."
I hung up.
Maya looked over.
"Summoned by royalty?"
I pointed at her without looking up.
"Don't."
She laughed.
I grabbed my notebook and headed toward Adrian's office.
He was standing at the long worktable near the windows.
Several material samples were spread across it beside the Solara drawings.
He looked up when I entered.
"Close the door."
I did.
"What?"
He pointed at two fa?ade samples.
"These came in this afternoon."
I walked over and stood beside him.
One was slightly warmer than the finish we'd specified.
I picked it up.
"This one's wrong."
"I know."
I looked at him.
"Then why am I here?"
"The other one."
I put the first sample down and studied the second.
Adrian shifted one of the drawings toward me.
"The supplier says it's within the approved range."
"It is."
"But?"
I glanced at him.
"You already know there's a but."
"There usually is."
I looked back at the sample.
"The texture is better."
"Yes."
"But the undertone is wrong."
"Too warm."
"Exactly."
He leaned closer to the table.
Our shoulders almost touched.
I ignored that.
Professional.
Very professional.
I moved the sample against the rendering.
"It'll fight with the stone in direct sunlight."
"I thought the same."
I looked at him.
"You agreed with me twice in two days."
"Don't get used to it."
"I'm concerned."
"You'll recover."
I narrowed my eyes.
He had stolen that one too.
Asshole.
Adrian reached toward the samples.
So did I.
Our hands landed on the same one.
His fingers touched mine.
I stopped.
So did he.
Neither of us moved.
His hand was partly over mine.
Warm.
Large.
His palm barely touching the back of my hand, his long fingers resting against mine.
There was absolutely no reason for either of us to still be touching.
The sample wasn't going anywhere.
He could have moved his hand.
He didn't.
Neither did I.
The office suddenly felt very quiet.
I looked down.
His hand was still there.
Then I looked at him.
He was already looking at me.
Not angry.
Not amused.
Not guarded enough.
Just-
Looking.
My breath caught.
Adrian's hand began to move.
For one second, I thought that was it.
Then his fingertips caught mine.
Deliberately.
Two of my fingers.
Maybe three.
His curled lightly around them.
Not holding my hand.
Not quite.
Something smaller.
Somehow worse.
My eyes dropped to our hands again.
His fingers stayed there.
One second.
Two.
Three.
I didn't pull away.
Neither did he.
There was no reason for this.
No falling model.
No crowded dance floor.
No cut finger.
No excuse.
Just Adrian.
And me.
And his fingers around mine because he had decided to put them there.
Slowly, he let go.
His hand moved away.
Mine stayed exactly where it was for another second.
I looked at him.
His jaw was tight.
His eyes were still on mine.
Neither of us said anything.
Because what exactly were we supposed to say?
Nice material sample.
Thanks for holding my fingers.
Oh God.
I looked back at the table.
"The second one is better."
My voice sounded almost normal.
Almost.
Adrian was quiet for a beat.
Then-
"Yes."
That was it.
No explanation.
No apology.
Nothing.
I picked up my notebook.
"I'll update the specification."
"Okay."
I turned toward the door.
My hand reached for the handle.
"Angelica."
I stopped.
I looked back.
He hadn't moved from the table.
For a moment, I thought he was going to say something.
He didn't.
Neither did I.
I opened the door and walked out.
The office looked exactly the same.
Ben was working.
Nicole was on the phone.
Daniel was staring at his screen.
Maya was typing.
Nobody looked up.
Nobody knew.
After a very long time, there was something in this office that belonged only to us.
I sat down at my desk.
Looked at my hand.
Then immediately stopped looking at my hand because that was ridiculous.
Seven days.
Seven days until I left.
And for the first time, Adrian hadn't tried to give me something to make me stay.
He hadn't offered me money.
Or a project.
Or a title.
He hadn't asked me to reconsider.
He hadn't said anything at all.
He had just touched me.
Because he wanted to.
And somehow-
That was more dangerous than everything else he'd tried.