Chapter 33 - Normal Again
Wednesday morning, I walked into Vale Architecture carrying my office box.
Maya saw me first.
She screamed like she'd just seen a tiger walk into the office.
"ANGEL!"
Every head turned toward me at once.
Oh, God.
I stopped just inside the door, clutching the box against my chest and feeling equal parts awkward and embarrassed.
Maya was already coming toward me.
And apparently everyone else was too.
Ben abandoned his desk. Nicole was right behind him. Daniel came over from his side of the office. Even Claire left what she was doing and joined them.
Within seconds, I had an entire welcoming committee standing around me.
Maya reached me first.
"I knew it."
I sighed.
"I knew it," she repeated. "I knew you were coming back the second I saw him in the garage yesterday."
Ben looked ridiculously pleased.
"He did stop you!"
"Indeed."
Nicole immediately leaned closer.
"What did he do?"
"Later, Nicole."
"No, Angel. If you don't tell me now, I will actually die of curiosity."
"You'll survive."
"I won't."
I looked at all of them.
Apparently nobody intended to let me reach my desk until I gave them something.
I sighed.
"He asked me to stay."
Nicole stared at me.
"He asked you?"
"Yes."
"Like... a request?"
"Yes."
Her eyes widened.
"Like a please?"
"Yes, Nicole."
I paused.
"Three times."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Even Claire looked up.
Maya's mouth actually fell open.
"Three times?"
"Yes."
Maya stared at me.
"You forced Adrian Vale to say please three times?"
"I did not force him. He said it himself."
Maya stared at me.
"He tried everything else for fourteen days."
"That's true."
"And you said no to all of it."
"Also true."
"Until he finally said please."
I considered that.
"Okay. Maybe I forced him a little."
Maya grinned.
"I would've come back dancing after one."
Everyone laughed.
And standing there with my stupid office box still in my arms, I realized something.
They were genuinely happy.
Not politely happy.
Not welcome-back-we're-coworkers happy.
Actually happy.
Even though my coming back meant projects that had already started being handed over would come back to me. Even though everyone had spent yesterday adjusting to the fact that I was leaving.
None of that seemed to matter.
They were just happy I was there.
And seeing them happy made something warm settle in my chest.
I had said goodbye to these people yesterday.
Apparently, I was going to have to take that back too.
I finally escaped everyone and carried my box to my desk.
My empty desk.
I set the box down.
Then looked at the spot beside my computer.
Nothing.
I frowned.
Looked again.
Still nothing.
No coffee.
My eyes narrowed.
Seriously?
Yesterday had been my last day. Fine. He'd had an emotional crisis. I'd allowed it.
But today?
I came back to this goddamn company after Adrian Vale said please three times, and the man couldn't even get me coffee?
Two days.
Two days in a row.
Unacceptable.
I looked toward his office.
Oh, he and I were going to have a conversation.
Adrian and I did not talk after that.
Well.
That wasn't entirely true.
We talked.
There were people around. There were projects involved. There were drawings and schedules and questions that required answers.
Strictly work-related.
Nothing else.
Which was fine.
Completely fine.
Because apparently, after yesterday, neither of us had any idea how to act around the other.
I certainly didn't.
And judging by Adrian's sudden commitment to extreme professionalism, I was willing to bet he didn't either.
So we worked.
Mostly separately.
I spent most of the morning with Claire in the conference room, going through the projects that had started being reassigned yesterday.
Apparently leaving a company was significantly easier than coming back to one twenty-four hours later.
We were halfway through sorting out one of the project schedules when Claire suddenly said,
"I'm really happy you came back."
I looked up.
She was watching me from across the table.
I smiled.
"Thank you."
Claire looked back down at the papers.
Then she hesitated.
"And I'm happy for Adrian."
My smile disappeared.
"Claire."
She looked at me.
"It's not what you think it is."
One eyebrow lifted slightly.
"He asked me to stay," I continued. "And I stayed. That's all. There's nothing happening between us."
"I know."
That was surprisingly easy.
Then Claire added,
"But there could be."
I stared at her.
She returned her attention to the drawings.
Of course.
A few seconds passed.
Then she said quietly,
"I want Adrian to trust someone again."
That caught me completely off guard.
I looked at her.
Claire didn't elaborate.
For a moment, I thought about asking what she meant.
Again.
Trust someone again.
There was something inside those words.
Something I didn't understand.
But Claire had already moved on to the next drawing.
Then she stopped.
"He said please three times to stop you."
Apparently we weren't moving on at all.
I sighed.
"Does everyone know about that now?"
"Everyone within fifty feet of Nicole probably knows about that now."
Fair.
Claire looked at me.
"Do you know what that means?"
"That Nicole can't keep anything to herself?"
"Angelica."
I went quiet.
"Adrian doesn't say please."
"I've noticed."
"He doesn't apologize either."
That made me stop.
Claire leaned back slightly.
"But he's done both with you."
I didn't say anything.
"He's different around you, Angelica."
My eyes dropped to the drawings between us.
"And you're changing him."
I looked back at her.
"No."
Claire's eyebrows lifted.
"I'm not changing him."
She watched me quietly.
"If he's changing, he's doing that himself."
For several seconds, Claire said nothing.
Then the smallest smile appeared on her face.
"Maybe."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Why do I feel like you don't agree with me?"
"I agree that Adrian makes his own choices."
"That sounded suspiciously careful."
"It was."
I stared at her.
Claire's smile grew by approximately half a millimeter.
Then she looked back down at the drawings.
"But I've known him a long time, Angelica."
Something in her voice made me stop joking.
"He doesn't let people in."
A pause.
"And somehow, he let you in."
I looked down at the plans.
I didn't know what to say to that.
Because yesterday, in a parking garage, Adrian had finally told me exactly what he didn't want me to leave.
Not Vale Architecture.
Not Solara.
Not Coral House.
Him.
And suddenly Claire's words felt much heavier than they should have.
I picked up my pen.
"So. Marina House?"
Claire looked at me for another second.
Then, mercifully, she let me escape.
"Marina House."
I bent over the drawings.
The rest of the day was surprisingly uneventful.
Normal, even.
I worked.
Adrian worked.
Everyone else worked.
There were meetings, emails, drawings, revisions, and absolutely nothing worth having an emotional crisis over.
Which, considering the last fourteen days of my life, was refreshing.
At four-thirty, my phone buzzed.
I looked down.
I opened the message.
I stared at it.
Then typed back.
A few seconds later.
Nothing.
I waited.
Still nothing.
I frowned at my phone.
Oh.
I typed again.
I stared at the screen.
Nothing.
Of course.
Very Adrian.
I shook my head and put my phone down.
A minute later, it buzzed again.
Apparently that was the invitation.
I smiled despite myself.
At five, everyone started packing up.
Maya stopped beside my desk with her bag over her shoulder.
"You're not leaving?"
"No."
She looked at my computer.
"Why? You don't have any work today."
"Apparently, His Majesty asked me to dinner."
Maya's eyebrows went up.
"Well."
I held up a finger.
"Technically, he didn't ask. I assumed that part."
Her mouth curved into a smile.
"Have a good dinner with Your Majesty."
Then she winked at me.
I glared at her.
She left anyway.
I looked at the time.
5:03.
Then toward Adrian's office.
I had absolutely nothing to do.
Why sit at my desk for twelve minutes when I could bother him instead?
His door was open.
I walked over, entered without knocking, and dropped into the chair across from his desk.
Adrian was still doing something on his computer.
He looked at me.
"I think I said five-fifteen."
"Yes, you did."
I settled more comfortably into the chair.
"But I had nothing else to do. So why not bother you a little?"
"You can't."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"I'm almost finished."
Rude.
"Fine."
I watched him for a moment.
Then remembered something significantly more important.
"Where was my coffee this morning?"
His eyes shifted from the monitor to me.
"I didn't know what time you would come in today."
"That's common sense. I would come at the time I normally come."
"How would I know that?"
I stared at him.
"You know what time I come to work."
He didn't argue with that.
Interesting.
Then his eyebrows pulled together slightly.
"Why are you so upset about the coffee?"
"Because you didn't get me one for two days straight."
"You were leaving yesterday."
"And today?"
"I didn't know when you'd be here."
"We've established that was a terrible excuse."
Adrian looked at me for a second.
Then went back to his computer.
"You'll start getting it again tomorrow."
"You better."
I stared at him.
He ignored me.
Mostly.
There was the slightest movement at the corner of his mouth.
At 5:15, he closed whatever he was working on, and we went downstairs together.
We reached the parking lot.
Candy was exactly where I'd left her that morning.
I looked at Adrian.
"What do we do with Candy?"
"Leave her here."
I blinked.
"Why?"
"I'll pick you up tomorrow."
I stared at him.
"You're picking me up tomorrow?"
"Yes."
I looked at Candy.
Then back at him.
"Okay."
I had questions.
For some reason, I didn't ask them.
We got into his car.
And approximately thirty seconds later, I discovered a problem.