Chapter 34 - The Exception
Monday morning, our new intern finally came into the office.
Emma had technically been working with Vale Architecture since August, but she'd been working remotely. Starting today, she would actually be coming into the office.
Her desk was near mine and Maya's, which meant Maya and I had somehow ended up responsible for showing her around.
We were halfway through doing exactly that when Emma suddenly stopped listening to me.
I followed her eyes.
Adrian was standing across the office talking to Daniel.
Emma was staring at him.
Literally staring.
I looked at her.
"What happened?"
She didn't look away.
"Who is that hotshot?"
I looked back at Adrian.
Then at her.
"That's Adrian. Our CEO."
Her head snapped toward me.
"That's Adrian Vale?"
"Yes."
"The Adrian Vale?"
"Yes."
She immediately looked back at him.
"I've read about his designs in school, but I never imagined he would be this level of handsome."
She was still staring.
Maya glanced at her.
"Hey. Stop staring. He's taken."
I turned my head slowly toward Maya.
Emma looked horrified.
"Are you being serious right now?"
"Very serious."
"You mean to say I have to work around this insanely handsome guy, interact with him, and he's already taken?"
"You don't have to," I said.
Emma looked at me.
"He never talks to anyone unless it's absolutely necessary."
"But we'll at least say hi or hello."
"He doesn't do greetings."
She stared at me.
I shrugged.
"You'll learn."
Then I pointed at Maya.
"And another thing. Maya was bullshitting you. He's single. Flirt as much as you want."
Maya looked at me.
"No, I was not bullshitting. He's not completely single."
I gave her a look.
She gave me one right back.
Fine.
"Well," I said, "he has a complicated relationship. Happy?"
Emma's attention immediately returned to Adrian.
"I can live with that. At least he's not taken."
"Let's see if you say the same thing after you experience his personality."
Emma watched him for another few seconds.
Then sighed.
"If someone looks like that, I can take anything from him."
"Good luck," I said.
I looked at her.
Then at Adrian.
Then back at her.
Poor girl.
She had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
Around noon, Ethan appeared beside my desk.
"Lunch?"
I looked up at him.
"Where?"
"Sushi?"
I stared at him.
"Why does everyone want to feed me Japanese nowadays?"
Ethan paused.
"Who else did that?"
"Never mind."
His eyebrows went up.
I stood and grabbed my bag.
"Up for pasta?"
"Sounds good."
We ended up at Olive Garden.
Halfway through lunch, while I was attempting to eat in peace, Ethan put down his fork and looked at me.
"He really made you stay."
I looked up.
"Ethan, it was my decision."
"I know."
He leaned back slightly.
"But you decided to leave. And you did. You packed your things, said goodbye to everyone, walked out of the building."
I said nothing.
"And then he did something that stopped you."
Still nothing.
Because that was true.
Ethan watched me.
"What did he do?"
I looked at him.
Oh.
Apparently Ethan didn't know yet.
"He asked."
Ethan waited.
"That's it?"
"He asked me to stay."
His eyebrows lifted.
"Wait."
I took another bite of pasta.
"He offered you money."
"Yes."
"A better position."
"Yes."
"Better projects."
"Yes."
"Everything else he could possibly throw at you."
"Pretty much."
"And none of that worked."
"No."
"But then he just asked you?"
I looked at him.
"Yes."
"And you stayed?"
"Yes."
Ethan stared at me.
"That simple?"
"It wasn't that simple for him, Ethan."
Something in my voice made him stop.
I set my fork down.
"Actually, that was probably the most difficult thing for him to do."
Ethan didn't say anything.
"He would've rather given me more money."
A small smile appeared on Ethan's face.
"You're amazing, you know that, Angelica?"
"Yes, I know."
He laughed.
I smiled and went back to my food.
For a few seconds, neither of us said anything.
Then Ethan shook his head.
"I can't believe Adrian Vale finally figured out that asking someone for something is an option."
"He's learning."
"Slowly."
"Painfully."
"For everyone involved?"
"Mostly me."
Ethan smiled.
Then he looked at me for another second.
"So you're happy you stayed?"
That one made me pause.
Not because I didn't know.
Because I did.
I looked down at my plate.
"Yes."
When I looked back up, Ethan was watching me.
There was something quiet in his expression.
Then he nodded.
"Good."
Just that.
Good.
He picked up his fork again.
And because Ethan was Ethan, he didn't ask me anything else.
He didn't ask why Adrian asking had been different from everything else.
He didn't ask what exactly had happened in that parking garage.
He didn't ask what Adrian had said.
Maybe he already understood enough.
Or maybe he simply knew when something wasn't his to ask.
A few seconds passed.
Ethan took another bite of his food.
"So."
"So."
"You realize Nicole is going to get the full story out of you eventually."
"Nicole is getting absolutely nothing."
"Sure."
I narrowed my eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
"You don't believe me."
"I didn't say that."
"Your face did."
Ethan smiled and reached for his drink.
"My face is eating lunch."
"Your face is annoying."
"And yet you invited it to Olive Garden."
"You invited me to lunch."
"Details."
I rolled my eyes and went back to my pasta.
By Wednesday, Emma understood.
Not completely.
I wasn't sure anyone could completely understand Adrian Vale after three days.
But she was getting there.
In forty-eight hours, she'd managed to witness an impressive collection of Adrians.
Mad Adrian.
Angry Adrian.
Asshole Adrian.
Rude Adrian.
I don't care Adrian.
Pissed Adrian.
Very focused Adrian.
And, most frequently-
Terrifying CEO Adrian.
All without actually meeting him.
Which was impressive.
Monday afternoon, she'd watched him return a set of drawings to one of the teams with a flat,
"Do it again."
No explanation.
No comforting smile.
Just do it again and gone.
Emma had stared after him.
Tuesday morning, someone arrived late to a meeting.
Adrian looked at the clock.
Then at the person.
"You're twelve minutes late."
"Sorry, I-"
"Sit down."
Emma had looked at me.
I had continued drinking my coffee.
Tuesday afternoon, she witnessed him stop in the middle of the office because someone had apparently made a mistake on a drawing.
He stood over the desk for less than thirty seconds.
"What is this?"
The poor guy tried to explain.
Adrian listened for approximately eight seconds.
"No."
One word.
Somehow devastating.
He pointed at the drawing.
"Fix it."
Then walked away.
Emma slowly turned toward Maya.
Maya shrugged.
"Tuesday."
By Wednesday morning, Emma had also discovered something else about Adrian.
Nobody approached him casually.
Nobody called out good morning when he walked through the office.
Nobody stopped him just to talk.
Nobody wandered into his office because they were bored.
If someone spoke to Adrian, there was usually a reason.
A drawing.
A project.
A problem.
Something that actually required his attention.
And when there wasn't-
People left him alone.
It wasn't even fear exactly.
It was an understanding everyone in the office seemed to have developed a long time ago.
Adrian Vale was not approachable.
Emma had apparently figured that out too.
And somehow-
Somehow-
she still hadn't actually spoken to him.
Not once.
She'd been waiting for an opportunity to introduce herself.
Wednesday afternoon, he came through our area carrying a set of drawings, stopped at Daniel's desk, had a brief conversation with him, looked annoyed about something, said,
"No. That's not what I asked for."
Then left.
Emma watched him disappear.
She sat silently for a few seconds.
Then turned her chair toward us.
"Okay."
Maya looked over.
"I get what you guys were saying."
I smiled.
"Already?"
"I've seen enough."
"It's Wednesday."
"I've seen enough."
Maya laughed.
Emma leaned back in her chair.
"I've seen him angry. I've seen him rude. I've seen him pissed. I've seen him completely ignore people. I've seen him terrify someone with one word."
"Efficient," I said.
"And I still haven't even gotten a chance to introduce myself."
"You probably won't."
She looked offended.
"I'm his intern."
"You're an intern."
"That's worse."
"Yes."
Emma glanced toward Adrian's office.
Then sighed.
"But he's still handsome."
Of course.
Maya nodded.
"Yes. He's eye candy."
I looked at her.
Maya continued like I wasn't there.
"But he's the kind of handsome you enjoy from afar. You don't actually want to go near him."
Emma considered that.
Her eyes drifted toward his office again.
"Maybe."
I laughed.
"Give it another week."
"What happens in another week?"
"You get a more complete understanding of his personality."
"I've already seen quite a lot."
"You've been here three days."
Emma thought about that.
"That's terrifying."
"Exactly."
She looked toward his office again.
"Still worth it."
"Good luck."
Maya laughed.
Emma turned back to her computer.
I shook my head and did the same.
Emma got her first real shock on Thursday.
It happened at my desk.
Adrian had come over to discuss Solara.
That was his first mistake.
His second was bringing a design I disagreed with.
"No."
Adrian looked at me.
"No?"
"No."
I turned the drawing toward him and pointed at the west side.
"You can't do this."
"I can."
"You shouldn't."
"The circulation works."
"The circulation is terrible."
"It isn't."
"It is."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Angelica."
"Adrian."
Behind my monitor, I caught the smallest movement from Emma's direction.
I ignored it.
Adrian put one hand on my desk.
"The entrance stays where it is."
"No, it doesn't."
"Yes, it does."