Chapter 38 - Very Attractive
Tuesday morning, Adrian picked me up at seven.
As promised.
There was coffee waiting for me in the cup holder.
Also as promised.
Breakfast hadn't technically been promised until I'd exploited yesterday's near-death experience for personal gain, but he honored that too.
We stopped for breakfast before work.
Nothing dramatic happened.
He didn't ask if I was okay every seven minutes.
Only twice.
Progress.
By the time we reached Vale Architecture, I had my coffee, Candy was waiting safely in the parking lot, and Adrian looked considerably more like himself.
I thought yesterday was finally behind us.
Apparently, I had forgotten that nine other people had been there.
The second I reached my desk, Maya looked up.
"Angel."
I stopped.
Something in her voice made me look at her properly.
"What?"
She stood.
"How are you feeling today?"
"Fine."
"Nothing hurts?"
"No."
"No headache?"
"No."
"Dizzy?"
"Maya."
"I'm asking."
I softened.
"No. Nothing. I'm completely fine."
"Good."
Ben looked over from his desk.
"Emma?"
Emma had just arrived at hers.
She nodded.
"I'm okay too."
"Good."
There was no joke after it.
That was unusual.
Especially for Ben.
I sat down.
For a few minutes, everyone worked.
Then Nicole spoke.
"I still can't believe that happened."
Nobody had to ask what she meant.
Daniel leaned back in his chair.
"I keep replaying it."
"Me too," Maya said.
I looked up.
Maya was staring at her screen, but she wasn't actually looking at it.
"I saw it start moving," she said. "And I knew something was wrong, but I didn't even understand what I was looking at yet."
Ben nodded.
"Same."
Then he looked at me.
"He did."
I knew immediately who he was.
Daniel looked over.
"I don't know how."
"It was instant," Ben said. "The thing shifted and Adrian was already moving."
I stared at him.
Yesterday, from my side of it, there hadn't been much to remember.
A sound.
My name.
A pull.
Then Adrian.
But they'd seen it.
All of it.
Nicole turned toward me.
"You probably didn't see him."
"No."
"He was nowhere near you," she said. "Not far, but definitely not beside you."
"I know."
"He ran."
Something about hearing that made my chest tighten.
Maya finally looked at me.
"Angel, I've never heard anyone scream someone's name like that."
The room went quiet.
Emma was sitting at her desk.
She wasn't looking at us.
Maya continued.
"It scared me before the thing even hit the ground."
Ben nodded slowly.
"I think that was what made everybody turn."
Daniel looked at me.
"One second Adrian was standing there. Then he screamed your name and just-"
He made a quick motion with his hand.
"Gone."
"I barely remember it," I admitted.
"You wouldn't," Maya said. "It happened too fast."
"I remember hearing him."
Nobody said anything for a moment.
I looked down at my coffee.
ANGELICA.
I could still hear it.
Nicole spoke quietly.
"And then he grabbed you."
"Pulled her," Ben corrected.
I looked at him.
"He didn't grab you. He practically ripped you out of the way."
"That part I remember."
"You left the ground," Maya said.
"I know."
"And then that thing came down."
Silence again.
Not awkward silence.
The kind where everyone was remembering exactly how close it had been.
Emma shifted in her chair.
I looked at her.
She was staring at her laptop.
Maya's voice was quieter when she spoke again.
"And then he just held you."
I didn't answer.
Nobody laughed.
Nobody made a comment about Adrian and me.
Nobody said His Majesty.
Yesterday had apparently scared the humor out of all of them.
"At first I thought he was checking if you were hurt," Nicole said.
"So did I," Ben said.
"But then he didn't let go."
My fingers tightened slightly around my coffee cup.
Daniel nodded.
"It was a long time."
"Five minutes, at least," Maya said.
"Probably more."
I knew.
I'd been inside those arms for every second of it.
Ben looked at me.
"I don't think he even knew we were there."
That made me look at him.
"What?"
"He wasn't looking at anybody."
Maya nodded.
"He wasn't."
She paused.
"Ethan and I were running toward you."
"I saw."
"We stopped because Adrian already had you. I mean-"
She shook her head slightly.
"Had you."
I remembered his hand against the back of my head.
My face pressed into his chest.
His arm around me so tightly I could barely move.
"So we went to Emma," Maya finished.
Emma's fingers stopped over her keyboard.
For barely a second.
Then started again.
Daniel was quiet for a moment.
Then-
"Was he shaking?"
I looked at him.
Maya answered before I could.
"Yes."
I hadn't realized anyone else had noticed.
Apparently they had.
Ben's expression changed.
"Yeah."
Nicole looked between them.
"You saw that too?"
Maya nodded.
"His hand."
She touched the back of her own head.
"The one here. I could see it."
My throat tightened.
"He was trembling," I said quietly.
Maya looked at me.
"I know."
Emma's chair moved slightly.
I glanced toward her.
She'd stopped typing again.
This time she didn't start immediately.
Ben leaned back against his chair.
"I've worked for that man for years."
His voice was completely serious.
"I've seen him furious. I've seen him stressed. I've seen him deal with clients threatening lawsuits, projects going wrong, deadlines going to hell."
Daniel nodded.
Ben looked at me.
"I've never seen Adrian Vale scared."
Something inside my chest shifted.
Neither had I.
Until yesterday.
Nicole exhaled slowly.
"He looked terrified."
Emma stood suddenly.
Everyone looked at her.
She picked up her water bottle.
"I'm getting water."
"Oh." I looked at her. "Can you fill mine too?"
For half a second, she just stared at me.
Then she smiled.
"Sure."
"Thanks."
I handed it to her.
She took it and walked toward the break room.
I watched her go.
She'd been strange since yesterday.
Quieter.
But she'd also almost been crushed by several hundred pounds of construction material, so I wasn't exactly going to criticize her emotional stability.
When I looked back, Maya was watching Emma leave.
Then she looked at me.
Her expression was different.
I frowned.
"What?"
"Nothing."
There was that word again.
Before I could ask, Ben spoke.
"You know what was weirdest?"
"What?"
"The site."
I frowned.
"What about it?"
"The way he shut it down."
"Oh."
"He wasn't CEO angry," Daniel said.
"Exactly," Ben said. "Usually when he's pissed about work, he's still... Adrian."
"Cold," Nicole supplied.
"Controlled," Maya said.
Ben nodded.
"Yesterday he was just angry."
I remembered his face.
What happened?
I asked what happened.
We're shutting the site down.
Maya looked at me.
"He'd just spent five minutes holding you while his hands were shaking. Then he turned around and went after the site supervisor."
"I noticed."
"I thought somebody was going to die twice yesterday," Daniel said.
That almost made me laugh.
Almost.
But Ben didn't.
Neither did Maya.
And somehow that stopped me.
Because they weren't teasing.
Not today.
They'd been scared too.
I looked around at them.
People who had worked with Adrian for years.
People who knew him as difficult.
Controlled.
Intimidating.
Nearly impossible to read.
Yesterday, all of them had seen something I'd felt from inside his arms.
Their terrifying CEO had been terrified.
And across from me-
Emma had left her laptop open.
Her chair was empty.
My water bottle was still in her hand.
And for the first time, I wondered if yesterday had shaken her in a way I didn't understand.
By Tuesday afternoon, the office had finally found a subject that wasn't my near-death experience.
Halloween.
Apparently, Vale Architecture had a Halloween party every year.
And apparently, people took it very seriously.
Emma looked up immediately.
"Wait. We have a Halloween party?"
Maya smiled.
"Oh, yes."
"Like an actual party?"
"Costumes, food, decorations, everything."
Emma's face lit up.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Oh my God, that's so fun."
She turned toward me.
"You didn't tell me about this!"
"I didn't realize I was responsible for your Vale Architecture social calendar."
"You absolutely are now."
I laughed.
Emma looked genuinely excited.
"When is it?"
"Friday," Nicole said.
"Do people actually dress up?"
Ben looked offended.
"Obviously."
"Everybody?"
"Everybody with joy in their soul."
Daniel looked over.
"So not you."
"I already know what I'm doing," Ben announced.
Daniel looked over.
"That's concerning."
"You haven't even heard it."
"I don't need to."
Nicole laughed.
"I haven't decided yet. I was thinking maybe Wednesday Addams."
"You could pull that off," Maya said.
Claire looked up from her computer.
"What are you doing, Maya?"
"Not telling you."
"Why?"
"Because Ben steals ideas."
Ben looked offended.
"I have never stolen a Halloween costume in my life."
"You stole my pirate hat two years ago."
"That was borrowing."
"You wore it the entire night."
"I returned it."
"At Christmas."
I laughed.
Emma was sitting near us, listening while everyone started throwing around increasingly ridiculous costume ideas.
Halloween was next week, and judging by the conversation, absolutely no work was going to happen until everyone had established who was wearing what.
Emma was still smiling.
"I need to think of something good."
"You have a week," Nicole said.
"I know. That's not enough time."
"It is if you don't overthink it."
"I will absolutely overthink it."
Then Emma glanced toward Adrian's office.
"I wonder what Adrian will dress up as."
The conversation paused.
Claire looked at her.
"Adrian never attends the Halloween party."
Emma's face fell slightly.
"Oh."
Then she smiled.
"Such a waste."
I looked at her.
Such a waste?
Okay.
Claire's eyes moved to me.
Then something suspicious appeared in her expression.
"This year might be different."