Chapter 39 - Because You Like Them #2
"It isn't."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Why do you want to know my costume?"
Adrian leaned back slightly.
"Forget I asked."
"No."
He looked at me.
"You asked. Now I'm interested."
"That sounds like your problem."
"Oh, absolutely not."
I moved directly in front of him.
"Are you reconsidering?"
"No."
"Adrian."
"No."
"Come tomorrow."
"No."
"Please."
"No."
"You made me stay."
His expression changed.
I knew immediately I'd chosen the wrong argument.
Not because he was angry.
Because he went quiet.
So did I.
For a second, neither of us said anything.
Then I softened.
"Come on."
His eyes stayed on mine.
"Just once."
Nothing.
"You don't have to stay long."
Still nothing.
"And you don't have to talk to anyone you don't want to talk to."
"That would be everyone."
"Fine. Don't talk to anyone."
"That sounds like an excellent party."
"You can stand in a corner and judge us."
"I can do that from my office."
"Your office isn't the party."
"That's its strongest feature."
I sighed.
"Adrian."
He looked at me.
And this time I didn't negotiate fifteen minutes or thirty minutes or food or costumes.
I just said-
"I want you there."
Silence.
Oh.
That came out more honestly than I'd intended.
Adrian's eyes stayed on mine.
I resisted the urge to fix it.
Because it was true.
Everyone else wanted him there because it would be funny to see Adrian Vale at a Halloween party.
I wanted him there because-
I wanted him there.
Apparently that was enough of a reason.
Finally, Adrian looked away.
"Fine."
I froze.
"What?"
"I'll come."
I stared at him.
No.
No fucking way.
"You'll come?"
"Yes."
"To the Halloween party?"
He looked at me.
"What other conversation have we been having for the past nine days?"
A smile started spreading across my face.
"You said yes."
"I know."
"You actually said yes."
"I'm reconsidering."
"No."
I pointed at him.
"No. Absolutely not. You said yes. It's legally binding."
"It isn't."
"I have witnesses."
"There is nobody else in here."
"I'll find witnesses."
"Angelica."
I was already backing toward the door.
"Wait."
He frowned.
"Where are you going?"
"To tell everybody."
"No."
"Yes."
"Angelica."
I opened the door.
Then stopped.
Turned back.
"One more thing."
His expression immediately became suspicious.
"What?"
"You have to wear a costume."
"No."
"Yes."
"I agreed to attend."
"It's a Halloween party."
"I know."
"You need a costume."
"No."
I smiled.
Apparently the war wasn't over.
"Fine."
I stepped through the doorway.
"We have twenty-four hours."
"Angelica."
I looked back.
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
I smiled.
God.
That felt good.
I walked out of his office.
Maya looked up first.
Then Ben.
Then Nicole.
Then Daniel.
Claire turned in her chair.
Even Emma looked over.
I stopped in the middle of our section.
"He's coming."
Silence.
Ben stood up.
"No."
"Yes."
"To the party?"
"Yes."
Nicole's mouth fell open.
Daniel looked toward Adrian's office.
"You're serious?"
"Completely."
Claire slowly smiled.
"I told you."
"Oh, shut up."
Maya was staring at me.
Then she shook her head.
"I fucking knew it."
Everyone started talking at once.
Questions.
Disbelief.
Ben apparently needed independent verification.
Nicole wanted to know how I'd done it.
Daniel wanted to know whether Adrian had suffered a head injury after all.
I laughed.
And somewhere in the middle of all of it, I looked at Emma.
She wasn't laughing.
But this time-
I understood why.
Not everything.
Not yet.
But enough.
Maya's words from last week came back to me.
She likes Adrian.
I'd known that.
What I hadn't understood was how much every little thing between Adrian and me must look like from where Emma was standing.
The coffee.
His car.
The Demodog.
My resignation.
His home.
And now this.
Something Adrian Vale had refused to do for years.
Something everyone in this office already knew he would probably do if I asked him.
And after nine days of telling me no-
He had.
Because I'd told him I wanted him there.
Emma looked away.
For once, I didn't blame her.
I just wished I knew what the hell I was supposed to do about it.
By Friday afternoon, I had accepted defeat.
Not about the party.
I had won that war.
Adrian Vale was attending a Vale Architecture Halloween party for the first time in-
Actually, I had no idea how long.
Possibly ever.
The costume war, however, was going terribly.
I called him at two-fifteen.
He answered on the fourth ring.
"No."
I stared at my phone.
"I haven't said anything."
"You're calling about the costume."
"How do you know?"
"Because you've already texted me twice."
"That doesn't prove anything."
"One of the texts said, You still have time to find a costume."
Okay.
Fair.
"You need one."
"No."
"Everybody is dressing up."
"Good for everybody."
"It doesn't have to be complicated."
"No."
"You could literally wear anything."
"I will."
I brightened.
"Really?"
"Clothes."
I closed my eyes.
"Those aren't a costume."
"They'll have to do."
"Adrian."
"Angelica."
"Please?"
"No."
"You're unbelievably boring."
"I'll survive."
"I'm going to find something for you."
"Don't."
"Maybe I'll bring options."
"I won't wear them."
"You don't even know what they are."
"I don't need to."
"What if they're amazing?"
"No."
"You really have developed a problem with that word."
"See you tonight, Angelica."
"Adrian-"
He hung up.
Asshole.
So I gave up.
He was coming.
That was already a miracle.
I wasn't greedy.
By seven-thirty, Vale Architecture looked nothing like Vale Architecture.
The lights were lower.
Fake cobwebs stretched across the glass walls.
Someone had put tiny plastic spiders all over the conference-room table.
There were pumpkins, candles, food, music, enough candy to give the entire architectural profession diabetes, and people I normally saw arguing over structural details walking around dressed as things that had absolutely nothing to do with architecture.
And I was a witch.
Not the green-face, crooked-nose kind.
A black dress, fitted through the waist and falling above my knees, sheer black tights, ankle boots, and a pointed black hat that Maya had insisted was non-negotiable.
I'd done my makeup darker than usual.
My hair was down.
My vampire wings were hidden beneath it.
Which seemed mildly disrespectful to them on Halloween, but I wasn't spending the entire evening holding my hair up.
Maya had gone as Catwoman, dressed almost entirely in black with cat ears and a small black mask she'd already taken off twice because apparently it was ruining her peripheral vision.
Emma was Little Red Riding Hood, with a red hooded cape over a black-and-red dress.
Nicole had followed through on Wednesday Addams-black dress, white collar, dark makeup, and two braids that made her look disturbingly committed to never smiling again.
Ethan was a pirate.
Not the plastic-hook-and-eyepatch kind.
White shirt, dark vest, black pants, boots, and enough effort to make it obvious he'd chosen the version of pirate specifically designed to look good.
"Of course you picked the attractive pirate," I told him.
Ethan looked down at himself.
"There are unattractive pirates?"
"Historically? Most of them."
"Good thing I'm not historically accurate."
"Clearly."
Ben had gone with a skeleton-black from head to toe with white bones across his clothes and enough skull makeup on his face that I'd already watched two people fail to recognize him from behind.
Daniel had made considerably less effort.
Black robe.
Plastic scythe.
Grim Reaper.
"You put in no effort," Ben told him.
Daniel looked down at himself.
"I'm Death."
"You're wearing black."
"Death wears black."
"You wear black every Tuesday."
Daniel considered that.
"I've been preparing all year."
I respected that.
Adrian was late.
Of course he was.
Seven-thirty became seven-forty.
Seven-forty became seven-forty-five.
I checked the entrance again.
Nothing.
Maybe he'd changed his mind.
I wouldn't have been surprised.
Annoyed, yes.
Violent, potentially.
Surprised, no.
"You're looking at the door again," Maya said.
"No, I'm not."
"You literally just looked at the door."
"I have peripheral vision."
"The door is behind you."
"Then I have excellent peripheral vision."
Maya opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
Her eyes moved past me.
And stayed there.
I frowned.
"What?"
She didn't answer.
"Maya?"
Nothing.
I turned.
And-
Oh.
Oh, fuck him.
Adrian Vale was a vampire.
A fucking vampire.
For several seconds, that was the only information my brain was capable of processing.
He hadn't done it cheaply.
Of course he hadn't.
There was no plastic cape.
No ridiculous fake blood running down his chin.
No Halloween-store medallion hanging around his neck.
He was dressed almost entirely in black, the clothes elegant enough that he looked less like he'd come to an office Halloween party and more like he'd stepped out of some obscenely expensive gothic movie.
His hair was darker and slightly less controlled than usual.
His skin looked a little paler beneath the lights.
And when he turned his head-
Fangs.
Subtle.
Sharp.
Just visible.
Oh, God.
He looked-
No.
Absolutely not.
I was not giving that thought language.
Adrian looked across the room.
His eyes found me.
Deep blue.
Of course the bastard hadn't done anything to those.
Apparently being a vampire wasn't enough.
He needed to remain Adrian Vale while doing it.
His gaze moved over me.
Slowly.
Black dress.
Hat.
Back to my face.
Something changed in his expression.
Barely.
Then he started walking toward us.
Beside me, Maya whispered-
"Holy shit."
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You said holy shit."
"That was an observation."
Ben noticed next.
He stopped mid-sentence.
"No fucking way."
Nicole turned.
Her mouth fell open.
Daniel looked over.