Page 17 of Never Too Late

We made small talk for a couple more minutes before saying our goodbyes. And then I made the second call, Amrita taking longer to answer than Adam had.

“It’s me,” I said.

“Where the…” The pause provided the swearword she wasn’t prepared to say in the office where someone might hear. “…are you?”

“Paris,” I admitted.

“Oh, well… lovely. I hope you’re enjoying your jolly that you didn’t bother telling me you were going on? How’s the Eiffel Tower? Still standing? How about Notre Dame? Have they finished rebuilding it yet?”

“Not a jolly,” I said quickly, before she could really get going and list every major landmark in Paris. “Finn moved to Paris.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah… oh.”

“Have you seen him?”

“Yeah.”

“And how did that go?”

I thought back over the last couple of days, recalling the look on his face when he’d opened his door to find me standing on his doorstep, how he’d let rip and pulled no punches in telling me why he’d left, and his reaction to the restaurant I’d taken him to. I remembered how quickly time had passed last night while we’d chatted over dinner, how I’d found out so many things about him I’d never known, and the disappointment in his eyes when I hadn’t kissed him goodnight when he’d expected me to. “It’s had its ups and downs.”

“And you couldn’t call me and tell me what you were doing?”

“My phone is at the bottom of the river.”

“Pardon?”

“You heard.”

“I heard, but I couldn’t make sense out of it.”

“I threw it in there. It was a… grand gesture.”

“Right.”

“Listen… I need you to hold the fort until I get back. Tell anyone that asks for me…” I shook my head. “I don’t care, really. Tell them whatever you want to tell them.”

“Can I tell them you’ve gone abroad to throw yourself on your ex-boyfriend’s mercy and to beg for his forgiveness?”

“I’d rather you didn’t tell them that.”

“That’s what you’re doing, though, right?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“And is it working?”

I grimaced. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think it is, and then other times… It’s only been two days. I need longer. I’m taking longer.”

“You’re the boss. I can’t tell you what to do.”

I smiled at the blatant lie. “Yet, you frequently do.”

“Well, I would have told you not to throw your phone in the river. To come up with a different grand gesture.”

“Too late.”

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