Page 96 of I'm Looking for a Man in Finance
Hallie:
Just send me the address before this goes any further.
James was waiting for me at what he called one of his favorite Greek restaurants. It was closer to his brownstone on the Upper West Side. A hike for him coming from the Financial District. But he’d promised me that the trip would be worth it. He said he’d been dreaming about their gyros, so he took it as a sign that he needed to take me there.
As I walked into the restaurant, the aroma of garlic and oregano filled the air, mingling with the sound of sizzling meat on the grill. The soft glow of candlelight enhanced the cozy ambience, casting warm shadows on the rustic wooden tables. Vibrant paintings of Santorini adorned the walls, transporting me to the Greek island. A lively buzz filled the restaurant, created by the chatter of diners and clinking of glasses. James was at a small table in the restaurant’s front window. Today’s suit was navy—my favorite. It made his blue eyes stand out, drawing me to them.
“Hello, beautiful,” James stood from his seat, setting aside the paper he was reading to kiss me on the cheek.
“Hi, how are you?” I asked, relishing in the feel of his lips against my skin.
“I feel like I’m turning over a new leaf this week. I can’t explain it,” James said. There was an excitement to his words. Like he was just as excited as I was for whatever life was going to bring next.
“You aren’t planning on going back to the office after commuting all this way, are you?” I asked as I slid into the open seat across from him.
“No, I’m working from home for the rest of the day.” There was an ease in James’s body language. It felt like a striking change from when I’d first met him, but I realized it had been a gradual change over the course of the past few weeks. He was more relaxed. I think I even heard his phone go off in his pants pocket and he didn’t make an immediate move to check it. That he was even working from home for a day instead of staying at the office until the market closed was unusual.
“Something on the horizon for you with work?” I asked. “Have you thought further about Theo Drake’s offer to you?”
It had only been a few days since James’s business lunch with the new CEO of Rooster, but surely that was enough time to think this over. Because, to me, it was a simple decision. I know James had been hoping to start his own firm, but this was almost better. James didn’t have to invest his own capital. There weren’t as many risks. But James obviously needed more time to consider what was seemingly obvious to me.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it,” James mused. “It’s a big decision to make. I wanted to go out on my own andbattle with the big dogs, but there’s a lot of allure in trying something new. Venture capitalism could be rewarding.”
“I know when to stick in my lane, so I won’t try to tell you which choice is better. But I will tell you that the best decision is the one that feels right to you,” I told him. “You’ll know when it does.”
“I’ve been meaning to text you, but wasn’t the article supposed to post today?” James asked. “I didn’t get an alert.”
“Oh, I forgot to text you, too. Anthea said it was being pushed to Wednesday because of some celebrity’s wedding that took priority.”
“Damn celebrities,” James joked.
But I was already going back to something else he had said. “Wait, did you say you didn’t get an alert? Do you have web alerts on for my posts?”
James looked embarrassed for only a moment before he gave me a casual shrug. “They are about me, aren’t they? I want to make sure that you do me justice.”
Before I could fully make sense of what that meant, my phone buzzed on the table and Roxie’s name lit up the screen. Normally, I would have ignored a phone call during a lunch. But Roxie never called me during the day. She was a strictly text-only type of girl. So getting a call from her in the middle of the day rang as an emergency.
“Do you mind? I think this is something urgent.”
James waved off my concern about being rude. “Take it. Tell Roxie I said hi.”
“Be careful what you wish for. She’ll invite herself here by the end of the conversation,” I told him.
I clicked to answer the call, already nervous about what Roxie was going to throw at me now.
