Page 94 of Silver Linings
“Maybe.” She looks down at her lap.
I worry I’ve said the wrong thing, or that maybe I’ve pushed her too far into her thoughts. She takes the final bite of her burger and comes to stand, scrunching the wrapper in her hands.
“Sunshine, I?—”
She cuts me off. “It’s fine. I need to get back though.” She leans down, and I rest my hands on the backs of her thighs as she places a soft kiss on my lips. “Thank you for lunch,” she mumbles against my mouth.
“I’ll come back after work.”
“Youhave done enough for this place.” She runs her hands through the hair at the nape of my neck. “The girls and I aregonna be here late getting everything ready, and then I’m going to try and sleep so I can be rested for the long day ahead. Something tells me if you’re around, Iwon’tbe resting.”
The smile I give her is wolfish. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”
As much as it pains me to give her the space, it’s obvious she’s feeling overwhelmed. Even with as far as we’ve made it in terms of being open with each other, she’s leaning on old habits right now, feeling like she needs to do this part alone.
She turns to walk back into the store, but I grab her wrist, spinning her around and bringing my mouth down on top of hers. Instantly, her body melts into mine, and the rest of the world fades away for a moment in time. When I pull away, it’s only to look in her eyes, to infuse her with this surety that I have in her, in us.
But she keeps her eyes closed, breathing me in slowly before walking back into her shop and getting back to work.
My walk back to The Langham leaves me feeling unsettled, and when I enter the building, I immediately feel a sense of wrongness settling in the air. I look at Tony, who has a concerned expression on his face, before seeing Mrs. Evans step out of Fairbank’s office. The look she gives me is smug, self-congratulatory, and I know whatever is about to happen won’t be pleasant.
Mr. Fairbanks pops out of his office a moment later, fingers motioning for me to come forward. “My office. Now.”
This could really only be about one thing, and it’s time to face the consequences of my inevitable choice—there was no choice, falling in love with Silver was inevitable.
I trail into his office after him and wait for him to speak.
“Do you know why I’ve called you in here?”
“To chat about the latest episode of The Real Housewives?” He does seem the type.
“No,” he sputters and straightens the lapels of his jacket. “It has been brought to my attention that you have breached the terms of your employment.”
“Ah.”
He’s taken aback by my unruffled demeanor. “I’ve been informed by a concerned tenant that you have been cavorting with a resident of the building. Do you deny engaging in an inappropriate relationship?”I don’t think he wants to know just how inappropriate I’ve been.
“I don’t,” I say plainly.
I don’t think he heard my admission, as his gaze flicks to the lobby, and I know he’s thinking about Mrs. Evans. “There has been talk of you being too friendly with Ms. James, and even claims that someone with your features was seen leaving the building well before any scheduled shift you may have had.”
“I understand.”
“The same concerned tenant claims to have seen you around town with Ms. James, and at this point, there have been too many instances for me to ignore such brazen disregard for the rules.”
They could have seen us anywhere—at Get Nailed while getting supplies for the shop, at that Italian restaurant off Cornelia Street, on a walk around Central Park to see the leaves change as she showed me some of her favorites bench plaques. The fact that we were being watched makes my skin crawl.
“I’m afraid I must relieve you of your position.” His dismissal pulls me out of my thoughts.
I should feel panic at his words. A few months ago, I certainly would have, but instead, I feel a strange sort of calm settle over me. This was never supposed to be what I’d do forever. It was a means to an end, even if that end was nowhere on the horizon. The end of this job no longer feels like an end to New York like it had when I’d first arrived from Seattle. No, this is my home. I can feel it deep in my core. I felt that way when I was here in my early twenties, and I can still feel it now. It was always going to be this city. It was always going to be Silver.
Home was here before her. Home is herewithher.
I was always meant to end up in this very place, tool bag in hand, knocking on the door of the woman who would flip me inside out, and help me become the version of myself that I liked. I could feel in my bones that I would have found my way to her even if I hadn’t left after college. I don’t know who we would’ve been back then, but I still would have been hers, in every version of this life.
“Do you have nothing to say for yourself?” Myformerboss pulls me out of my thoughts.
“No, sir. The termination is fair, if not unavoidable.” He’s at a loss for words. “I’ll grab my few things and be on my way. Thank you for the opportunity—it gave me a second chance with the woman of my dreams.”
