Page 84 of One Night Only
Will’s eyes go wide with panic before he turns and rushes down the hallway. “Nice to meet you,” he calls back.
“Tough first day,” Mika murmurs to herself before Harvey steps forward to shake her hand. I linger to the side as he introduces himself, my eyes on Matthias as he stares at Declan, looking a little puzzled. I see the moment he recognizes him, his professional smile slipping in surprise, and I wince inwardly, knowing I’m going to have to explain. I’d told the man Declan was history and now here he is.
“Everything going alright?” Harvey asks.
“We’re very happy,” Declan says firmly and to my relief Mika nods. Harvey looks delighted, Matthias a little annoyed. His eyes flick to me almost accusingly and I know I need to break this party up.
“I’ll walk you out,” I say brightly before he can say anything. I herd Mika and Declan toward the elevator as quickly as I can without seeming rude. There are some polite goodbyes and I make equally polite small talk with Mika on the ride down. It’s only when we’re in the lobby do I risk a glance at Declan, who seems to have been waiting for a sign.
“You go on,” he says to Mika. “I think I’m going to get a juice.”
Mika hesitates, her eyes flicking between the two of us with a frown, but whatever thought is in her head, she decides not to follow it and turns with a shrug toward the subway.
We both watch her go until the moment she turns the corner and then for the second time that day I grab someone by the arm, towing him through a gaggle of tourists as I bring him down the street.
“Nice to see you too,” he mutters and I stop, whirling to face him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Consulting an architect.”
“You couldn’t have let me know?” I ask. “So you’re not showing up at my office unannounced?”
“It wasn’t unannounced. We had an appointment.”
“Ihad an appointment with Mika Morris, not with you. How did you even know where I worked?”
“It’s called Google, Sarah.” But he looks chastised. “I looked you up when I got back to New York,” he says. “I saw your work with TradCo and I thought it looked good, I showed it to Mika, who thought it looked great, and here we are. If it helps my case, I wasn’t even going to come today, but she won’t sign off on anything without me present because I have a slight habit of constantly changing my mind. And I don’t know why you’re so mad about this,” he adds. “The meeting went well. Mika smiled three times. Do you know how rare that is?”
“I’m mad because you didn’t tell me about it first!”
He looks away then, mumbling something to himself.
“What?”
“I said I was going to tell you.”
“And it just what? Slipped your mind?”
“I chickened out, okay? Do you know how long I hung around your apartment when I went to get my watch? An embarrassingly long time. I’m pretty sure your roommate thinks I’m stalking you. Or weirdly into tax. I kept pointing at her law books, trying to make conversation so I wouldn’t have to leave. And that was after working up the courage to go there in the first place.”
Courage? I stand silent as he rubs his jaw. He’s not looking at me. He’s nervous. And while I don’t want him to be, a part of me likes that he’s not his usual cocky self, that he has moments of unsureness just like the rest of us. Just like me.
“Mika emailed in weeks ago,” he continues. “Before that and before…”
Before I saw him at The Greenery. When I didn’t exactly allow him to talk.
When I don’t snap at him again Declan gives me an almost hopeful look. A “please don’t be mad at me” one. When I don’t say anything at all, he sighs. “Do you want me to leave you alone?” he asks. “I don’t mean take the project away; we like your ideas. But I can step back, let Mika take full control, which she would prefer anyway. We don’t have to…interact if that’s what you want.”
I can feel a headache forming, a dull ache in my right temple, but whether it’s from the meeting or the heat or him I don’t know.
“No,” I say. It’s the truth. As much as having him around puts me off my game, not seeing him at all feels like it would be a whole lot worse.
“I’d like to see you again,” he continues carefully.
“Okay.”
His lips twitch. “You’re going to have to give me more than that.”
