Page 23 of Snowed In
And just like that, I’m instantly alert.
Megan.
Thanks for seeing me home the other night. I know we were supposed to meet this week and talk about that thing, but something’s come up. Chat soon!
I read it twice, knowing she’s been thinking about this for a while. She sent the text at five past eight on a workday because she knew I’d be going to the office. She probably hoped I’d be going straight into a meeting. Which means that the last thing she wants is for me to text back straight away.
So that’s exactly what I do.
You’re not even going to give me a chance to persuade you?
I’m sorry. I wish you luck with your search, but there is nothing you can say that is going to make me agree to this.
I go to type before pausing, watching the status update under her name flash fromonlinetolast seentoonlineagain. Like she can’t stop herself from checking.
Like I’ve got her attention.
I delete the message and put the phone down. Let her simmer.
Let me think.
I don’t need to for long. It takes less than five minutes for me to solve the problem. An internet search for mold remover, a couple of clicks, my credit card, and that’s that.
I push Megan O’Sullivan to the back of my mind and start my day. I go into my meeting. An hour later, I come out of my meeting. I answer some emails and listen politely when Sinead, three desks down, complains about her kid. I get a salad in the deli across the street for lunch and get some actual work done. And at twenty minutes past three in the afternoon, my phone lights up with a call.
Megan.
I stare at the screen, letting her wait.
Five…four…three…two…
“Hello?”
“What the hell!”
I’m full-on grinning now. “Sorry, who’s this?”
“Christian—”
“You don’t like roses?”
“Not five bouquets of them,” she snaps. “Everyone thinks I’ve got a boyfriend.”
“Oh no,” I say cheerfully. “Sounds awful.”
“They’re asking me questions, and I don’t have answers.”
“You do have an answer. The answer is yes.”
“I—”
“That’s just a hint of what I have up my sleeve. Imagine that but ten times bigger when Isaac walks through the door.”
“Going to make me the most popular girl in school?”
Heavy sarcasm. But I’m sincere. “If that’s what you want.”
She goes quiet on the other end of the line. But quiet is better than a refusal. I’ve got her considering it.
