JULIAN: Good morning. I’ll be needing you to come in to work this morning. If you could meet me in my office by 9, that would be great.
I rubbed my eyes, smirking at the stiff professionalism of his message.
ME: Yes sir. Will do. ;)
There was no response from Julian by the time I’d finished getting dressed, and in all fairness, I hadn’t asked a question.
But I couldn’t help feeling strangely on edge.
I didn’t want to admit it to myself as I got dressed and ready for work, but by the time I’d squeezed myself on the packed rush hour train, I had to admit that I was paranoid he’d woken up and regretted it.
Those three words.
They hadn’t been easy to say either, but I’d been consumed by the moment – by the palpable emotion stirring in the air between us. It felt good to get off my chest. It felt even better when Julian looked me in the eye and returned the words.
But today, something felt undeniably off.
I couldn’t explain it, and I still hoped I was imagining things, but any hope of that was nixed the moment I walked into the bright offices of Hoult Communications.
I was greeted by the usual hum of fast typing and murmured chatting. That was normal.
But the way Colin avoided me was not.
I had gotten out only half my question about how he was doing before he muttered “sorry” and some hasty excuse about needing to meet with Tori. That was strike one.
Strike two came when I got to Julian’s office and found him sitting and chatting with a young but silver-haired woman I didn’t recognize. He had the jacket of his sharp blue suit off and draped over his chair. The sunlight streaming through the window bounced straight off his watch and into his face, forcing me to shield my eyes even as the woman across from Julian turned and flashed me a warm smile.
“Oh! This must be Sara.”
“Indeed it is.”
I cocked my head, smiling politely despite my confusion, and despite the odd feeling churning in my stomach. I didn’t recognize the look in Julian’s eyes this morning. Despite his friendly, cordial tone as he facilitated my introduction to the mystery woman, his eyes were oddly vacant. He looked cold and steely – nothing like the man who had grabbed me the moment he laid eyes on me last night, and kissed me like it was his last chance to ever feel my lips.
Then again maybe it was.
“Who was that?” I asked the moment the woman left. Her name was Grayson Short, and she knew all about my journalism major, as well as my work with June Magazine. But by the time she walked out, I’d discovered nothing about her besides her name.
Julian nodded for me to take a seat before him.
“Grayson works with Hoult Publishing. She’s the person who is arranging your move to Una Magazine.”
My eyebrows shot up high. I was still suspicious, on edge, but I gave a big grin. The corners of my lips trembled a bit as I tried to figure out what was going on.
“So… I’m not going to stick around for the Roth negotiations?” I asked.
“No,” Julian replied. “You’re not.”
“Why not?”
“The opening for this position with Una is time sensitive. It’s a spot people are vying for, and if your goal is to work with the company, I would suggest you jump at this chance.”
I couldn’t reconcile the way I was feeling. The fact that I might actually work for Una Magazine made me want to twirl through the air and text every person I’d ever met the good news. At the same time, I fucking hated the sterile manner in which Julian was speaking to me. It felt cruel and insulting, and I tried telling myself he was just in work mode, but I wasn’t convinced.
He could’ve flashed me a little smirk or some knowing smile. He could have texted and given me a warning about maintaining a work appropriate relationship the moment we were back at the office.
But he did none of that. He launched straight into the strict professionalism, and it felt like a statement.
My fury went from zero to sixty as he went on about Grayson, her work, her credentials, and a million things that didn’t come close to acknowledging the sudden wall between us. I sat patiently through half his talk, because I still had the annoying instinct to mirror professionalism in an office setting.