My phone buzzes in my pocket with a call. This isn’t unusual. I field phone calls all day long. Normally when I’m in a meeting, I’ll just ignore it. But for whatever reason, this time I don’t. I pull out my phone and glance at the screen, assuming I’ll send it to voicemail. Until I see London’s name and her gorgeous face—the photo I’ve assigned to her contact—flash across the screen.
I hit the answer button and bring the phone to my ear. “Hello? London?”
Mitchell stops speaking. I cover the receiver and hold up a finger, signaling I need to pause. “I’m sorry, I need to take this.”
Mitchell looks like his head is going to explode. It’s a reasonable reaction considering we’re in the middle of a meeting with half a dozen people.
“Hi, do you have a minute to talk?”
“Yes. I absolutely have a minute. Is everything okay? Are you okay? How are you? I miss you.”
So much for keeping my cool.
I push my chair back from the table and stand, excusing myself from the room and Mitchell’s slightly horrified expression.
“You weren’t on the Google Doc this morning.”
That was not what I expected her to say.
“I had an early morning conference call with someone in Europe, so I haven’t had a chance to log on.”
“Oh.”
“Is that why you called?” I hope she doesn’t hang up, not after waiting weeks for the chance to talk to her again.
“I’m … I won’t lie, the last few weeks have been pretty awful. Selene came to see me today.”
I feel like I need to sit down again. “What? Why? Are you okay?” Since the event, Selene and I have sat down and talked things out. For once she was completely honest with me and I think we’re in a better place now. As friends.
“It wasn’t bad. Her visit, I mean. She explained where she was coming from and where she was at emotionally and how she’d perceived your relationship with her. I don’t know if you’re in New York, or if you’ll be in Colorado anytime soon, but—”
“I’m here. Right now. I’m in Colorado. At my office.”
“Oh. I had no idea. Can I meet you there?”
“We could meet at my house if that would work for you.”
“Yes. Okay. I think I can be there in an hour?”
“Perfect. Drive safely, please.”
“I will.”
I end the call feeling slightly more hopeful than I have in the past several weeks. Which I realize might be stupid since I have no idea why London was calling me in the first place—whether she wants to try to work things out, or if whatever Selene said to her only solidifies her reason for walking away from me in the first place.
I remember that I’ve walked out on a meeting, so I pop my head back into the conference room. I’ve known Harmon for a lot of years, both professionally and personally, so I’m hopeful that my walking out right now isn’t going to damage either relationship. I apologize, tell him I have a personal emergency that needs my attention and that I’ll call him tomorrow. I also make a mental note to send him and his wife a gift to make up for this.
Then I’m heading to the parking garage so I can get to my place before London does.
Less than an hour later, London arrives. I open the front door and there she is, wearing a pale dress, looking beautiful, nervous and tired. I want to pull her into my arms and just hold her. But I’m still uncertain of the direction this conversation is going to take, so I stay where I am.
“Hi.” I don’t even know if the word comes out with sound, or if I just thought it.
She gives me a small smile. “Hi.”
“Come in. Would you like to sit? Can I offer you something to drink?”
“I would like to sit. And water would be wonderful.”
“I’ll be right back.” I berate myself for not having water already available. I’m so eager to get back to her that I nearly spill it all over the counter.
I take a seat across from her, at the other end of the couch, not wanting to crowd her.
“Thank you for agreeing to talk.” London takes a sip of her water and sets it on the coffee table.
“Before you say anything, I want to apologize for not being entirely forthcoming about my relationship with Selene. I should have told you about our complicated past.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“At the time, because it was in the past. At least it felt that way for me. Selene and I never dated. I never looked at what we had as more than friendship, which I see now was a mistake.”
“Did you think I would be upset if I knew that you were still friends with her?”
“Honestly? I don’t know if I even took that into consideration. Mostly I just don’t like talking about it because it was a dark time in my life.”