- Margot -
y feet didn’t touch the ground for the rest of the day. Even when I was taking the elevator to my apartment, I half expected it to just keep going right on up through the ceiling like the magic one in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
When I opened the door, Izzy was seated at our narrow table for two with a wrapped present in front of her.
“Hey,” I said, dropping my stuff in a pile. “What’s that?”
“No idea,” she said, turning the package to face me. “It’s for you.”
“For me?” I walked over and sat down across from her.
“Sorry I opened the card,” she said. “I assumed it was from my stalker.” She reached for the open wine at the end of the counter and topped up her glass.
“Don’t you have a show tonight?”
She shook her head. “The director wants me to rest my voice. Some important people are coming to the show this weekend, and I have to be perfect, apparently.”
I squinted at her. “So you get the night off because of theater politics?”
“Something like that.”
“Is there any white?” I asked, unable to remember when I’d last stocked up.
“There’s a bottle in the freezer.” She scooted her chair back and went to grab a glass.
“I can get it myself.”
“Nonsense.” She waved my comment away before opening the top compartment of the fridge. “I’d rather you open your damn present already. I’m dying to know who LB is and what he’s so sorry about.”
“LB… That could only be— wait, did you say you have a stalker?”
She plunked some frozen grapes in the empty glass on the counter. “Yeah. It’s no big deal. He doesn’t follow me home at night or anything…I don’t think.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“He’s just a critic who thinks I’m bound to sleep with him eventually if he writes enough nice things about me.”
“Naturally. I mean, who doesn’t have one of those?”
“Focus,” she said, nodding at my gift as she unscrewed a familiar-looking bottle. “Who the hell is LB?”
I pressed my lips together. “I’m not sure how to answer that.”
“Because…?”
“It’s complicated.”
She walked over and set a full glass of chilled white in front of me. “I’ve got all night.”
“We’ll, he’s this guy—”
She rolled her eyes and sat down. “I figured that out by how rosy your cheeks went when you heard his initials.”
“He’s the guy who got me my internship. Or at least, made the introduction for me.”
“Uh-huh.” She crossed her long legs and leaned against the wall.
“He’s also my brother’s best friend.”
One corner of her mouth curled up like she knew where the story was heading.
“I’ve basically had a crush on him since I first laid eyes on him in second grade.”
She draped her fingers around the stem of her glass. “Does he know that?”
“Oh, he knows.”
“Why’d you say it like that?”
“Because I’ve been throwing myself at him since I was sixteen.”
She lifted her glass and swirled the wine around. “And?”
“Something happened today.”
“Besides this?” she asked, tapping the box between us.
I nodded.
“Did you fool around?” she asked, her eyebrows climbing her forehead. “At the office?”
“Yeah.”
Her bottom lip stuck out like she was impressed.
“I mean, I was trying to rip him a new one for ambushing me in front of a client, but then he got up in my face, and he looked so, so—”
“So why is he sorry?”
“Sorry?”
She pointed at the table. “That’s what it says in the card.”
My face fell, and I flipped the small card open. Sure enough, all it said was, I’m so sorry –LB. “I have no idea.”
“Do you need an invitation to unwrap that box? Because I’m going crazy over here.”
“Oh right.” I cast the message to the side and unwrapped the red and silver bow before sliding the white lid off the box. Inside, there was a thin piece of silver tissue paper, but it couldn’t hide the intoxicatingly sweet smell that escaped as soon as the lid was removed.
I pushed the paper to the side, revealing a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries, each facing the same way. A moment later, I realized there were two layers, the bottom of which was the same except for the fact that the strawberries were dipped in white chocolate.
“I like this guy’s style,” Izzy said, reaching for a strawberry on the bottom tray.
I grabbed one, too, and sank my teeth into it. It was so sweet it was almost sour when the juices burst against my tongue, and I felt a bit smug when it occurred to me that it was only the second sweetest thing I’d tasted that day.
Izzy and I ate a few more berries in silence, closing our eyes at intermittent intervals when the sensory overload became too much.
“Excuse me for a second,” I said, walking over to grab my phone from my purse.
“Make sure you say thanks from me, too,” she said, smiling. “These are divine.”
I closed myself in my room and dialed his number.
“Strawberries ‘R’ Us,” he said upon answering.
“Thank you.” I perched on the edge of my bed. “They’re delicious.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m not sure what they’re for.”
“For crushing your presentation today,” he said. “I wanted to get the sweet taste of victory dipped in chocolate, but I couldn’t find a place that did that, so I had to settle for strawberries.”
A warm glow spread through my chest. “Well, you shouldn’t have, but it was very thoughtful of you.”
“You bring that out in me.”
“Just one question,” I said. “What exactly are you sorry for?”
“What happened after the meeting today.”
My lips fell apart.
“I’m sorry we didn’t do that sooner.”
My heart lifted with my smile. “Me, too.”
“Shit,” he said. “You’re not going to believe this.”
“What?”
“Matt’s calling me right now.”
“You should get it. Tell him I said hi. Actually—no—don’t mention me at all.”
“I would let it go to voicemail, but he’s been trying to reach me since lunch.”
I exhaled, reminding myself that I didn’t need to tell Landon how to talk to his best friend, especially since I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t say too much. “No worries. I just wanted to say thanks.”
“You’re very welcome. Enjoy the rest of your night.”
“You, too.”
“And Margot?”
“Yeah?”
“I think it’s about time I took you on a legitimate date.”
My ears perked up. “A date?”
“Yeah, you know. I show up looking handsome and say all the right things. You laugh at my jokes and bat your lashes at me across the table.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been on a date before.”
“Not with me, you haven’t.”
My stomach flipped.
“Sound good?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’d like that.”
“Great. We’ll set up something soon.”
“Landon?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, too.”
Silence.
“You there?” I asked.
“I’m here,” he said. “Aren’t I always?”