Chapter Fourteen
Jamie
A few days later, I sat in one of the chairs in my bedroom, my tablet at my side. I’d been making a few notes for the Japanese visit, some of the ways I wanted to help them feel more comfortable—not just with Tolbert Developments but with their visit in general. Likely they were already well-versed in American culture, but it wouldn’t hurt to offer them some cultural comforts from Japan.
I gazed out my window. I could see part of Liz’s long driveway, and I heard her car pulling out of the garage. Seconds later, her Mini came into view as she backed out. Already she was on her way to work.
I missed her. Plain and simple. My very chest ached with my desire to be closer to her, to drink in her scent, to kiss her lips and see her smile, to watch her eyes light up in delight at something.
We’d been so busy lately, preparing for the visit from the Japanese, that we hadn’t been able to make any time to see each other after work. It sucked. I wanted her here, with me. Not over in another house, doing her own things. Making up more stories about “Tom,” the guy who didn’t even exist yet I hated all the same.
What kind of an idiot is jealous of an imaginary boyfriend?
Me, apparently.
The Japanese were flying in this evening, and I was having a small get-together here at my house. This also meant it would be even more time before I could be with Liz again.
I walked over to my closet, the plush rug soft beneath my feet, and chose a suit for the day. As I fastened my cufflinks in place, I began to wonder if I shouldn’t have just settled for less for Tolbert Developments. Scintilla had been fine without global interest and investments. Tolbert Developments would have been fine, too. If I turned my back on all of that, I could be with Liz right this second. Not only that, our relationship could be public. She’d be happy—and there was nothing I wanted more than to make her happy.
I’d lost sight of the important things.
After making my way downstairs, I looked over the printed sheet of instructions that I was leaving for the party organizer. Jeff Merkle, of Elegant Events, was a sort of one-stop-shop for all events services, and I was hiring him to arrange cleaning, catering, and post-event clean-up—which included ensuring everyone had a safe ride back to their hotels.
The list was complete… but I wanted to add one thing. Finding my Montblanc pen in my suit pocket, I added something to the end of the list.
Buy flowers and deliver them next door. I added Liz’s address.
Although I’d started out driving myself to work, lately I’d been so busy that it made more sense to work on the way, and I’d hired a driver. Today it would be doubly handy, because I could have the driver pick up the Japanese businessmen at SFO and bring us all to my place.
I texted the driver and re-read the instructions for Jeff, the party organizer. I wondered what Liz’s favorite flower was. I couldn’t be sure, but something about the golden-strawberry shade of her hair made me think of sunflowers, so I specified that on my handwritten note to the organizer. A giant bouquet of sunflowers—she’d like that.
I heard tires on my driveway, so I locked up the house and made my way out. Penny, my usual driver, knew I hated it when she opened my door, so she waited while I climbed into the backseat.
“Heading in to the office first?” she asked.
“Yes, thanks,” I said.
She pulled out of my driveway, and we made some small chit-chat about her family. Her husband worked from home with their two children, and I suddenly had a pressing question for her.
“Penny, can I ask you something personal?”
Her gaze briefly met mine in the rearview mirror. “You can ask, although I might choose not to answer.”
A ghost of a smile played along her face, so I knew that she was serious, but not upset about anything.
“Fair enough,” I said. “How did you know that your husband was the one for you?”
“Oh, that’s easy. He put everything before me. He was smart about it, but there was nothing hidden between us at any point. Honesty, he’d said at the time. He loved me with his whole heart and all he wanted back was honesty.”
Honesty. I was doubly glad that I’d finally been able to talk to Liz about all the reasons to keep our relationship on the down-low, although it still felt like I needed to do more. I could puzzle over that on my own, though.
“Thank you,” I said.
“No problem.”
As she pulled onto the 101 and we made our way toward San Francisco, I pulled out my phone and began checking through my email. My PA was taking care of most of these and had flagged a few that needed my attention. Anything from Francis Marsh was to come directly to me—in fact, I’d even told my PA to text me in the event of a message from Marsh. I wanted to know ASAP.
I scrolled through the other emails. There was nothing too urgent. Joshua had copied me on a business report, and it had listed Scintilla as one of the “up and comers” for the year. Good for him. If he was trying to make me regret leaving, no fucking way. I was so, so relieved to be out from under his shadow. I loved my brother but moving to the West Coast was the best thing I’d ever done for our relationship.
I chose some of the emails that needed responses, filed the other ones away into different folders within my email program, and called my PA to make sure he’d finalized arrangements with the arrival of Marsh’s Japanese contacts.
When I finally got to the office, I saw Liz and Amy standing in line at the little café on the first floor. Liz looked gorgeous, in a pale pink dress that flattered her figure and her pale skin tone. Liz’s gaze met mine, but then she looked past me, her cheeks turning slightly pink.
I wanted nothing more than to rush over to her and pull her into my arms. It killed me inside that I couldn’t touch her.