Anna
I hadn’t gotten much sleep on the plane, but I had managed to make it home to shower and change before going in to the office. I’d texted Ethan to say I’d landed, not wanting to wake him. When I next spoke to him, I wanted to be able to tell him that I’d had a conversation about my leaving date, which meant I had until about eleven to follow up with the partners.
Just as I sat down at my desk, my phone buzzed. “Happy New Year,” I said to Leah as I answered.
“Happy New Year to you, too. How was it? Did you go to a party?”
“No, thank goodness.” I went on to explain about the most perfect evening ever.
“He hired out the top of the Empire State Building for the two of you?” Leah asked.
“Yes, it was amazing. Cold but amazing. The lights from the city were spectacular and you could hear all the horns going off and the cheers. It was kinda special.”
“Wow, fantastic. It sounds like the kind of thing you see in a movie when the guy proposes.”
My stomach lurched. “He didn’t propose Leah, don’t be silly.”
“I’m serious. He didn’t propose? It sounds like the perfect setting.”
My mind started running through the evening of events, it had been the perfect evening and so romantic. But we’d never talked about marriage.
“There’s no way and I’m not interested in getting married. Ethan knows that.”
“You would have said no? Now you’re being silly.”
“Leah, I don’t have time to talk about this. He didn’t ask. I have to speak to Paul about my notice period, so I’ll catch you later.” Leah and I had arranged to have dinner tonight. I hung up and headed toward Paul’s office.
Would I have said no? Could I deny Ethan anything I had to give him?
I’d think about it later. I needed to focus on convincing Paul that I shouldn’t work my three-month notice.
“Happy New Year, Anna,” Paul said as I put my head round his office door.
“Happy New Year, Paul. Have you got five minutes?”
“As long as you are going to tell me you’ve had a change of heart about leaving over the break.”
I could tell by his expression that he wasn’t really expecting me to take anything back.
“Yes, well about that. I really haven’t changed my mind. And I think I might have sorted out another job in New York. And it’s just going to take a lot of organization to move and adjust and sort everything here and as it’s the beginning of a year, I don’t have much work to do at the moment and I was wondering if you could at all think about whether you actually could see if you could perhaps—”
“Take a breath! You’re usually a lot more eloquent than this, Anna,” Paul said, grinning at me. “You don’t want to work your full notice period?”
I nodded.
“Is it a law firm you’re going to in New York?”
“No, General Counsel of Palmerston Hotels, I think. Nothing’s finalized yet.”
Paul nodded. “Sounds interesting, Anna. Well, it’s not a competitor and it is quiet in terms of work at the moment. We’re expecting a busy quarter though. Let me have a think about it and I’ll talk to some of the other partners and come back to you.”
“Thank you so much. Anything you could do, I would really appreciate.”
I practically skipped out of the office and down the corridor. That sounded hopeful. It would be great if I had news before the next time I spoke to Ethan.
Usually, the first week in January was all about catching up with colleagues and avoiding doing any work for as long as possible, but I set about compiling lists of things I had to do before I left. If they told me I didn’t have to work my notice, I wanted to be able to go as quickly as possible. My secretary was going to hate me because she was going to be ass deep in filing by lunchtime.
By midday I still hadn’t heard from Ethan, so I sent him another text.
A: Spoke to Paul. He’s thinking about it. I’m hopeful. I love you.
SG: Good. Hung over, speak later. Love you.
Hung over? Ethan was never hung over. Where had he been last night?
Before I had a chance to ask him, Lucy barged into my office. “A little bird told me you were leaving,” she said.
“Yes, that’s right.” I really wanted to be able to tell her that I was moving in with Ethan Scott, the object of her lust for the previous four months. But there was no point in making things difficult for Ethan.
“Have you been made an offer you can’t refuse? I hear some firms are offering twenty percent raises to move. Have you got a good deal?”
“I’m not moving for the money. I’m going to New York.”
“New York?” she spat out.
I nodded.
“To work?”
Lucy wouldn’t be someone from London I missed.
“And live, yes.”
“You have a job in New York?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I might be out there, too. I work so closely with Ethan that I’m bound to get the secondment I’ve applied for,” she announced.
I raised my eyebrow and then grinned because I’d caught that move from Ethan. “Good luck with that,” I said.
“Wouldn’t that be great? In New York together, doing the single girl thing?”
“But maybe you’d be dating Ethan by then?” I added. It was mean and I shouldn’t have said it but I couldn’t resist.
“That’s a good point. I’d probably be busy accompanying him to parties or dinners. I’m sure I could squeeze you in at some point.”
“Well, you just let me know, Lucy. You’ll have to excuse me, I have to make a call.”
Lucy spun around and stalked out of my office.
I spent the rest of the day working hard. My heart and mind were somewhere else now and I wanted my body to catch up.
When I left at seven thirty, there were few people left. Most of my colleagues were making the most of their clients still being distracted by the holiday season and leaving the office early.
I was headed to dinner with Leah. London was cold but not as cold as New York. The thought made me realize I’d still not heard from Ethan. I pulled out my phone and dragged off my glove so I could more easily dial his number.
He didn’t answer, so I hung up without leaving a message. Then I decided that maybe I wanted to leave a message and tell him that I’d spoken to Paul, so I dialed him again.
He answered on the second ring. “Anna? What is it?”
“Nothing, I was expecting your voicemail. I just called and you didn’t pick up.”
“I’m in the middle of a meeting. I can’t just pick up.” He sounded pissed off and stressed.
“I know. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” I paused, wanting him to say something but he didn’t. “I was just going to leave you a message.”
“Well, I’ve picked up now, so what is it?”
He’d never been so short with me. So cold. It winded me and left me grasping for words. “Nothing, I just . . . I spoke to Paul and I think he was open about my notice period. But it’s not urgent. We can talk about it this evening.”
“Fine. I’ll call you later if I get a chance. Today’s going to be very busy. I gotta go.”
“Okay, bye, I love you.”
“Later.”
“Ethan?”
“Yes?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, busy.”
“Okay,” I said, and then he was gone.
I found that I’d stopped walking and I was standing with commuters rushing each side of me. What had just happened? Even when Ethan was busy and stressed with work he was never like that with me. He was never rude or snappy. Maybe Al had reported him for breaching the frat policy? But why would he be mad at me?
Something felt wrong.
I typed out a text.
A: I’m worried about you. You sound stressed. Would a naked picture help?
That would cheer him up surely? I smiled to myself and buried my phone back in my pocket and continued my walk to meet Leah at the restaurant.