Lola

IT WAS THE Tuesday after the incident at the Lockhart house and I was still avoiding Grayson. I hadn’t managed to put my pride aside and seek him out, give him an explanation for my crazy behavior the Sunday before.

I was stubborn… and a coward. I was a stubborn coward. That was the worst. Needless to say, I’d been in a seriously pissy mood the past two days.

We’d just wrapped up our show for the morning, and despite it only being lunchtime, I was ready for the day to be over. Instead of waiting on Sophia and Daphne, I headed out of the studio. We still had to plan out the show for the following day, and there was some research I needed to get through, so I stomped toward my desk, geared up to bury my head in work so I could get the hell out of there and go home to wallow in my misery in peace.

My eyes were cast down at my phone, scrolling through e-mails that needed addressing, and my feet almost came out from under me when I rounded the corner and plowed right into a towering wall of man.

Sure, it was my own fault for not paying attention, but as I’d said, I was in a bad mood. Therefore, I opened my mouth to rip into the asshole who had been stupid enough to get in my way. “Son of a bitch. Watch where you’re go—” The words died on my tongue when I looked up to see who I had just run into.

“Ms. Abbatelli.”

Fuck my life. “M-Mr. Lockhart. I’m so sorry. It was my fault—”

He held his hand up to silence me. “It’s quite all right. And as I said Sunday, please call me Nolan.” Even though I’d just acted like a bitch, he was looking down at me with a kind smile on his face, reminding me so much of his son. My heart squeezed painfully.

“Nolan,” I repeated, still feeling strange calling him by his first name. “I’m really sorry for running into you, and also for nearly cussing you out.”

My heart gave another squeeze at the sound of his chuckle. For Christ’s sake, did everything about this man have to remind me of Grayson? It wasn’t fair. “That’s all right. Better me than another wall, right?”

My eyelids narrowed into slits as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Those glass walls are dangerous,” I mumbled.

The corner of his mouth twitched as he fought to hold back his grin. “Of course.” Nolan cleared his throat and attempted to school his features into a more serious expression as he asked, “Do you have a free minute to talk?”

I regarded him hesitantly before stating, “That depends. Are you here to fire me? Because if so, I’m really too busy at the moment.”

“No, of course not. It’s nothing like that.”

“Then I’m free now,” I said, dropping my arms and lifting my chin, faking an air of professionalism.

“Great. Should we go to your office or—?”

“Oh, um… actually, we can use the conference room if you need privacy. I have a cubicle.” I pointed in the direction of my desk, hidden behind three four-foot-tall partitions.

Nolan’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “You don’t have an office?”

“Nope. Just a cubicle.”

He shook his head, turned on the heels of his shiny, expensive Italian loafers, and headed toward the conference room; the same one where I’d first made a fool of myself in front of him and his son. I followed behind him in silence, my curiosity mixing with anxiousness as I tried to figure out what he could possibly want to discuss that would require privacy.

The door to the conference room clicked shut, and I suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that I was very much alone with my “boyfriend’s” father… that was, if I could even call Grayson my boyfriend, considering how we’d left things last Sunday. Shit, maybe he really was going to fire me, and he just lied so I wouldn’t put up a fight. If that were the case, he had another thing coming, because I planned to go down kicking and screaming. They were going to have to drag my body out of this office building.

“So, what can I do for you?” I asked with false bravado.

“I just wanted to check on you, make sure you were okay after what happened Sunday. You had quite a scare. Cybil and I have been worried about you.”

Well, that was unexpected.

“Oh… uh… I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” Embarrassment had my cheeks burning at the reminder of how I’d acted in front of all of them.

“You know…,” he started, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck in obvious discomfort. “I know it’s not my place… I mean, I’m aware we don’t know each other all that well….” His disquiet was contagious, and I began to fidget from foot to foot as he stumbled through what he planned to say. “This may seem forward, but… well, the whole family was quite taken with you, Lola. All of us. I just wanted you to know that if you ever need someone to talk to… I’m here. I know it may seem awkward, giving our professional positions, but—”

“Thank you,” I interrupted, wanting to spare him any more awkwardness. The truth was, despite his blundering through that speech, I thoroughly appreciated the gesture. Probably more than he’d ever know.

A small smile of relief spread across Nolan’s face. “Yes… good. Well, I just wanted to say that. I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’ll let you get back to it.”

He pulled the door open and held it in place, waving an arm out for me to precede him.

I started out only to stop and look over my shoulder when he called my name. “Yes?”

“I know I made a mess of that whole thing, but I meant what I said. If you need to talk, you know where to find me.”

I nodded, unable to speak past the swell of emotion clogging my throat. I’d never had any type of fatherly figure; I wasn’t sure how to feel in that moment other than overwhelmed.

“He cares about you, you know. A great deal. I know how things started between you and my son, and because of that I understand it may be hard to believe, but it’s true. He’s been a wreck these past two days.”

With that, he strode away, leaving me standing alone in the conference room, my mouth dry as if I’d just swallowed cotton.

“What was that all about?” I looked up to find Sophia and Daphne standing in the doorway with wide eyes. “You didn’t get fired, did you?” Sophia, the one who’d voiced the first question, asked. “Because if he did, we’ll burn this place to the ground. It’s all that asshole’s fault anyway.”

God, I loved my friends. After I’d told them about the whole disaster, they’d quickly rallied around me, showing unfailing support. I didn’t know what I’d do without them.

“No,” I giggled, feeling lighter than I had in the past two days. “He didn’t fire me, so put the lighter fluid away, psycho. It’s all good. He just wanted to make sure I was okay. It was actually… really nice.”

“He was checking on you?” Daphne asked skeptically.

“Yeah. Kind of threw me for a loop too. I thought he was going to fire me because of all the shit that went down with me and Grayson.”

The skepticism in her eyes gave way to sympathy as she and Sophia moved into the conference room, closing the door behind them. “So you still haven’t talked to him?”

I let out a beleaguered sigh and rubbed at my temples. “No.”

“You need to,” Sophia stated. “For our sake if not your own. You’ve been walking around with resting bitch face the past two days. Everyone’s afraid to talk to you. Even Jerry’s too scared, and you know that man can’t handle any more stress. Poor guy is only one cheeseburger away from a heart attack.”

“I haven’t been that bad,” I groused defensively. The truth was I had been. I’d snapped at anyone and everyone around me. Poor Maury had taken to ducking behind the lobby desk when he saw me coming off the elevators. And I couldn’t even bring myself to tease Bob in the mornings.

“Please!” Sophia scoffed. “This morning you threatened the kid at the pastry kiosk in the lobby. You told him you’d throat-punch him if he didn’t get more banana nut muffins.”

Okay yeah, I did do that. But there was a perfectly good reason. “Banana nut is the most popular breakfast muffin on the face of the Earth! Not keeping enough in stock is just bad business practice. I taught him a very valuable lesson.”

“You scared the shit out of him,” Daphne chastised in that motherly tone she sometimes liked to adopt with Sophia and me. “We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t pack up and move to another building. And you better pray he doesn’t. That’s the only place I can get a halfway decent cheese Danish.”

I held my hands out in surrender. Daphne was ravenous when it came to her Danish. “Okay, okay! I’ll apologize to him. Jeez.”

“And talk to Grayson,” Sophia demanded, concern blanketing her expression. “Seriously, Lo, you’ve never been like this about a guy before. It’s obvious you’re hurting. Talk to him.”

“All right. I’ll talk to him this afternoon,” I relented on a whisper. Part of me cringed at the thought of putting my pride aside to go talk to Grayson, but another larger part was thankful that my friends had given me the kick in the ass to do what I’d been wanting to do since I’d walked away from him two days before.

I missed him. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually missed a man. I’d lost faith in them so long ago.

“Great!” Daphne clapped her hands and pulled the door open. “Now let’s go eat. I’m starving.”

She flitted off without a backward glance. As Sophia moved to follow, I called out her name to stop her. “Yeah?” she asked, casting a glance over her shoulder.

“There’s something you should know.” I pulled in a deep breath, worried how she’d handle the news I had to share. “Dominic’s here.”

Her normally cheerful face went blank, just like it did any time his name was mentioned. “What do you mean he’s here?” she asked in a flat voice, devoid of any emotion.

“I mean he’s in Seattle. He surprised me with a visit.”

The only indication that she was unsettled was the rapid rise and fall of her chest. “For how long?”

“I don’t know.” I cringed at my answer, knowing that certainly wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear. “I kind of got the impression it would be a while. He’s been complaining about needing a break from our dad for a while. I think he might be here for the next few weeks. I’m so sorry.”

She forced a smile that didn’t come near her pain-filled eyes. “Nothing for you to be sorry for. He’s your brother, Lo. I don’t expect you to never talk to him again. Just… make sure I don’t have to see him. That’s all I ask.”

“Deal,” I promised, crossing my heart and sticking my hand out for an ironclad pinky promise.

“Thanks,” she muttered quietly, mustering up her strength and putting on a brave face. “Let’s go before Daphne tracks us down. You know how she gets when she’s hungry.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” I laughed and threw my arm over my friend’s shoulder as the two of us made our way out of the conference room. Knowing I would be seeing Grayson in just a few hours caused my stomach to tangle up in knots. But for now, I’d push all that to the back of my mind and take comfort in spending time with my friends.