I got to work early the next day. For the first time since Aria had taken the job as my secretary, she was late. I liked having my coffee waiting for me on my desk. I liked seeing Aria first thing in the morning. In her absence, I realized that I missed her.

As I sat behind my desk and waited, I wondered if I should call her. Wasn’t that what men were supposed to do for women? Wasn’t it a boyfriend’s duty to know where his girlfriend was at all times? The words seemed strange in my head. She was my girlfriend. I’d committed to an actual relationship!

I stood up from my chair and paced around the office. Half an hour went by and there was still no sign of her. I didn’t know whether to be mad or sad about it. I couldn’t start working – not until I’d seen Aria.

I was itching to call her, but I also didn’t want to impose. Maybe she’d overslept. Maybe she was on her way. Just because we were dating didn’t mean that it was appropriate to invade her privacy. I still didn’t know how I was supposed to act. What boyfriends were supposed to do?

I allowed another hour to go by and still there was no sign of Aria. I couldn’t concentrate on work. The phone was ringing off the hook. Eventually, I had to call for Silvia and ask her to take Aria’s place for the day.

“Should I try and get a hold of her, Mr. Sole?” Silvia asked and I shook my head.

“No, I’ll do it,” I replied.

I had Aria’s texts staring back at me on my phone. I read them over and over again. Was it all about the drinks the previous night? Was she upset that I’d canceled on her? I assumed she would understand that I had something work-related to attend to.

I called her number, and just when I was about to give up, a girl answered the phone. I knew immediately that it wasn’t Aria.

“Who’s this?” I growled.

“I’m Aria’s friend, Clara. You must be Michael,” the girl replied.

“Is Aria okay? Why do you have her phone?” I asked.

“She’s busy. I took her phone so that she wouldn’t have to talk to you. As you must have noticed already, Aria isn’t coming in to work today,” Clara told me.

“Just tell me if she’s fine!” I cried. I could hear the hostility in the girl’s voice. I was pretty certain that she didn’t like me.

“She’ll be fine now . . . since she’s chucking you out of her life.” Clara’s voice sizzled as she spoke.

“What the hell are you talking about? What is going on?” I growled, jumping out of my chair.

“You seriously don’t know what you’ve done?” Clara hissed.

“Enlighten me,” I snapped back.

“It was her twenty-fifth birthday yesterday, you self-obsessed fool!” Clara said.

I had no idea. She hadn’t told me. I didn’t realize that I was canceling on her birthday party.

“Aria didn’t tell me . . . ” My voice was fading away.

“It doesn’t matter, Michael. She was excited to finally introduce you to us. She wanted you to be there. It didn’t matter to her that it was her birthday. All she cared about was you showing up, and you didn’t. Just like I predicted. Men like you don’t change. Poor Aria shouldn’t have even tried.” Clara was on a rant, and I listened to her in silence.

My instinct was to fight back. How dare she speak to me that way! But everything she was saying was true. Ever since I’d met Aria, I’d done nothing but act selfishly. The client drinks the previous night could easily be avoided. It wasn’t that important. Nothing should have been as important as spending time with the woman I was falling in love with.

“I should have . . . ” I began to say, but Clara cut me off.

“Yeah, you should have. You should have turned up and you should have thought about her. And if you knew you couldn’t do those things . . . you shouldn’t have promised her lies. She was doing fine. Aria had a tough past few weeks, but she would have gotten through it. Now you’ve ruined everything!” Clara shouted into the phone.

“I need to ask for her forgiveness.” I was beginning to panic.

“You’re not going near her if I can help it!” Clara snapped.

“Listen to me, Clara,” I thundered. I had enough of her accusations and her shouting. I knew she was right in protecting her friend, but I needed to find a solution and she wasn’t helping.

“Aria has changed my life. I might be struggling to show it to her, but the truth is that I can’t lose her. I’m trying to learn. I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, but I want one with Aria. I’m falling in love with that woman and I’m not going to let anyone – least of all, you – stand between us!”

Clara was silent as she listened to me raging. I thought she was going to just end the call.

“Aria is my best friend. She’s been there for me when I most needed her, and that’s what I’m trying to do for her now,” Clara’s voice had softened.

I pressed my eyes to closed, holding the phone tightly to my ear. Right now, the only person who could help me was her. “I understand that, but if you care about your friend, then you’re just going to have to accept the fact that I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to do everything to get her back. I’ll spend the rest of my life doing it if I have to. Try me!”

I heard Clara sigh. I couldn’t be sure if she was cracking, but I was hopeful. There was no way I was going to lose Aria. Not now.