Page 11 of A Bossy Surprise

That’s not exactly the reaction one hopes for when they walk into a room, but I’m not surprised.

She’s standing in front of her desk. I walk into the room and close the door.

She folds her arms and stares at me.

“How have you been?” I ask, because I can’t think of anything else to say.

“Good,” she says then turns her face away from me.

I nod. “I’m glad…” This is so awkward. “Why didn’t you hang back after the meeting to say hi?”

“I didn’t think the first time we spoke to each other after all these years should be in front of an audience.”

I scratch my head. “I guess that was a wise decision.”

She looks back at me, and we stare at each other in silence.

I really should turn around and leave, but for some inexplicable reason I can’t.

“Are we good?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“Just that we’re going to be working closely together. Do you have a problem with that?”

She stands up straighter. When she speaks, her voice has a little more bite to it than it did seconds ago. “What? You think because I’m a woman, I won’t be able to be professional because of our history?”

I hold my hands up. “No, no, no. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” She narrows her eyes.

I take a breath then say. “Nothing… Never mind.”

She rolls her eyes. “To answer your question, yes, we are good.”

I can’t help but smile at her tenacity. So many years have passed, but she’s still the same person she’s always been. “I am happy to hear that.”

“Good…”

“Anyway, I have a ton of things to do. So I guess I’ll be seeing you around.”

She doesn’t say anything else, so I turn and leave the room.

My plan was to spend the rest of the day at GNN. To get a feel for the company and its culture, but this whole thing with Kayla has disoriented me. So I retreat to my office at Grant Media’s offices here in Cleveland.

I spend the day doing busy work, trying to get Kayla out of my mind, but it’s an impossible task.

Seeing her after all these years has thrown me for a loop. It’s amazing how that one night has affected me. Even years after.

It’s 9 o’clock at night and I’m still at the office when an idea hits me.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Lucas’ number.

He’s back in California. When he moved there after college to start a job in tech, I was thrilled to have my best friend back within reach.

I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is he does for work. He’s tried to explain it to me a million times, but it’s never stuck. All I know is that he is a rock star in Silicon Valley.

As always, he answers his phone after one ring. “Hello?”