Page 51 of Tell Me What you Think

"You're not normal, I mean it. On Saturday she handed it to you on a silver platter—she didn't just put herself out there, she straight-up asked you, gave you the opening to say something, and you stayed quiet. What do you need, Olga? If you keep this up, she's going to get tired of it and move on."

"I know. I just need a few days, okay? To calm down—right now I can't even look at her without everything in me shaking. When I'm back to myself I'll find the right moment and tell her. I'll tell her I'm in love with her and whatever happens, happens."

Silvia crosses herself, because for her you never take God's name in vain, even though she's not a believer.

"Let's hope you actually do it. Come on, let's go so you can give me those closing figures. I need them ready by tomorrow."

Olga nods, and just as she turns toward the office, she runs into Marina, who's coming out with her coat on. The two women stop short because each one is blocking the other's path, and that absurd thing happens where you spend several seconds trying to decide whether to step left or right—and the other person picks the same side every time. Silvia is practically waiting for popcorn.

"Sorry." Marina's crooked smile appears when she finally takes Olga by the arm to hold her still so she can slip past on the other side. "I'm heading out—see you tomorrow. Bye, Silvia."

"Bye, Marina," the team lead answers, while Olga stays frozen in the doorway. "You definitely have a problem," Silvia singsongs, giving her a gentle push to snap her out of it.

Chapter 21

Marina had been at the bar a while, waiting for Andrea, when she spotted the lawyer walk in. She waved her over and took a sip of her white wine before standing up.

"Am I late?" Andrea asked as they kissed each other on the cheek. She checked her watch and exhaled with relief.

"Don't worry, I got here a little early. How's everything going?"

The lawyer draped her coat over the back of the empty chair and settled in across from her.

"Same as hers," Andrea told the server, pointing to Marina's glass, then looked up. "Fine, I guess. Swamped with work. January's always brutal after the holidays — every client calling in at once, asking about their cases. I needed a break," she added, looking exhausted. "What about you?"

"Pretty much the same. I didn't take any time off over Christmas, and I've still got a couple of really rough months ahead with this project. When it's done, I'm taking every day I'm owed, heading to Tenerife with my mom, and sleeping in every single day. God, I'm turning my phone off — or maybe just leaving it here," she said, sounding worn out.

Andrea let out a small laugh.

"I can't remember the last time I slept past eight. I keep telling myself I'll do it some Sunday, and then I'm lying there wide awake at seven."

"Same," Marina admitted with a laugh. "The damn internal clock."

"Tell me about it. Oh, by the way — Olga told me you helped her find the document."

A jolt shot up Marina's spine; she sat up straight.

"Yeah. I could tell she was stressed, so I helped her out — it wasn't like I had anything better to do. She said you were going to call her to set up an appointment." She tried not to bring up Saturday any more than she had to.

"I already did. She's coming in Thursday to drop off the paperwork. In the meantime I'll start drafting the response to her cousin's lawyer. That document is what's going to save her from wasting a lot of money on legal fees."

Andrea raised her glass and Marina clinked hers against it.

"I'm glad it's working out. She's been really stressed about the whole thing," Marina said, more to herself than to Andrea.

"Absolutely. Hey—" Andrea hesitated, watching her with curiosity. "Do you know if Olga's seeing anyone? She's never mentioned anybody, but maybe there's someone. I'm not sure."

"Why do you want to know?" The words came out with an icy edge Marina hadn't expected from herself.

"Because once her case is closed — and I don't think it'll take long — I'd like to ask her to dinner, or maybe drinks," Andrea explained, calm. "You know it's not my style to date clients, but Olga won't be one much longer, and I think she's as charming as she is gorgeous. You okay?"

Marina didn't know what her face looked like right then, but she knew exactly what she was feeling, and she hated it. Cold sweat crept up her sternum and down her spine, along with a burning in her gut just like the one from the day she'd seen the two of them together on the sidewalk, coming back from lunch with Jordi — except now it was ten times worse. All at once the bar felt like it was running out of air, the chair felt uncomfortable, and there was way too little wine in her glass considering she wanted to drink the whole bottle.

"Marina…"

She looked up and met her friend's worried eyes. It was just a question. She didn't need to react like this. It was none of her business who Olga dated, and Andrea was a fantastic person. She should be happy for both of them and swallow the bitter taste sitting in her throat.

"Yeah, sorry. I mean — no, she's not with anyone. Not that I know of, anyway… Well, it's not really my business either. She doesn't tell me those things and I don't ask," she rattled off, nervous, tripping over her words, while the lawyer's eyes narrowed slightly. "You two got along well, didn't you? At least that's how it looked the other day when I saw you… You'd be good together and everything, you're both adults and, well…"