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“Do you think she feels the same way?” Enzo asks. If he’s flustered by my reaction, he doesn’t show it.
“Maybe.”
“So this amazing woman who is smart and sexy and beautiful—” he pauses, “—all your words, by the way—has fallen for . . . you?”
“Potentially.”
“And you love her?”
“Yes.” Now that I’ve admitted it out loud, it feels less scary.
“So maybe you can trust our judgment a bit, huh? Mine and Ada’s? Maybe you can realize you’re someone worth fighting for.”
I don’t have time to mull over the fact that maybe, just possibly, Enzo isn’t an anomaly. That maybe I’m not a complete waste of space.
“I can’t wait until the entire process is over to be with her.”
“So don’t.” I open my mouth to say something, but Enzo shakes his head. “Talk to her. You’ll figure it out.”
My chest tightens. “And if figuring it out means bringing my father into the company?”
Enzo leans closer, giving me a knowing smile.
“I think you’ve already decided what you’re going to do. ‘Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.’”
Emerson.
Sometimes I forget my chemist friend was a philosophy minor.
“Don’t look so surprised. Just because I didn’t have a fancy European education doesn’t mean I don’t know a thing or two.”
As the waitress sidles up to our table, I consider his words. Enzo knows me well. And he’s right. I know what I have to do.
This weekend is shaping up to be one of the most important ones of my life.
30
Ada
“How’s the traffic?” Hayden asks on speakerphone.
I turn up the volume to make up for the fact that I’m blasting the air conditioning.
“It’s a parking lot.”
I’m supposed to be with Hayden tonight, finally, but Jenna called in tears. Apparently her boyfriend broke up with her two nights ago. She might be nineteen with plenty of boyfriends in her future, but they’d been dating for nearly a year. Her world, at least this week, was shattered, and so I’m heading home. When I took the job in New York, I promised myself to be there whenever anyone in my family needed me, and my sister was upset so off to Maryland I go.
I can hear Hayden shifting positions. For a moment, I feel a pang of regret. He offered to come with me, even though it would have required him to reschedule his visit to the Angel, Inc. lab, but I said no. Although I do plan on telling my family about him—everything—it would be a lot more difficult if he showed up with me.
Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. I’d like you to meet my new boyfriend. You know that case I’m managing? Well, this is the co-owner of the company.
Nope. Not a good idea. Especially since the reason I’m heading home is because of my sister’s breakup. The last thing she needs is me showing up with a new boyfriend.
“I have to talk to you about something,” I blurt out, just as the cars ahead of me finally start to move. “Traffic is moving again, though, so I’ll be going through the tunnel soon. If we get cut off, I’ll call you back.”
“No worries. I have nowhere to be tonight.”
“You didn’t make any other plans?” This really isn’t the same guy I met just a few weeks ago. “Staying home on a Friday night?”
