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FIFTEEN
Kayla
“So you find the terms agreeable?”I asked.
Vahe nodded. “Of course. And as always, lovely doing business with you, Kayla,” he said.
He looked me up and down, and I did nothing, didn’t even bother to show my disgust.
I was convinced my lack of reaction to his leering was exactly why he always did it, but I was finding Vahe even more intolerable than usual today.
“Until next time, beautiful,” he finally said, but not before he looked me up and down twice, lingering on my breasts before he looked down at my crotch and licked his lips.
Despite myself, I flinched when he lifted his hand.
I thought he was going to touch me, but he didn’t.
Instead, he smiled, shrugged, and then left.
On the one hand, I was glad he hadn’t put his hands on me. I probably would have lost the lamb chops I’d finally had a chance to make myself for dinner.
But then again, if I was looking for a reason to sic Elias on him, his touching me would have been a good one. I remembered the question Elias had asked before my last meeting with Vahe. He hadn’t said so directly, but I got the feeling that Vahe touching me would have crossed a line for Elias.
But he didn’t, so there was no reason to discuss it with Elias. The silver lining was that I didn’t have to think about what it meant that I so badly wanted to.
I made my way to the waiting SUV and looked down at my phone after I got into the back seat.
Saw another text from Todd.
Another text that I would ignore as I had his others, at least for the time being.
I knew I couldn’t keep putting him off. But I wasn’t quite ready to cut the cord. That said more about me than I wanted to acknowledge. Yet somehow I knew cutting ties with Todd would be severing yet another connection to the person I’d been and the life I’d wanted to lead.
I swiped the text away and then looked in the rearview mirror.
Narek smiled at me, and I returned the expression, though I knew my own smile was feeble in comparison. “Where to, Kayla?” he asked.
“Elias’s apartment,” I said.
Narek nodded and then started to drive.
If he found the request unusual, it didn’t show in his expression. But then again, why would he find it unusual? It wasn’t like Elias kept bankers’ hours, and he was as comfortable summoning me at four in the morning as he was at four in the afternoon.
That was objectively true, but I knew there was more to it than that.
It was after eleven at night, so what the fuck was I doing?
I’d told myself I was just going to debrief him about the meeting with Vahe.
But that conversation could have been a phone call, and in truth, it didn’t even merit that.
This low-level deal with Vahe was as routine as they came. Elias didn’t need to be involved. So, I knew this wasn’t about work.
Just as I wouldn’t pretend that I wasn’t anxious to see him.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’d spent more time together.
And I’d liked it.
