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“I have a meeting scheduled for four,” I told him. “We can finish this conversation some other time if need be, and if not, if you have any inquiries or concerns, you can either reach my phone or you can stop by my office. I'll be available in both.”
He pulled out his phone then from his pocket and nodded in agreement.
“Sure, what's your phone number again, please?” he asked, and I rattled it off to him.
And then he turned to Sophie and asked. “And your phone number?” he demanded. “In case I need to get in urgent contact with your boss, and he isn't available.”
She smiled but hesitated. She seemingly still didn't know how to handle this, and so she suddenly set her napkin down and rose to her feet.
“Please pardon me. I'll be right back,” she said to us both.
“Alright,” he said, and I was left alone with Gregory.
Chapter 38
Scarlett
Finally! I exclaimed on my way to the bathroom.
The meeting had been long and arduous, and more than anything, I was glad for the reprieve. With the way it had started, I had been expecting things to completely go south from the beginning, but thankfully both men had soon put on their professional hats and focused on all the issues that were important at hand.
I, on the other hand, truly wanted to head home. It had been a very long day, and given that I was still somewhat jetlagged from the previous day's travel, I couldn't help but wish that I had some time away to just think and sleep. This arrangement with Sophie was only supposed to have lasted a week, but this week was beginning to feel like an entire year for me. I couldn't wait for it to be over, however, as Lucien came to mind, I found that I wasn't quite as eager for an end to all of this as I claimed.
And then we had Elena. I was still somewhat shocked by the fact that she had immediately smoked out our secret. I shouldn’t have been realizing she knew we were twins. More than ever, I felt so exposed, and I wanted to tell Sophie about it, but I was really concerned that she would worry. Elena, however, now hadmy phone number to call Sophie, and so I decided that it’d be better if she heard it from me than from Elena.
Sophie picked up almost immediately, which was rare. It was as though she'd been expecting my call, and so I couldn't help but feel afraid on her behalf.
“What is it?” I asked. However, to my surprise, she threw the question back at me.
“What do you mean by what is it? You were the one who called me.”
“Oh,” I said and nodded. “Yeah… um,” I was relieved that it seemed as though she didn't know, and so I truly had to make the judgment now on whether to tell her at all. She was supposed to be resting, not getting unnecessarily worked up. Plus, Elena was on her way to her vacation in the Maldives, so my only hope was that she would be too busy enjoying herself in the waters to care about anything concerning me and Sophie until the week was done.
“Scar?” she called, and I smiled, watching my reflection in the huge restaurant mirror.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Everything is fine.”
“That's surprising.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You've met Elena, haven't you? She's very observant. She's going to notice even if the slightest thing is off.”
My heart began pounding in my chest. “I met her, but not for very long. She was in a hurry to go on vacation, and so she didn’t pay too much attention to me.”
“Jeesh, that's such a relief,” Sophie said. “A huge relief, you have no idea. If there was any chance of this going bust, it would most definitely have to be because of Elena.”
I swallowed then and turned away, ready to exit the bathroom.
“Anyway, I have to go now. We just finished the meeting with Gregory, or at least I hope it's finished. I want to go home. I'm so exhausted, and they’ve been talking forever.”
I heard her smile through the phone. “That's the easy work with Lucien,” she said. “The harder work is coming.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Alright, talk later.”
“Bye,” she said, and I couldn’t help but note just how significantly more relaxed she seemed. It made me feel good that I had made the right decision, and so as I exited the bathroom to return to my seat, there was an extra spring in my step.
Until someone called my name.
