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“I know,” I whispered. “I’m so proud of us.”
She playfully smacked my arm. “I’m proud of us too.”
Finally, only a few members lingered, and it was time to tear down. Lila put a few of the extra flowers into a bag while I wrapped up some leftovers.
When I glanced at the door I saw a familiar figure—the exact last person I had expected to be here. The dish I held fell from my hands and clattered against the table I was cleaning.
“What’s he doing here?” I hissed, staring wide-eyed at Lila.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged but didn’t look nearly as shocked as I’d expected her to.
“Lila, did you know he was coming?” My heart sank at the act of betrayal.
She smirked. “He might have asked me where you’d be today.”
“And you told him?”
“Okay, he might have begged. Look, he’s been a mess the past two weeks at work. And you haven’t stopped thinking about him for a second—don’t try to deny it. At the very least you need closure or…” She looked guilty now.
“Orwhat, Lila?” I seethed, keeping my eyes locked on Nathan.
“Or maybe—just maybe—you guys could work it out.”
“Are you serious? I can’t believe you of all people are saying this right now.”
She shrugged. “Let’s face it. Even though we’re crushing everything else right now, you’re absolutely miserable. You deserve to be happy, Char. Just hear him out, okay? That’s all you have to do. Then you can move forward.”
Nathan searched the room, looking unsure of himself. His brow knit with worry. When he finally met my eyes, my heart nearly dropped to my stomach. He flashed me a half smile as if he couldn’t help it, before dropping it and walking my way.
“Oh my god, he’s coming over here,” I whispered in a panic.
“I’ll just go put this in the car,” Lila said before scurrying off.
I rolled my eyes at her abandonment.Traitor.
Nathan stopped when he reached me and dug his hands into his pockets. He lifted his gaze to meet mine, and I quickly looked to the floor instead. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I tried to ignore how good he smelled—ugh, I hated that his scent of all things was the first thing I noticed. I hated even more how much I missed it.
“Nathan,” I greeted, my tone cold.
He winced. “Hi,” he said, staring intently down at me.
After a moment of silence, I sighed. “Why are you here?”
“Because you’re here,” he said simply.
“Right,” I said, moving around him and packing some candles into a box. “Well, you didn’t seem too concerned about my whereabouts these past two weeks, so if you’ll just excuse me.
“That’s not true,” he said, moving to grab the next set of candles I was about to pick up. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you and your whereabouts.”
“Funny way of showing it,” I muttered, brushing past him, but he whipped around and beat me to the next table.
“Can you stop cleaning for a second?” he asked.
“We’ve got to get out of here or they’ll charge us for another hour,” I responded flatly.
He lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll buy the building if you’ll just talk to me for five minutes.”
I sighed and set down the box of supplies. “Fine, Nathan, you want to talk? Let’s talk. Should we start with how you just stood there while Don said those awful things about me? Or how you ushered him off to have a drink instead of chasing me out of that party? Or how you’ll always put work above everything else in your life—including a meaningful relationship?”
