“Thank you,” I thanked Robert after he waved the host off to hold my chair out for me. I got comfortable in the soft cushioning of the cream-colored, wooden chair. I watched him as he rounded the table, taking his own seat. “I love the food here,” I stated, covering my lap with the white linen napkin.
“You’ve been here before?”
I nodded, setting the glass of water back down that I’d just taken a sip of. “Yes, last year. The CEO of my company held a dinner here to celebrate the merger.”
Robert nodded. “I read about that in the paper. Glamour Cosmetics bought Enchanted, making it the second largest cosmetics company in the nation.”
I smiled, feeling proud even though the praise didn’t belong to me at all.
“I received an invite to that dinner. If I had known you were there, I wouldn’t have turned it down,” he stated sincerely.
“Why did you turn it down?” I wanted to know even though I was surprised to hear that someone in his industry had been invited to the dinner. Though, I shouldn’t have been. I was learning that many of those in the upper echelons of society often rubbed elbows with one another, no matter what industry they were in.
“I had another business engagement in Japan.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Japan?”
He nodded.
“Are you working on a merger with a Japanese company?” I couldn’t help but ask, knowing that even if he were he wouldn’t be at liberty to tell me. Things like that were kept private until business insiders were given the heads up. And despite my movement up the ranks within my company, I was definitely not a business insider.
“No. Nothing like that. Not yet anyway. I just took a chance.”
I tilted my head. “A chance?”
He nodded. “I have a suspicion technology will be the wave of the future.”
“In energy?”
“In all fields,” he stated confidently. “I want Townsend to be at the forefront of that wave. I am looking to diversify our assets so we’re in position to grow even stronger once the technological changes come about.”
“You seem confident in your assessment.”
He leaned forward, forearms pressed against the table. “I have no reason not to be. But I’m not interested in talking about Townsend Industries.”
“Oh no? What are you interested in talking about?”
“Us,” came his one word reply, his dark eyes burrowing into mine.
I nearly choked on the water I’d taken another sip of.
He’d said it as if there really was an us.
“There is nous,”I hissed, angrily pressing into the table, my voice going low so no one near our table heard us. The anger I’d felt over the last five years began to rise.
“You’re angry.”
My eyes doubled in size at the casual nature of his observation. “You think?”
He tilted his head and I tore my eyes away from him, hating how great he looked in his obviously tailored suit.
“Because I never contacted you.”
It wasn’t a question but I answered anyway. “Yes!”
“I’m sorry.” It was a simple, albeit sincere apology. But I wanted more.
“You don’t even know what you’re apologizing for.”
