In some ways, it was a childish game. In others, he completely understood her reticence.
"You're already back in touch with some of your old friends? That's wonderful."
Jake shook his head. "Not really. I did run into a couple of people I met years ago, and they've asked me to possibly join them for dinner, but they have something that may or may not prevent it." He shrugged. "I'll know tomorrow afternoon. If I'm planning to be here, I'll let you know as soon as I do."
His gran smiled at him. "I'm glad you have people besides us to talk to."
"I would be privileged to spend every evening eating dinner with you and Poppy. You're two of my very favorite people in the whole wide world."
She rolled her eyes at him, though Jake knew she loved that he would say so, even if he had said it in jest, but he hadn’t. After wishing him good night, she closed the door, leaving him alone again.
He stared at the screensaver on his laptop then snapped the lid closed.
Anything else he needed to know, he'd learn from the queen herself.
The next tolast thing Catherine wanted to do was play games with Jacob.
The last thing she wanted to do was get hurt again, possibly worsethan before.
Probably worse.
From the moment she'd run into Jacob the day before she'd been intrigued by him, attracted to him, much more than anyone she'd dated or contemplated dating before.
She'd sent a text inviting him to dinner but she wasn't ready to call him and talk on the phone like he'd mentioned during their conversation. Her response had been a bit defiant and maybe a little snarky. She should have just told him where and when to meet her, but...
In part, she wasn't quite certain what her day was going to be like.
And in part, she wanted to see how he handled it.
If things weren't going to go well, then she wanted to know early, before she got too attached.
The morning was spent in her office - the monarch's office. Her father had never officially used it, except for certain meetings. He’d never worked there regularly. Before she turned eighteen, Catherine had worked with palace decorators and conservators to redo the office in a way she wanted it to be.
At eighteen, she'd officially moved in and started to work in there. She did schoolwork and Eastern Novigradian work at the same desk, right next to each other. With her degree in business management and international relations complete, she now focused solely on the business of her country.
She had meetings with her father, the Prime Minister, a couple of Council members, and a group of school children who had won a contest at their school. As usual she took her lunch in her office at the conference table so she could keep working and keep busy so she wouldn't obsess over the possibility of spending time with Jacob.
About 3 p.m., she texted him and told him to meet her at the archive in about three hours.
She turned notifications for that chat off. She'd discovered that by turning them off, she didn't obsess over every textnotification since they couldn't be from him. Making sure she checked every half hour or so would be plenty.
By the time she wrapped up her work for the day and she checked her phone for the fifth time, there had been no response.
Catherine struggled to keep a sense of disappointment from coursing through her. Maybe he'd gotten absorbed in the project they were working on and forgot to check his phone. It happened to Mumeleine and Issy from time to time.
She stopped in front of the doors to the archive and debated just going in.
Pushing her apprehension back down, she did just that.
The lights were still on, though it was never very well-lit in the portrait area.The paintings themselves were illuminated, but by keeping the rest of the room dim, they were the focus. Stopping in front of the first Queen Catherine, she looked up at the woman she was partially named for. Had she been married? Catherine didn't think so, but it had been a while since she'd studied that part of Eastern Novigradian history.
What advice would the first Catherine give her? Their worlds were so very different.
The sound of voices came from the back of the archives then disappeared again. Had someone opened a door? To one of the work rooms perhaps.
Giving Catherine I one last look, she turned and went toward the office and work areas.
The door to the main work room had a windowpane in it.
