I see her lips twitch into a half smile, even though her head is down, and she is seemingly engrossed in the figures on the paper in her hand. I pick up the box containing the rose and head on out.
When I reach the glass doors, I see a familiar body leaning up against the wall, one foot propped against it, and his hand in his pocket. He turns to look at me as I open the door.
“Well, hello there, beautiful,” Denham says, pulling me into his chest. “I missed you so bad today.”
“I missed you too,” I mumble into his shirt. Although I missed him a little, it was good to not be thinking about him all day. It was good to be doing something productive with my brain and not having to rely on someone else for the health of my mental wellbeing.
With his face buried in the hair around my shoulder, he inhales, “I missed the smell of your hair.”
“You did?” I question.
“Yeah. I missed knowing you were upstairs.”
“Well, I wasn’t far away.”
“You didn’t miss me, did you?” he says tickling my waist with his fingertips.
“Yes!” I giggle.
“It’s okay. If you didn’t miss me, it’s because you were enjoying your first day. Am I right?”
“Yes, I loved my first day, and every spare minute I thought about you.”
“Well, I thought about you every spare minute, too.”
“I know.”
“Oh, you know, do you?”
“Yes, if you hadn’t thought about me, you wouldn’t have sent me this.” I wave the box in front of him and his hands fall away from my body.
“What’s that?” he says with a frown.
“What do you mean? It’s the rose you had delivered to me…” Panic bubbles at the bottom of my throat. “… didn’t you?”
“No,” he says scraping his hand across his face. “I didn’t have anything delivered to you.”
“Well, if you didn’t…then who?” I’m afraid to ask the question, but it comes out anyway. In fact, I think I’m more afraid of the answer.
He looks at me with a mix of worry and anger, and grabs the box from me before flinging the door open, and striding back into the boutique. He marches straight into Beth’s office, calling her name and I follow right behind him, feeling that his reaction is a little over the top.
“Beth…” He slams the box on my desk, making me jump.
“Jesus, thought I was being raided with all the commotion you’re making. Where’s the emergency?” Beth emerges from behind the fire door where she was standing outside smoking. Huh, she didn’t seem like a smoker to me, and not once have I smelled cigarette smoke on her.
“Do you still have CCTV running here?” Denham asks abruptly.
“Yes, why?”
“Give me today’s recording. Do you still run the feed outside?”
“Yes, but …”
“I want that too.”
“Denham King, I don’t know what your problem is, or why you feel the need to be so rude, but I’m not one of your staff that you can order around. Now fill that chest of yours with a deep breath and talk to me like an adult.”
Denham does as she says, and I have to stop myself from grinning at the way Beth talks to him. It’s refreshing to see, and although I know he’s not being an asshole intentionally, Beth’s right, just because there’s something worrying him, doesn’t mean he has to lose his manners.
