“Of course, it’s very exciting, but surely you can give us something,” she said, still smiling with those terrifying teeth. “Is it serious? How did you meet?”
Lucas had prepared me for this. The dance. The deflection. The art of answering without actually saying anything.
“I can tell you that Cupid’s Arrow works,” I said. “Even for people like me. The algorithm is sound, the matchmakersare exceptional, and when you’re open to the possibility of connection…” I let the sentence trail off, deliberately being ambiguous.
The interviewer ate it up. She practically glowed. “So youareseeing someone!”
“I’m saying that Cupid’s Arrow delivers on its promises.”
I made it through the rest of the interview as planned, deflecting the rest of Molly’s personal questions and redirecting to business talking points.
I got to the office just after eight and went straight to Norma’s office. She was already at her desk, coffee in hand, looking at me with an expression that immediately told me something was wrong.
“Ina called out sick,” she said before I could ask. “I spoke to her about an hour ago. She sounds awful. I told her to stay home for at least two days, maybe three. We do not need what she’s got running through here. Not with Valentine’s around the corner. I can get you a temp.”
I nodded. “Did she say if she needed anything?”
Norma gave me a knowing look. “You sound like you’re worried about her.”
“Of course,” I said with a shrug.
“I offered to have groceries delivered. She said she was fine.” Norma smiled. “I suppose you could take her something warm to eat, if you’re feeling like being a good boyfriend.”
I growled in annoyance. “Don’t start with that.”
I turned to leave but Norma called after me. “Women like it when you show you care!”
I went to my office and stared at my calendar, ready to focus on work. Without Ina wrangling me, I wasn’t sure I could get to it all. Wall-to-wall meetings. Conference calls. A lunch with potential investors that I absolutely could not cancel.
I made it until ten-thirty before I started rearranging my schedule.
“Something’s come up,” I told the temp who was covering for Ina. She had temped for me before. She looked terrified every time I spoke to her. “Cancel everything after eleven. Push the investor lunch to next week.”
She nodded. “Will do.”
“Tell them something urgent came up with the Valentine’s campaign. They’ll understand.”
At eleven-fifteen, I was standing in the deli I had seen Ina in. I ordered a large chicken soup and tried not to think too hard about what I was doing. Norma’s idea hadn’t been a bad one. And I knew Ina had bought this exact soup for her sick roommate.
Ten minutes later, I was standing outside Ina’s building, holding the soup and second-guessing every decision that had led me to this moment.
Was this a boss move or fake boyfriend move? Was I crossing a line? Did it matter?
I could just leave it on the stoop. Text her that it was there. Let her come down when she felt up to it. But I quickly discarded the idea. Ina shouldn’t eat any food left unattended on the street, and she definitely didn’t need to be walking down five flights of stairs while sick.
I pressed the buzzer for her apartment. There was a long pause, then a crackling sound. Then I heard more of a grunt than actual words.
“It’s Dane,” I said.
I should have texted her before I just showed up. If I was sick and someone knocked on my door unannounced, I would thrown something at them. But it was too late to leave now. The only way forward was through.
The door buzzed and unlocked. Relief flooded through me and I hurried inside before she changed her mind. I climbed the five flights of stairs, cursing this godforsaken walkup. I was tempted to have a damn elevator installed on my own dime.
I knocked on her door. Shuffling sounds from inside. A thump. A muffled curse.
The door opened to reveal Ina wrapped in a blanket, her hair in a messy bun, her face pale, and her eyes glazed in that particular way that meant she was absolutely miserable.
Her eyes got big and she slammed the door in my face. I heard more cursing, clearer now. Then the door opened again.
