So much for avoiding the topic.
“Well, not anymore, and not really very much.” I’m saving myself with a technicality.
“Yes,” he says, bemusement lining his tone, “because you basically told my girlfriend to kick me to the curb after a couple of Zoom calls.”
He leans against the doorframe, taking me in now with more interest, and it’s hard not to notice the way he moves. I hate that I’m making this comparison, but the way he casually leans and watches—in that effortless British cheeky-while-curmudgeonly way—reminds me a little bit of Jude Law fromThe Holiday. Except, apparently,mean.
“I did no such thing,” I reply, still softer than I’d like, but attempting to find my voice again. Maybe I want to be agreeable most of the time, but nothing gives me more backbone than someone questioningmy professionalism. “It’s not my job to tell anyone anything. I’m there to help someone communicate their feelings more effectively and come to their own realizations about what they can work on.”
His gaze narrows. “You don’t like me.”
“I don’t have opinions about clients,” I harrumph.
He points at me, his expression tipping into entertained. “You’re human.”
“So?”
“So. You have an opinion. Maybe youthinkyou don’t share it. But everyone has an opinion.”
I hate that he’s pinpointed one of the same things Ari was trying to make me hear earlier.
But I shuck the thought aside. “You’re misplacing your anger at Sarah onto me,” I say calmly, trying to keep the kind of professional tone I would have with any patient who was unhappy. “I’m sorry this is still unresolved for you, but getting angry at me isn’t going to solve it.”
For a moment he looks almost as shocked as if I’d slapped him. But then he comports his expression back to neutrality, that momentary realization wiped off as quickly as it came.
“What do you want?” he says, sidestepping my commentary entirely and attempting to get back the upper hand.
Oh right. The actual reason I’m here. I’m so shocked by seeing him in person I almost forgot.
“I live right above you,” I say, now unsure again as to how to approach this bizarre turn of events.
“Congratulations?” There’s that sarcasm, front and center. He can’t help himself.
“You were being extremely loud.”
“I know you’re used to dinosaurs who never change anything, but I’m moving in. I’ll be hanging stuff up. I’ll replace appliances. I’m going to sand the floors. Sorry if those normal activities create a minor amount of noise in the noisiest city on earth.”
He crosses his arms over his chest like a defiant toddler, as though he’s particularly proud of his barbs, simmering in his confidence. I know I should be focused on how petulant he’s being, but instead I find myself looking at those arms. Why am Inoticinghim so much?
I shake the sentiment away. “I didn’t say you couldn’t do anything to the apartment,” I mutter, my voice a little shakier than I wish it was. “But this building has hours when you’re allowed to do work, and we’re well past them. You don’t have to be so snippy.”
“‘Snippy’?” he says, his British cadence slipping to copy my American intonation, his mouth curling up in amusement.
“Yes, snippy.” I’m bolstered, my reserve getting ever so slightly chipped away by his sarcasm. “I came downstairs to kindly ask you to do something pretty basic, which is keep construction-type noises to regular business hours. And you jumped on me!”
“If I jumped on you, you’d know it,” he says with an impish smile, clearly trying to get a rise out of me. It makes the air crackle between us, charged without him even noticing.
I feel myself blush, but I’m not taking the bait. “You took out your frustrations with me as a professional rather than listening to your neighbor. One thing has nothing to do with the other.”
“Oh, you think my opinion of therapist Nora can be bifurcated from my opinion of neighbor Nora?”
I close my eyes and rub my fingers along my temples, a nervous tic I have whenever I feel myself getting frustrated. “Think whatever you want. Just please keep the noise down. You’re bothering my dog.”
“Ohhhh,” he says, the amusement now radiating out of him. “Well, if I’m bothering a dog, then my sincere apologies. I didn’t realize noises hurt dogs only after business hours. I’ll make sure to only bother your dog from nine to five.”
“Seriously?” I exclaim. “You’re mocking me now?”
“Glad your spidey therapist senses picked up on that.”
