What the fuck is he doing here? Did I fall asleep and wake up in some crazy, alternative reality where the world has gone to shit and somehow, Elijah Baird is in my office building saving me from getting crushed by falling debris?
I sip my coffee and close my eyes.
It’s all just a bad dream. A really, really bad dream.
“Hey, girl, you need anything else?” Opening my eyes, I see that Victoria appeared before me with her face warped by concerns. “Should I call a doctor? I don’t know what to do about something like this.”
“I’m fine,” I assure her. “Just very, very cold.”
“Are you sure? What if you’ve caught something from the water? I saw this movie once where a girl lost her leg because she got cut underwater and she ignored it and it got all infected and everything and they had to chop it off.”
“Was she in an office building?”
“Nah, she was on a ship.”
“Then I think I’ll be fine. Thank you, though, for the clothes and everything.”
“Of course! You give me the perfect excuse to skip my New Year’s resolution of going to the gym every day.” Victoria laughs, but she quickly sobers up when Jimmy storms into the break room.
“Out,” he barks at her, and she scurries away. “Explain.”
I stare at him over the edge of the cup. “What more do you want me to explain?”
“How thehellhas this happened?” he slams one hand down on the table in front of me, making me jump. “How much product have we lost? How could you be so fucking careless? Do you have any idea how incompetent you looked, how you’ve mademelook on such an important day? Did my call yesterday not give you any inclination that today was a day we all needed to be at ourbest, and yet somehow, Cal, you’ve managed to fuck up not just your own reputation, but mine along with it!”
Every word draws a subtle flinch down my spine and warmth stings behind my eyes, mingling with the anger that I was even placed in a situation like that. His call yesterday didn’t hint that anything important was happening, not to me.
“You called me in here for an emergency meeting, nothing else! I came in on my day off because I thought something bad had already happened, not that I was going to wade into the middle of it by taking five minutes to double-check an invoice!”
“Cal—”
“It’s Calliope!”
“Calliope?” A deeper, much softer voice rises from behind Jimmy, who spins around abruptly. Elijah stands there, half-dressed in an expensive blue silk shirt and a pair of cotton joggers he gained from somewhere. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and dark brown hair stands on end, flat near his forehead, where his hand and the water seem to have deflated some of the volume. He’s as handsome now as he was back then. More so.
“That’s me.”
“Are you alright?” Such warm concern fills his dark green eyes that my heart skips a beat, and for a moment, I’m unsure how to answer. He isn’t acting like he recognizes me. Does he not remember me? Maybe he hasn’t spent as much time dwelling on that night as I have, but given the results, I can’t be blamed.
I stare at him in silence until he walks forward, moving past Jimmy like he isn’t even here. “If you need medical attention?—”
“No, no,” I jump in hurriedly. “I’m fine, I promise.” That’s also an expense I can’t afford, so I’m fine, regardless of whether that’s true or not.
“I spoke to the building manager. The team he has called explained that there was a blockage from the offices above. The water pressure, plus the extreme cold these past few days, split the pipe, and the water had nowhere to go but down. He suspects the water was building over the past day and the ceiling just finally gave way. They’ll know more after a thorough investigation, of course.”
It takes all my strength not to turn to Jimmy and spit out atold you so. It’s unbelievable that he tried to blame me, but at the end of the day, what else can I expect from a man like him?
“How much is that going to cost?” Jimmy demands. “It surely should be covered by the insurance because there’s no way I’m accepting liability.”
“Whose offices are upstairs?” Elijah asks with only a glance at Jimmy.
“Well… Marketing, technically, but we share that floor and a couple of others with an accounting service!”
“Hmm.” Elijah turns back to me and then holds out his hand. “I’m Elijah Baird. CEO of Amber Limited.”
He doesn’t recognize me. Of course he doesn’t. Why would he? It was one crazy night six years ago, and then we went our separate ways never to see each other again.
Until now.
