We get to the ground floor and exit the building. “Well, I’ll see you later.” I wish I could have avoided this by leaving him asleep in my own apartment while I snuck out like a ninja.
“Yeah. Let me know about tonight. If you want.” Beau raises a few fingers in goodbye.
Fat chance of me caving in.
Chapter Fourteen
By lunch, I want to cave in.
I remind myself againthat people leave, but it doesn’t have as much weight when it’s been four hours since I was snuggled up to Beau. And I miss it. I miss him. Despite not wanting something serious, I’ve gotten used to seeing him, and knowing I won’t be tonight is making me uncharacteristically melancholy. And then mad at the melancholy.
I’m so wrapped up in trying to manage my emotions and edit a sale catalog at the same time, that the first I hear of Priya is her clearing her throat.
I jerk up to see where the noise came from, hitting my knee on the corner of my desk as my entire body lifts. I see Priya sitting right in front of me, legs crossed, iPad on the desk in front of her, coffee in hand.
“How long have you sitting there?” Please let the answer be something short so I don’t have to feel the crushing weight of embarrassment.
“Five whole uninterrupted minutes. I cleared my throat. Thrice.”
No Christmas miracle here. Just the cold misery of embarrassment.
“I’ve been really involved in this catalog...” The intense workaholic in front of me can’t fault me for that.
“Iwouldbelieve that. Iwantto believe that. Except you haven’t touched your computer the entire five minutes I was here.”
“There’s a lot of text on the screen and it doesn’t need fixing?” I ask, my excuse coming out more as a question. “Because of how smart I was the first time?”
“This is painful to watch. Please don’t try to make excuses. Or make better excuses, if you must lie to me.”
“Was there something you needed?”
“Yes. But now I’m more interested in what’s happening here.” She indicates me and my desk in one very judgemental finger.
I give in...because she’ll only harass me until I tell her what she wants to hear and I don’t have the mental fortitude to battle her in the confused, weakened state I’m in. “Beau spent the night at my place last night. It makes the second night in a row we’ve spent together.” I bury my head in my hands, finding it easier to talk to my fingers than Priya.
“Get it, Sonia!” I can hear her dancing in victory in the seat. But I can’t see it because I refuse to look up.
“No. We didn’t even have sex last night.” I’m still incredulous about the fact that I enjoyed it as much as the night when we did have sex. “We fell asleep on the couch watching Christmas movies and drinking eggnog.”
“But that kind of sounds like your fantasy. Because you’re an odd duck.”
“Okay. Was this just an excuse to sass me or is there a productive reason for the visit to the common folk?” I indicate myself.
“The fact that you don’t think I can do both is a personal affront and the only remedy is pistols at dawn in the park.”
I love my family. I do. And I know I have my own moments of high drama. But sometimes they’re too much for even me.
“You know you won’t have access to the internet in prison, right? You can’t run sales in prison without internet. Do you know how much this company will suffer if you get put away for cousin-cide?”
Priya purses her lips and nods. “Yup. Thought about it. I retract my gauntlet.” She wakes up her iPad and opens her email. “I did come for real reasons. How is the prep for the night of the Christmas auction?”
“Slightly ahead of schedule. The show exhibiting the pieces is getting good buzz and we’ve got most of the details sorted for the night of the sale itself. Should be good.”
“Great.” Priya makes a note. I hope it’s to send me a smiley face emoji. I need the positive reinforcement. Maybe we should bring back stickers as prizes. Lisa Frank stickers, hopefully.
Then she closes her tablet case.
“Was that all you came for? That could have been an email. A short one. Or a text. Even a comment on an Instagram post.”
