“He didn’t tell you?” Havoc asked.
“No, he just walked right by. Almost like he didn’t see me, but I know he knew I was here,” she said, unable to hide the irritation in her voice.
Havoc nodded thoughtfully. “That’s some shit, ain't it? You think you got somebody all figured out and then they up and do something completely unexpected.”
“Uh… yes?” she answered, as more of a question than a real answer.
“Anyway, I’m going to find him. We’re supposed to be meeting here, but he’s supposed to head off to school, too, so I gotta find him before he heads out and I lose my chance to say goodbye.”
“He’s leaving for school?!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, yeah. He’s got to get back to working on them degrees. They’re not gonna earn themselves. I’ll see you later, sugar,” Havoc said with a wink. He walked away from the reception window and toward the double doors that opened up on the rest of the building. “Hey, if he comes through here again, ask him if he’s seen me, and if he says no, make his ass stay here until I come back.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Thanks.” Havoc flashed her a blinding smile and disappeared through the double doors Ronan had gone through just a short while before.
Giada sat down heavily in her chair, her brain running through the information she’d learned from Havoc. Apparently, Ronan was returning to school, which meant he’d be leaving. She was definitely aggravated when she picked up a folder and slammed it down on her desk. She flipped it open and started flipping the pages a little forcefully before she got to the one she was looking for. Huffing out a deep breath, she started typing in the information in the folder. “I bet he wasn’t even going to tell me,” she grumbled as she typed. She lost herself typing, quickly working through the data she needed to enter until more than an hour had passed. The double doors opened and the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard rushing through the reception area.
Giada looked up to find Ronan jogging through the room. “Ronan!” she called out, quickly stepping out from behind her desk and approaching the window.
Ronan glanced over his shoulder toward her and waved, but didn’t stop.
“Wait! You can’t leave yet,” she called out.
“I gotta go. I should have been gone.”
“Your brother is Havoc, right?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said, finally pausing long enough to turn back to look at her.
“He said if you came back through here, I should ask you if you’ve seen him. So, have you seen him?”
“No. What does he want?”
“He said you should stay here until he can find you.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I got the impression he wanted to say goodbye before you leave for school.”
Ronan looked down at his watch, and grimaced. “I guess I can wait for a second or two.” He kind of meandered in place, looking out of the front windows, then back at the double doors he’d just come through.
“You’re really leaving to go back to school?” Giada asked.
“Yes. I can’t afford to sit out a semester. I’ve got to get back to it.”
“Were you even going to tell me goodbye?” she asked.
“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Ronan said.
“Why not? Are we not friends?” she asked. “I’d like to know that you went back to school rather than just not seeing you around anymore and not knowing why.”
“I honestly didn’t think you’d care one way or the other. And it’s just school.”
Giada nodded, then stepped back behind the window opening and out of sight.
Ronan could hear her footsteps and knew she was leaving her office and coming out to where he was.
