I unlocked the door and pushed it open for her.
The room was quite nice and spacious. It featured dark wood furniture and a large window overlooking the bustling city below. There was a small sitting area equipped with a couch and a desk. But what drew my eye was what dominated the center: a single king bed, with a crisp white duvet and far too many decorative pillows.
“Let me arrange for a rollaway.” I turned toward the phone on the nightstand. Mireya walked into the room slowly and turned to look at me.
Her face was carefully blank again. However, I could see the tension in her shoulders. She refused to meet my eyes directly.
“I just did… but because of the volume of guests this week, they, uh, didn’t have any.” She looked up at me, and the worry in her expression mirrored what I was trying to hide.
“Well, it’s just three days,” she said, trying to sound normal.
“Three days,” I echoed.
“We can surely handle three days of this.”
“Yes, we certainly can.”
“We will stay professional and appropriate. We’re just colleagues sharing a room.”
“That’s exactly right.”
She nodded despite looking unconvinced by her own words.
Well, I wasn’t either.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MIREYA
The presenter continuedto speak steadily about minimally invasive valve techniques, but the technical details felt like background noise. I stared at the bright presentation slides without processing any of the information displayed on the screen.
My formal resignation letter was currently sitting in Riven’s email inbox. I doubted he had opened it. Nothing in his demeanor had changed.
Was I expecting something to change? Why would he care whether I resigned or not?
But the least he could have done was acknowledge it. Ask me about it. Maybe he was pretending he hadn't seen it. Or genuinely hadn't checked his email yet.
This uncertainty was killing me.
When the session finally concluded, the room filled with the sound of people gathering their belongings and chatting loudly. I watched groups of surgeons discuss innovations as I walked out into the carpeted hallway to find a quiet corner.
I pulled my phone from my pocket to check for notifications.
Nothing from Riven.
I forced myself to attend the next session and the one after that, nodding and smiling like a polite stranger. I took pages of detailed notes that I knew I would probably never look at again.
By the time the opening reception began at seven, the weight of my performance had left me feeling completely drained. The event took place in the grand hotel ballroom, filled with the scent of expensive appetizers and the clinking of glassware. I took a glass of white wine from a passing server and retreated to a corner to watch the crowd.
August appeared beside me almost instantly, his presence feeling far too intentional for a busy room.
"Miss Rosen, are you finding the conference presentations informative so far?" he asked with a smooth smile.
"They have been very educational," I replied, keeping my tone guarded and neutral.
"That sounds like high praise coming from you." He took a slow sip of his drink. "Have you given more thought to my offer?"
"Still weighing my options," I lied, though the words felt heavy on my tongue.
