Finn moves a little closer and then leans against the side of my car next to me. "I want to apologize to you. My behavior earlier today was out of line."
I shrug but his words actually mean a lot. "I was lashing out too. We seem to bring that out in each other."
He leans closer. "It's called passion. We always had more than enough of that."
"We did. Everything between us was so good. Until it wasn't."
Going back and forth isn't getting us anywhere. And as more time passes, the more I wonder why he's insisting on this ridiculous working arrangement. If he wants to rub my face in his wealth, he's already done that. If he wants to show me that I made the wrong choice, that was already accomplished long before he showed up.
"I'm so tired of thinking about what an idiot I was. I've spent the last few years just trying to move on."
"I can't move past this without knowing whether it was even worth it. Why weren't you happy with him, angel?"
I don't talk about this. With anyone. But something in my face must change because he narrows his eyes. "Rissa?"
"So does that mean you liked the chair?"
His brow furrows then he looks down at the catalogue again. "I don't know. I can see how it would come in handy."
Probably with whatever size zero supermodel would fit into the tiny thong I'd rescued from his couch. "I'm sure your many girlfriends will love it."
"There are no girlfriends, Rissa. There haven't been for a long time. Although I'm sure there's a woman somewhere who won't mind looking at this mangled leg, I haven't found her yet."
I will not feel sorry for him. I will not feel sorry for him.
"The women you date sound like bitches. You got hurt protecting the rest of us. So every scar you have just reminds me that I should be grateful just to be here."
His eyes seem to burn in his face as he stares at me. “Maybe I have found the right woman."
I ignore that, knowing he’s just trying to rile me up. “So, did that underwear and all those condom wrappers just materialize out of thin air? Or have they just been there a long time?" I make a face at the thought. "You really did need cleaning services then, huh?"
Finn doesn't even bother to disguise his laughter. He turns to me, his smile warm. "I was being an asshole. Trying to mess with you. Those underwear probably still had the tags on from when I bought them."
"I think you also accidentally bought them in the children's section. The cashier probably thought you were a perv."
He looks horrified. "They have underwear like that for kids?"
"Disturbingly, yes they do."
He shakes his head. Then stands back. "Anyway, I wanted to come by and apologize. And make sure you got to your car safely. You know I've never liked you walking places alone."
I unlock the car and throw my bags on the seat. "I know. But you can't show up everywhere just to make sure I'm safe."
He looks amused. "Can't I?"
* * * * *
“Anna, I need you to go to the Greenberg’s this morning. And Tracy, you’ll have to come with me to Mercers tonight, okay?”
I stand in my office staring at my list of employees hoping that I'm just missing something. I woke up to a voicemail from Carrie that her son was sick so I'd come in a little early to see what I could do. One of my best girls is already on vacation this week and looking at this list, there's no way around it. Without Carrie, we are supremely screwed today.
"So, Julie is going to handle the Fulton job by herself then?" Tracy asks.
I look at the schedule again and then rub my face with my free hand. "No, you're right. That's a two-person job. You stay with Julie. I'll handle Mercers alone today."
Tracy and Anna exchange glances but they both nod.
“Carrie’s okay, right?” Anna chews on her bottom lip, looking worried. She’s not much older than Carrie and I know the two have become friends.
“Caleb is sick again. She left a message this morning that she wasn’t coming in. I’m going to call her back this afternoon to check on her.”
Anna and Tracy file out the door so Tara can squeeze in to my minuscule office.
“When it rains, huh?” Tara runs her hands over her face. “Someone always gets sick unexpectedly when someone else is already on vacation. It’s like an unwritten rule.”
“Yeah I know. But we could always handle it before because we didn’t have this many clients.”
Ever since the night when Finn apologized in the parking lot of Mercer's, we've had an unspoken truce between us. For the past week things have been completely civil. There have been no more condom wrappers or random women's underwear in the couch cushions and he's stopped snapping at me like I'm a dog.
We've just … talked. A lot.
And I've felt a sense of calm for the first time since he’d hired us. Like things were on the right track and I finally had everything under control. Things were going great with the business and Finn and I were actually getting along okay. I should have known that peace wasn’t going to last long.
Thoughts of Finn bring my mind to the time. I glance at the digital display on the lower right hand side of my computer. “Oh no! I’m late.”
Tara moves back as I race around the desk and grab my bag sitting on the chair in front of the desk.