Page 60 of The Close-Up
The sound of my phone blaring makes me jump.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “Let me get rid of this.”
But then I see it’s Landon calling. I feel bad about just ignoring him, so I answer the phone.
“Hey.” His voice is breathy.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Not great, actually.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just been...well, kind of the day from hell.”
“What happened?”
“Just some annoying personal stuff. And work stuff. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Landon’s clipped tone jolts me. I glance up and catch Simon rubbing a hand over his face.
“I just, um. Would it be weird if I asked you to meet up for a bit? Just for a drink somewhere?” Landon asks, his tone softer. “I can come to your neighborhood to make it easier. I just...you’re the only face I want to see right now.”
Inside I soften. Sure, it could be yet another one of his ultra-smooth lines, but I believe Landon when he says it. Because he sounds exhausted and pained and even though we’re not anything serious, it means something that he chose to call me over anyone else.
“Of course,” I say. “There’s a martini bar on Polk Street. It’s called Amelie. Wanna meet me there?”
“You’re perfect, you know that?”
Hearing the smile in his voice makes me grin even wider. He says he’s on his way, I tell him bye, hang up, and look back at Simon.
“Sorry about that. Landon apparently had a really bad day and wants to meet up at Amelie.”
I can feel all the muscles in my shoulders clench at just having to mention Landon to Simon. The last time they were around each other, it led to an argument between us. Sure, he apologized, but I haven’t mentioned Landon since.
For a second, Simon’s expression goes tight. “Of course. You need a ride?”
“No, that’s okay. It’s just a few streets away, I can walk from here.”
Traffic clears up and we start moving again.
“It’s not a problem,” Simon says while staring straight ahead.
The few minutes’ drive to Amelie is silent. It’s such a shift, the slight tension in the air between us now. Simon pulls over at the corner of the block where Amelie is, puts his car in Park, pulls out two Tupperware containers from the bag, then hands it to me. “Have fun with Landon.”
His forced smile makes me flinch.
I nod and mumble a thanks, but as I go to climb out of the car, I turn back to him. I don’t want to leave this cloud of tension between us yet again.
“Look, I know you’re not Landon’s biggest fan, and that’s fine. It’s just... You don’t have to be friends, but can you just maybe try to exist in the same giant city together? And maybe be civil to him if you see him in another seminar? It would mean a lot to me.”
He closes his eyes for a long second while he takes a breath. “Sure.”
“Thank you. And thanks for the ride.”
“Of course.”
I start to reach for the handle, but stop to turn to him again. “Wait, what were you going to say a bit ago? Before my phone rang?”
