Page 65 of The Close-Up
“If he’s seeing someone now, okay fine. But before then, no doubt he thought of you. I remember the way he looked at you that night you two first met.”
The crosswalk signal flashes and we cross the street along with a horde of other pedestrians and make our way through the Marina District.
“I’ll admit. There was a spark between us. It was definitely on fire when he walked in on me and we almost...you know. And I still think of him as an attractive and sweet guy. If we weren’t working together maybe something would have happened between us.”
My heart skids as I say it, catching me off guard. It sounded perfectly logical and harmless in my head. But to say it out loud conjures up something inside of me. The start of a shiver slides through my body...
When I realize just how long I’ve been quietly thinking about this, I look up at Harper. She wags an eyebrow at me. Clearly she noticed. I shove her lightly.
“But we talked about all of this,” I say with renewed focus. “Simon agreed that in the end, it was good that we were interrupted because we’re work colleagues now and it’s not the smartest thing in the world to sleep with the person you’re working with on a day-to-day basis. Things could get messy. And my job—this series—means more to me than a hookup.”
When we stop at another stoplight, I notice Harper is suspiciously quiet. Normally she has a lot to say when it comes to my personal life.
“How’s work going for you?” I ask, eager to change the subject.
“Crappy. I have to stop by the office later today, actually.”
“It’s Saturday.”
She shrugs. “Duty calls.”
Harper’s eyes glaze over as we cross another city block. My mind flashes back to that night we shared sheet masks and prosecco at her place and she opened up about her doubts concerning her job.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
Keeping her gaze ahead, she opens her mouth, but then quickly closes it. She shakes her head. “I don’t really want to talk about it honestly.”
We continue walking in the direction of her apartment. After a minute of silence, she finally speaks.
“You know when we stopped to take in the view during our hike this morning?”
I tell her yes as I recall the sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean as the chilly bay breeze whips around us. The sight of the deep blue water and endless bluffs jutting from the bay always makes me pause in awe. Even as crowded as the Batteries to Bluffs trail always gets—even as congested as San Francisco feels every single day—that killer view reminds me of what’s out there. Vastness and beauty unbounding.
Harper’s gaze falls to the ground. “Sometimes I wish I could say screw it and move to a place where I could have a view like that all the time instead of the inside of my office.”
“You can do that, Harper.”
“Right. Like, I just snap my fingers and it happens.”
“Well, yeah. It’s not like you have to answer to anyone but yourself. You can do whatever you want.”
“Wrong. I have to answer to my job. And my boss.”
“You’ve spent enough time, enough years working your ass off for them. You can take some time off or travel or try something completely different if what you’re doing now isn’t what you want anymore.”
I stop her with a hand on her arm and move to the side so we don’t block the sidewalk. “Look, I know I’ve been really self-involved lately about work and I haven’t done the best job of checking up on you and asking how you’re really doing. I’m sorry for that. It seems like you’re going through something right now. It’s fine that you don’t want to talk about it, I get it. But it seems like you want to make a change. And I think you should if that’s what you want.”
When she twists her head to look at me, I expect a cynical quip or complete dismissal of my idea. Harper has been a straightlaced hard worker her whole life. She’s never once done anything that she hasn’t spent days or weeks or months meticulously planning. But judging by the look in her deep brown eyes, I think my words are hitting home.
“You deserve to be happy,” I say.
A small smile tugs at her lips. “Thanks, Naomi.”
I stop and grab her hand. “Blow off work. Come with me tonight.”
I tell her Simon’s friends are hosting a party at a bar for him in Russian Hill to celebrate the success ofSimply Simon. He invited me and told me to bring whoever I wanted.
Harper frowns slightly, but then purses her lips as she looks off to the side. Normally there’s no convincing her otherwise when she’s busy at work. But by the look on her face, she’s actually considering ditching work and coming with me tonight. That’s huge.
