Page 40 of My CEO Neighbor
“If you give me another chance, I’ll prove to you that you are my real priority."
"I don't know how to believe that."
"Give me a chance."Ted reached out slowly, giving Monica time to pull away, and cupped her face in his hands."Let me help you save your studio, not because I'm trying to buy your forgiveness, but because watching you succeed is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
Monica's eyes filled with tears."What if I lose anyway?What if I'm just delaying the inevitable?"
"You’re not. You know you’re not.”
“I meant about us, not the yoga studio.”
He gave a half laugh.“Because I want to learn how to make tea the way you make it.I want to understand why talking to plants matters.I want to be someone who can sit in silence without needing to fill it with productivity."
"That's a lot of wanting," she said.
"It's the first time I've wanted anything real in three years."
Monica leaned into his touch."I want that too," she said."If I let you help me, if I take the contact information and call your friend, what happens next?"
"Next, you save your studio and keep teaching people how to breathe properly.Next, I learn how to be human again instead of just successful."
"And after that?"
"After that, we figure out if what happened in that elevator was real enough to survive in the daylight."
Monica's smile was shaky but genuine."I think it might be."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah.But Ted?"
"What?"
"If you ever retreat into corporate asshole mode on me again, I'm going to make you meditate for six hours straight while listening to whale sounds."
Ted's laugh was surprised and delighted."That sounds like torture."
"It's called consequences."
"I'll take it."
Monica stood on her toes and kissed him, soft and sweet and full of possibility.When they broke apart, Ted felt like he could breathe properly for the first time since the elevator doors had opened.
"Come inside," Monica said."Tell me about your meeting yesterday.And thank you.For wanting to help, even when I was being impossible."
"You weren't being impossible.You were being smart.Most men like me are exactly what you thought I was."
"But you're not most men like you."
"How can you tell?"
Monica smiled, the expression transforming her entire face."Because most men like you would have sent an email instead of standing in a hallway confessing their feelings to a closed door."
