Page 38 of We Met Like This
“It’s a perfectly normal schedule. Wake up. Run. Work for a couple hours. Gym. Lunch. Work. You know. Normal.”
It was good to be reminded, once again, how very different we were. “I sense it’s much more detailed than that, but we can pretend you’re not super strict with it for now.”
“You have no schedule?” he asked.
“I have organized chaos.” That’s what my sister always called my life. “Do you have any siblings?”
“I also have an older sister.”
“Does she run?” I asked.
“Yes, actually.”
“Looks like we’ve discovered why we’re incompatible. We don’t agree on running.”
His voice was low when he said, “We’re hopeless.”
CHAPTER 12
“The book can’t be set anywhere else. It needs to be California and it needs to be a more sleepy, less populated area of California. You’ll see why later,” Kari said to me on the phone the next day at work. She’d called me almost immediately when I sat down at my desk, iced tea in hand.
“I trust you,” I said. “Maybe do some more Google Earth searches, then, because I want to feel like I’m there but I don’t.”
“Have you been to Paso Robles before? Near the central coast?” she asked. “It’s wine country, but the place I’m setting it is just outside there but similar terrain: rolling hills and farmland.”
“I haven’t,” I said. “I’m a Southern California girl. You should book a flight. It’s a good excuse for a vacation.”
“I wish I could. I don’t have the time right now. Maybe this summer. My son is about to graduate and it’s all-consuming.”
“Congratulations! I didn’t realize Bryce had gotten so old. I swear he was a freshman yesterday.”
“You’re telling me,” she said.
“This summer works. You have time to get it right.”
“If I can get Rob’s eyes on this, I don’t want him to have any excuse not to love it. I’ll work on setting. And, Margot, thanks for the suggestion. You’re not wrong.”
“No problem.” I woke up my sleeping computer. “Do you have more pages for me? I’d love to read more. It really is amazing, Kari.”
“Let me apply your notes to the next section so you can tell me if I’m succeeding, and I’ll send it soon.”
“Sounds good.” I hung up the office phone, then checked my cell phone. No notifications or texts. Not even from Oliver. A tinge of disappointment settled in my chest and I tried not to read into it. We’d decided we were hopeless, after all.
I got to work on my daily tasks. They seemed more mind-numbing, more tedious than they ever had before. Now that my goal was in reach, it was hard to focus on building someone else’s business. I was ready to get to work on my own.
It felt like I had been in the office all day when the bell on the front door jingled at tenA.M.I looked up to see Rob walking in. It was the first time he’d been in this week, and by the way he avoided my eyes, I could tell he wouldn’t be in long today.
Following close behind him was Rebecca. They rarely arrived to work at the same time. Had someone asked me if they were close, or even friends, before today I would’ve said,No, just business partners.But there was something about the way she looked at him, about the way her hand brushed along his arm as he held the door open for her, that made my stomach lurch. He said something under his breath and she laughed. Not some polite chuckle or airy sound of amusement but a full-on laugh.
They both practically floated through the lobby. The only form of acknowledgment was a nod from Rebecca in my direction. I froze, staring after them. Was I being paranoid? They were coworkers, after all. Maybe they’d almost hit each other in the parking lot or run into each other at the coffee shop and were recounting the story.
Or maybe Rob is screwing her too.
Those words came to me in Sloane’s voice, but my brain had come up with them all on its own. Just because I thought the words didn’t make them true. It wasn’t that I was jealous. I actually found I wasn’t. At all. But I was worried. Had Rebecca told him about the meeting? What kind of support would she give me Friday if Rob had prepped her with his opinion?
I scooped up my purse from beneath my desk and carried it outside, freeing my phone and dialing a number while I did.
“Go for Sloane,” she said, answering.
