Page 51 of We Met Like This
“Have you seen him since?”
“No. Don’t want to,” he responded, then changed the subject fast. “You close with your family?”
“Very. I feel like I’m disappointing them all…” Emotion rose in my chest. I’d already displayed too much emotion in front of him today.
He squeezed my hands. “Everything will work out. You’ll make sure of that.”
“You barely know me,” I said softly. “You have no business making that statement so confidently.”
He smirked. “I think we know each other better than we realize.” There was something about his presence that calmed me, grounded me. I liked that.
The bell on the front door rang, drawing my attention as Rob stepped inside. His large frame filled the space. His dark hair, normally neat and tidy, was disheveled. And his bright blue eyes searched the room, landing on me with an instant expression of relief. But then his eyes shot to my hands in Oliver’s and his hard look was back.
The hostess stepped in front of him and said something, but he shook his head and pointed at me. Then he was walking toward our table.
I pulled my hands into my lap. “Rob,” I said.
Oliver looked over his shoulder just as Rob reached our table.
“I was worried,” Rob said. “I saw your car still in the lot.” He didn’t even glance in Oliver’s direction. “I thought you’d come back so we could finish our discussion.”
“I need time to think,” I said, surprising myself. From how desperate I’d been not even an hour ago to keep my job, I thought hearing those words would bring me relief, but they only made me panic more.
“Can I just have a minute?” he asked.
Oliver stood now. He was nearly as tall as Rob, but he was broader. “You heard her. She needs time,” Oliver said.
“Who are you?” Rob asked, finally acknowledging Oliver’s existence.
I stood, not wanting this to turn into… well, anything… in the middle of a restaurant. “It’s fine,” I said to Oliver. “Give me a minute?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, then he nodded.
I walked past Rob toward the front door without waiting to see if he’d follow. Then I stepped outside and past the outdoor tables all the way to the alleyway between the restaurant and the dry cleaner’s next door (another place I’d been to a lot).
I turned around and waited for him to join me. When he did, he looked toward the agency windows in full view across the street.
“Should we stand behind the dumpster or…” I had been kidding, but he gave a curt nod and headed that way.
This timeIjoined him, and when we were out of sight, he pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry. Forgive me. We’ll figure something out. Something that works for both of us.” He nuzzled his face into my neck. The air smelled like rotten food and chemicals and stung my nose. The hug felt uncomfortable, unnatural, wrong. “There’s nothing going on between Rebecca and me. It’s kind of cute to see you jealous, though.”
I took several steps back until my shoulder blades collided with the metal of the garbage bin. It startled me. An overwhelming aroma of rotting meat filled my nose. I pushed against Rob’s chest until he released me. “I’m not. No. None of this has worked for both of us. It’s only worked for you.”
At my words, he folded his arms across his chest in a defensive manner.
“You know that’s true, Rob. I’m good at my job. You mademe feel like a child today who was asking for something she didn’t deserve. I deserve this.”
“I don’t think you’re ready. You haven’t been proactive about going to New York and conferences, making the in-person connections in the industry that you need to succeed at this job.”
My eyes went wide. “You think I can afford that with what you pay me? I thought you’d take me with you, that the agency would pay. You always said you’d take me with you.”
“And how would that have looked? You and I traveling together?”
“It would’ve only looked like something because itwas!”
Rob’s eyes darted over my shoulder. “Keep your voice down.”
When his eyes were back on me, I screamed, “I quit!”
