Page 34 of The Bargain
Her arms untangle, and her hands settle on my chest, a small win in tearing down her walls. “I’m going to try to run again. I won’t mean to, but in the moment, it will feel necessary. It’ll push you away.”
“No. I’ll run right after you.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah, baby. I promise. Now let’s make that coffee and talk about Paris.”
“I’d like that.”
I kiss her forehead and wonder how anyone can feel this necessary this fast, when no one else but Sofia has felt necessary at all.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sofia
Weendupsittingon the floor in front of my coffee table, drinking coffee and eating a batch of sugar cookies Lily made me to celebrate the Zoey brand. And talking. A lot. About everything. It’s surreal in so many ways. It’s almost as if we were supposed to meet when he met with my father, and it didn’t happen, so the universe found another way. The money thing is starting to matter less and less.
“If Lily wasn’t a fashion freak, she’d be a famous baker,” I assure him when he’s raved about the treats. “And I honestly think she’s missing her calling. I keep telling her to open a bakery. This is her own recipe.”
“If she ever puts her heart in it, she’d go far.”
“Right now, it’s still a hobby, but we’ll see. Maybe I’ll inspire her by chasing my dreams.”
“That’s just all the more reason to make the Zoey brand fly.”
He’s right, and one thing I really like about him is that I thought he’d just dole out his own form of wisdom, but he listens too, with authentic interest. And the more we sit there, the more we share our views on life and the world, it becomes clear to me that no matter how many ways we might shred each other, we’re really going to try to make this work. We can’t seem to help ourselves. “I think you’ll like Paris,” he says. “Paris is all about art, history, and fashion.”
“Do you like it more than the States?”
“Not more. In a different way, and at first, I didn’t like it at all, outside of the escape it offered from my family drama.”
It’s becoming crystal clear that in many ways his life has been dictated by that drama, and I realize now that we never know what is going on behind the scenes for people who seem to have it all. We all have pain. We all experience loss.
“It’s a different pace and lifestyle,” he adds. “Slower. There’s more of a balance between work life and personal life.”
“And that means what to you?”
“Professional dominance in some ways. Peace in others.”
I can read between the lines, as he surely intends. In other words, he uses his obsession with success to his benefit, no matter the circumstance. He’s a killer in the boardroom, and he doesn’t hide that truth, nor would I want him to try. And as for the peace he speaks of, I’m not sure he really found it at all. He escaped. He ran, just like I did, only he did so based on a solid decision-making process and a negative situation he wanted to remove from his life. I ran from him based on emotions and fear, neither of which is good professionally or personally. “How long have you been spending part of the year there?”
“Ten years, but I’m looking forward to seeing it anew through your eyes.”
“I’ll like that,” I say, a flutter in my belly at the idea of exploring Paris with him, but I can’t help but fret a bit.
“Have you heard anything on my contract?”
“I told them what needs to happen. It’ll get done tomorrow.”
“You’re certain?”
“Very,” he assures me. “This is not what you should be worrying about. Save that for things that deserve the attention, but since we’re talking about this, we need to pick up your passport tomorrow morning, but I’d like to fly out either tomorrow afternoon or the next morning, early.”
My mind is instantly on our earlier conversation. “Then I guess I know why you wanted to go to New York before Paris.”
“I was going to leave a lot of things open ended until we got back, but that’s not a good decision. That’s why I’d like to leave sooner than later. We can detour to New York, let me take care of business, and then head to Paris from there.”
“I’m done saying no, so I’m fine with all of that as long as I won’t distract or rush you from why you’re there.”
