Page 32 of Heart of Stone
The next hour ticked by so slowly. It dragged on and on until I got the distinct sensation that something wasn’t right.
Natalia might have been justifiably pissed at me, but she wasn’t the kind of woman who’d shirk her job responsibilities. Not here. Not anywhere.
So, I got up and went in search of her. When I realized she wasn’t in our office building, I made my way over to the main lodge. The woman was nowhere to be found.
Finally, I stopped another member of the staff and asked, “Have you seen Natalia today?”
The employee, whose name I didn’t know, gave me a curious look. “No. The last I heard, she was out sick today. But since you’re asking about her, I guess it’s possible I got that wrong.”
Sick?
I didn’t think that was the case at all.
I offered up as pleasant of a smile as I could muster and thanked the woman.
Without giving it a second thought, I strode out of the main lodge and began my trek across the property to her place. If Natalia was truly sick, then surely, she’d need someone to check in on her and make sure she had everything she needed. And if she wasn’t sick… Well, that’d be on me.
Though it took me less than ten minutes to get to her place, the walk there felt impossibly long. Like every step in that direction put more distance between us than there had been before.
Finally, I climbed the stairs and knocked on the door. Waiting for her to answer was another test of patience. It felt like an eternity had passed. When she still didn’t answer, I knocked again and called her name. “Natalia?”
At least another minute passed before I called her name just a little bit louder. “Natalia.”
“What do you want?”
The relief that swept through me at the sound of her voice was tremendous. “I want to talk to you.”
“I’m off today. You’ll have to find someone else for whatever you need.”
I couldn’t miss the strain in her voice. And when I considered how long it took her to come to the door, I realized I might have gotten it wrong. Maybe she really was sick.
“This isn’t about work,” I shared. “I’m here because I screwed up, and I want to apologize to you.”
A delay. Then, “Thanks for the apology.”
“Do you think you could open the door so I could say it to your face?”
“I’m sick, Reid.”
I shook my head. This sudden sickness was awfully convenient. “I don’t believe you.”
Another pause. “So, you come to apologize before you accuse me of lying?”
“That’s not…” My voice trailed off, and I inhaled deeply to get myself under control. “Natalia, please open the door.”
“I’m off today, Reid. I’m sick. And I have sick time that I almost never use. I’m entitled to take a day off to recuperate.”
“I don’t care about you using the sick time. I’m upset that you’re using it at all because of what I did to you the other day. I would really appreciate it if you’d allow me to tell you how sorry I am to your face.”
Long moments of silence passed. Longer than any of the previous bouts of hesitation. I took that to mean she was reconsidering and would open the door. But just as I convinced myself of that foolish notion, she said, “This isn’t about you or what you did.”
I refused to believe that. “If that’s the case, you wouldn’t have a problem opening the door.”
“You need to leave.”
Leaning my shoulder against the frame of the door as I crossed my arms over my chest, my eyes dropped to the ground. I studied the floor for several silent moments as I attempted to ignore the tightness in my chest. I didn’t consider myself to be the kind of guy who’d ever harass a woman, but I couldn’t just pretend nothing bad had happened. I couldn’t just walk away.
And that surprised me.
