Page 30 of In Love and War
Flashes of last night’s happenings began to trickle in.
Me at a table with Tim and Darrell, them leaving to play pool, Zac sitting down with me, another drink, the waitress’s note, him driving me home, me tripping and falling outside of his car, how it felt when he held me, the way he was looking at me, and…
“… stop saying it like it belongs to you, like it belongs in your mouth.”
“Oh God,” I groaned. My knees came up, and I wrapped my arms around them, burying my face.
“What…? What did you do?” Kai took the empty glass from my hand and placed it on the nightstand.
“I said something stupid and embarrassing to my boss. I’m cringing so hard right now,” I admitted into my knees.
“Which boss? The lady one orZac?” The emphasis on his name was accurate. The reaction would be very different depending on the answer.
“The Zac one.”
FML.
“What exactly did you say…?”
I shook my head. I was blushing with embarrassment just thinking about it; there was no way I would be repeating it now.
“Oh Mills, you silly, silly goat.” The rubbing of my back stopped, and he let out a sigh.
One time during a fight in kindergarten, shortly after we’d become friends, Kai had called me a goat. I’d responded to his insult by chasing after him, makingbaasounds for a full ten minutes until we were both put in a time-out. Needless to say, we made up and became best friends that same day. And, unfortunately, the nickname stuck.
I couldn’t even bring myself to laugh.
“I’ll go make you some breakfast.” He stood up and turned to leave. “But also, seriously, please take your coat off. Thomas Burberry is rolling in his grave right now.”
I groaned, flopping back down onto the mattress and bringing the pillow back to my face. Maybe this time I’d be lucky and suffocate in my sleep.
“Pearson Airport?”Kingsley, my Uber driver, asked as I closed the car door.
“Yes, please.”
Andrew had texted me on Saturday letting me know that he’d managed to secure an earlier flight for Zac and that he would meet me in New York instead. Not having to sit beside him during the airplane ride was welcome news; I really wasn’t complaining.
Still, two days had not been enough time for me to try and forget what happened. My anxiety had only worsened since then and was currently at an all-time high at the thought of seeing him once I arrived.
I tried to silently take deep breaths without alerting my driver that I was potentially going crazy.
Calm down and remember the plan.
This change in our dynamic was doing nothing except fuck with my mind. I wasn’t sure exactly when or how it happened, or what it even was, but I needed things to go back to the way they used to be. It was a lot easier to focus on my goal that way.
I’d slipped up and let my guard down—big-time. And it couldn’t happen again. Those walls were there for a reason.
This was still war, and he was still the enemy.
“Milly!It’s so good to see you!” Jessica, David’s assistant, got up from behind her desk and excitedly ran over to give me a hug.
“Jess! It’s been so long!” I was genuinely glad to see her. She was only a couple of years older than me, and we had started at Yuval around the same time, so we’d instantly connected.
“Here, let me grab those.” She reached for my carry-on luggage and coat. “I’ll store them behind my desk. You can get them before you leave for the day.”
“Sounds good. Sorry, I came straight from the airport,” I said as I handed everything over to her, grateful.
Jessica was insanely helpful, to the point where it felt like it was something that came naturally to her. This made her into a fantastic assistant, which was probably why she’d lasted this long working for someone as demanding as David.
