I whisper. "I think my landlord's at the door. I don't want him knowing I'm here."
"Okay, bye."
"Sophie?" a voice says. It's a girl's voice. "Sophie, are you in there?"
Did my landlord send a woman over, thinking I'd answer? I keep quiet and don't move, hoping she'll go away.
"I'm a friend of Celine's. I live in the building."
I go to the door and look through the peephole. The woman has short blond hair and is dressed in a suit, like she just got home from work.
Why is she at my apartment? Did Celine send her over?
I open the door. "Hi. Sorry I didn't answer. I was just being safe."
"I totally understand. I do the same thing. That's why I tried to explain who I am. Celine mentioned you lived in my building so I thought I'd stop by and introduce myself. I'm Anna." She shakes my hand. "I've seen you coming and going from the building but wasn't able to catch you to introduce myself. Anyway, I just wanted to say hi. Maybe you can join us for happy hour sometime."
"You and Celine?"
"And the other girls. We have a whole group that goes."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Okay, well, see you around!"
I shut the door, confused why Celine would send her friend here. Celine doesn't want me going to happy hour. She and I aren't even close to being friends. I have nothing in common with her, other than my attraction to Aiden. When I was working with her, she went out almost every night and never once invited me to come along.
I eat dinner and try to forget about it, but my mind keeps trying to figure out why that girl would stop by. Celine had to have had a reason for sending her over here.
My phone rings and I see Aiden's name on the screen. I decide to ignore the call, not ready to talk to him.
A few minutes later, he calls back. He'll probably keep calling so I decide to answer.
"Hi, Aiden."
"Sophie, what's going on? Why haven't you answered my calls?"
"I've been busy at work. With the new promotion, I have more to do."
"That's all it is? You've just been busy at work?"
I don't answer, not sure what to say. I want to tell him how I feel but I don't know if I should. I don't want to accuse him of lying to me when I don't know if it's true.
"Sophie, what's going on? I know work isn't the only reason you haven't answered my calls. I know you've been avoiding me."
"I'm just giving you time to deal with all the stuff you have going on. We're both busy. It's hard to find time to talk."
"Not when you really want to talk to someone." He pauses. "I'm sorry I had to leave last Saturday. Roger called me and demanded I get back there for a meeting about this deal I thought was already done. The buyer of the property was going to back out at the last minute unless we explained some of the stuff we found during the inspection. If I hadn't gone back we might've lost the deal, and I might've lost my job."
"I get it, Aiden. Don't worry about it."
"Of course I'm worried about it. I let you down. I told you we'd have two nights together and we didn't. I felt horrible leaving you like that."
"I was fine. I just went to bed early."
"I wasn't fine. I barely slept. I wanted to be back there with you. I missed you. I still do."
If that were true, he'd find a way to be with me, and not just in Vermont but here, in New York. He'd stop worrying about Celine and just let us be a couple.
"Have you seen Celine since you got back?" I ask.
"No. Why would I see Celine?"
"I thought maybe she talked you into going to more events with her."
"She didn't. And she won't. I'm done going places with her."
"She's acting like you two are still together. She talks about you with Bianca like you two are still a couple."
"We're not. If she's saying that we are, she's lying. Is that why you've been avoiding me? Because you think I'm still with Celine?"
I don't answer him.
"Sophie, I am not with Celine. I don't know why you're believing her and not me. Don't you trust me?"
"I want to, but...I don't know."
"What do you want me to do? How do I prove to you it's over with her?"
"You let us be a couple. Here. In New York."
"Sophie,