I looked at the note again. That was too many X’s and O’s from one man to another. And the meat comment could have been innocent. But when it came to Nigel, I had no idea. I wondered how he’d take it if I texted him that all I required was privacy. Probably not well. And then he’d also have my number. I couldn’t let that happen. And what was all that weird stuff about fighting and being kind? Did he think I was a petulant child? I pushed the note to the side and tried to enjoy my sandwich.
Tanner said that Nigel didn’t try to dress and bathe him. So maybe Nigel just had a weird crush on me. It wouldn’t be the first time a guy had hit on me. It was flattering. But very much unreciprocated. If he was giving me attention for that reason, I needed to make sure he knew I was straight. Was it rude to just tell him flat out?
There was a knock on my door.
“Not now!” Hm. Be kind and smile. Maybe that was advice I needed to remember. “I mean, yes?” I called in a more upbeat voice.
My receptionist, Mary, walked in. “I’m sorry to bother you, but do you know a Ms. Cannavaro?”
Poppy Cannavaro. I swallowed down a chunk of too much turkey and cleared my throat. “Why?” Please let there be news that she died in an explosion or something and that this wasn’t about her being outside my office right now. One can hope.
“I input all your meetings myself. And for the life of me I can’t remember setting one with her. I honestly don’t even remember seeing it this morning when I double checked today’s schedule. But I just got an alert saying you have a 1 o’clock with her. And sure enough, I looked and there the appointment is in the system.” She shook her head. “Maybe she set it up a long time ago and I just don’t remember?”
I doubted that. It was a lot more likely that Poppy had someone hack into our system. Damn it. I looked down at my watch. Poppy would be here any minute.
“Do you want me to cancel?”
As appealing as that sounded, canceling on Poppy wouldn’t make her go away. She was a pest that just kept showing up. I needed to see what she wanted now and try to squash it. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll handle it.”
“I’m very sorry, Matthew.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m sure it was just a glitch.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” She smiled. “You look well-rested today. Did the chamomile tea work?”
More like the magical green juice. Hell, maybe chamomile was the secret ingredient. Regardless, I wanted to make Mary smile today. “It must have.”
“That’s wonderful. Let me know if you’d like me to bring you a cup before work ends today. And I’ll ring you when Ms. Cannavaro arrives.”
I nodded and looked down at my sandwich as Mary closed the door. I suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore. What if Poppy wasn’t stopping by to talk? I swallowed hard. Was this it? Was Poppy going to walk in here with a gun and pull the trigger? Would someone find this weird note on my desk and think I was having a gay affair with Nigel? Would my murder make the late night news? How would I be remembered?”
Fuck. James. The last words I’d said to him. I knew better than that. I knew better than anyone that life could be cut short. I didn’t want those to be my last words to him. I pulled out my phone. But there were suddenly a million things I wanted to do. I needed to finally call my mom back. I didn’t care that she always pestered me this time of year. I needed to tell her that I loved her. And thank Mason for always looking out for me. And I stupidly even wanted to call Rob and make sure he knew he was my best friend too. And Tanner for the same reason. It was okay to have two best friends, and I wasn’t sure why the hell this was the last thing I was thinking about before I died.
But I didn’t have any time to call a soul, because my intercom button was blinking. I hit the light.
“Ms. Cannavaro has arrived,” Mary’s voice said through the speaker.