sure: I missed Amelia. I missed her face. I missed her smile. I missed the way she looked at me like she understood me even better than I understood myself. I was going to lead with my heart.
I was about to knock when the door opened, seemingly of its own accord. It wasn’t Amelia. And it wasn’t Martin.
I was getting ready to say that I must have the wrong apartment when Amelia appeared in her bathrobe.
“Parker?” she asked. She looked confused. “What are you doing here?”
Now I was racking my brain. Was this guy with Martin?
“Um,” I started. “I wanted to talk to you.”
She raised her eyebrows.
The man in the suit stood awkwardly in the doorway and then said, “Well, I’ll call you, Amelia.”
“Okay. I’ll look forward to it.” Amelia smiled giddily, and I wanted to punch this guy. He was definitely not with Martin.
He shook my hand and smacked me on the back. He had declared war.
Amelia tightened her robe string and put her hands up like What in the world? Then she gestured for me to come in.
She shut the door behind me and led me over to a Lucite table with a gold base and two chairs. Jesus, this place was gaudy. “I was just getting ready to make some coffee,” she said, ignoring the elephant in the room.
“Sure,” I said. “With—”
“Two sugars, Parker. I know.”
Her tone wasn’t angry exactly, but it wasn’t friendly, either. It was a tone I had never heard from her. Like a stranger.
“Did I just walk into something here?” I asked.
She turned to me, leaning on the small expanse of counter, and bit her lip almost guiltily. That was when I noticed how hot she was when she had just woken up. Bedhead suited her.
Before she could answer, Martin’s voice preceded him into the tiny kitchen. “Good morning, beautiful people!” he trilled.
He was already in his suit and perfectly coiffed. He stopped when he saw me. “Oh. Not the beautiful person I was expecting.”
I stood up and hugged him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
I nodded my head toward Amelia. “Just came to talk to this one.”
“Ah,” he said, looking almost embarrassed for me. It was not my favorite look on him.
He kissed Amelia on the cheek and said, “Actually, I think I’m going to grab my coffee on the way.”
I saw him mouth, Call me, to her.
She poured boiling water over a funnel/strainer combination filled with grounds, which was way fancier than my Nespresso.
She stirred in my two sugars and said, “Not to be rude, Parker, but I need to get ready for work.”
I shook my head. “No, you don’t. I mean, you do, but it’s okay if you’re late.”
She raised her eyebrow and sat down.
“McCann acquired Sea & Sky.”
Her face went red, and she said, “If you are here to tell me I’m fired again, I swear to God, Parker—”
I laughed and then cut her off, taking her hand from midair, bringing it back down to the table and putting mine on top of it. “You’re not fired, Amelia. In fact, you’re promoted. To whatever you want. I was thinking executive editor this year, maybe managing editor in another year or two?” I paused. “Not that you aren’t clearly suited for managing editor. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted all the pressure right away.”
She visibly relaxed, and I moved my hand, feeling sorry as I did.
“So I don’t need to get ready because you’re my new boss.”
I shrugged. “No. Not really. But also yeah. I won’t be in the office day in and day out or anything, but I wanted you to hear it from me this time.”
She nodded resolutely. “Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And I’m excited to be working for a McCann company. Despite firing me, I think you guys make some really responsible, positive changes in your acquisitions.”
She was so robotic toward me now. The smiling, flirtatious Amelia of my past seemed to have been replaced by this other woman, whose hair was falling seductively out of her messy bun but who refused to reveal her real inner power.
“Is that why you got on a plane at four thirty in the morning? So you could tell me that?”
I took a beat before I responded.
“The thing with that guy. Is it serious?”
I could tell she was trying not to smile. My stomach sank all the way to the floor. “It’s new,” she responded shortly.
It was new. All the hairs on my body suddenly stood on end.