What We Do in the Night (Day to Night #1) - Stylo Fantome Page 0,66
bathroom and took a long, hot shower, scrubbing off the layers of makeup and perfume and hairspray.
Saint Valentine's mask, brought to you by MAC Cosmetics and aisle ten at Walgreen's.
When she got out, she shimmied back into her underwear and the dress, then she bundled her wet hair up into a ball on the very top of her head. It was good enough to get her home, at least. She didn't bother picking up her wet towels from off the floor when she left the room – she'd been stood up. He could pick up his towels his damn self.
She had her coat on and her shoes dangling from one hand while she wrote him a note, all ready to leave, when she realized she could hear someone in the hallway. Footsteps coming to a stop outside the apartment. She stood up just as the door was unlocked and opened.
“Going somewhere?” Ari asked as soon as he stepped inside.
“Home,” Valentine replied, crumpling the half written note into a ball. “You missed this train, buddy.”
He sighed and walked over to his dining table, tossing his keys and his wallet on top of it.
“Why do I feel like every conversation with you starts and ends in an argument?” he asked. She shrugged.
“Probably because you're a very difficult, argumentative person. Must come from being a lawyer. I'm leaving now.”
“Stop it. You're not leaving. Take off your coat and sit down.”
“You can't order people around,” she informed him. “Especially not people you just stood up.”
“Excuse me?”
“Ten,” she reminded him. “You told me to meet you here at ten. It's twelve-thirty now.”
“I didn't realize your vagina expired after a certain hour.”
“My vagina doesn't appreciate playing second choice,” she snapped. “You said to meet here at ten. I ended my date and I came here. You stayed out with your buddies. Do you have any idea how much shit I could've gotten done if I'd gone home?”
“No, and I don't really care.”
“Goodbye, Ari,” Val snorted, and she headed for the door. He stepped in front of her, though, and blocked her path.
“I wasn't with my 'buddies'.”
“Whatever, I don't care. Move.”
“I went to work,” Ari kept talking. Surprised by his confession, Valentine stayed silent. “My father called me, I left the restaurant right after you did.”
“Your father?”
“He's the founder of the firm I work at.”
“Oh. When you said you worked for Sharapov and blah-di-bloo-whoever else, I just assumed you were talking about yourself.”
“I wasn't.”
“... oh.”
Ari turned and walked away from her, heading into the kitchen. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed and dropped her shoes. Her jacket went next, then she sauntered over to his dining table and pulled herself up to sit on it.
“My father,” he called out as he opened his freezer, “is an asshole.”
“I'm not exactly shocked to hear that,” Valentine laughed. He didn't say anything, but she was pretty sure she heard him snort. Then the freezer closed and he turned around with a pint of ice cream in his hand. He grabbed two spoons from a drawer before heading back to her.
“I have to go schmooze these potential clients,” he explained, sitting on the long bench that served as the dining seating. Valentine crawled to the center of the table and sat there, grabbing the second spoon so she could eat away her stress, just like him.
“Schmoozing, man. What a hard life,” she mumbled, and he whacked her with his spoon.
“Shut up. I was supposed to have this time off,” he reminded her. “I was promised. But when my dad says there's work to be done ...”
He let his voice drift off. She thought about making another joke, but decided against it. Ari was opening up to her, for the first time ever. Possibly for the first time ever to anyone – she doubted he'd ever talked like this with Harper, and he obviously wasn't close with his father. So she smiled when he looked at her, and she scooped up a spoonful of ice cream.
“You know what I hate?” she said, holding out the dessert for him. He glared at her for a second, then leaned forward and took the bite. “When people tell me I need a break. Like yeah, no shit, of course I need a break. Thanks for the newsflash. But I don't see those same people offering to do my work for me so I can take that break.”
She fed him another spoonful of ice cream while he stared up at her.