and went home to stay with her parents. Ever since then, she’s been keeping her distance. Things aren’t the same between the two of us today.”
Reed looks over his shoulder, and I look in Kim’s direction too. I find her staring at us, like she knows we’re discussing her. Reed jerks his head back around to me, embarrassed that she’s caught him.
“What about the other one?” he asks, whispering a little now.
I furrow my brows, and I can see him trying to look for her name in his mind. Then it strikes me. He’s talking about Blaire and the fact that she is Kim’s best friend.
“We were never in an actual relationship, so it doesn’t make a difference,” I say firmly. This is a fact that I have repeated to myself over and over again in the past month. Since the moment I realized that I want Kim.
Reed sighs. “Are you sure? Because it could get complicated.”
“Yes, I’m a hundred percent sure. She is of the same opinion. We have always been very clear with each other about it. We’re better off as people who work together. It was never serious. No strings attached.”
Reed nods. He gets it now, I think. I drop my voice down to a lower decibel.
“And she has kind of implied to me that she wouldn’t object to Kim and me…being together. I guess she could see through us before we even admitted it to ourselves.”
“So if she is not a problem, then what’s stopping you?” Reed asks.
“Stopping me from what?”
“From saying something directly to Kim. You think she may have changed her mind about you, but maybe you should talk to her about it. Lay your cards on the table.”
I don’t know what the real purpose is of Reed’s visit, but I’m guessing he didn’t expect it to be counseling me on a romantic agenda.
I sit back in my chair, leaning way far back.
“I don’t know how to do that,” I admit.
“You’re a thirty-eight-year-old man who has traveled the world and you’re saying you don’t know how to admit your feelings to a woman?” Reed says this with a chuckle, and I can’t help but chuckle at it too. He’s right, it does kinda sound ridiculous.
“Okay, I think I’ll do it. I’m not sure what I’m going to say because I can’t even make sense of what I’m feeling but I’ll take your advice. Only because I know you have successfully bagged a good woman.”
“Yeah, I know what I’m talking about,” he says sagely, and we both laugh.
This is it; I’m diving in.
Despite all the dangerous stunts I have attempted, opening up to Kim about the way I really feel about her seems like the most terrifying one of them all.
21
Kim
I don’t think Kirk and Reed realize that the door of the office is partially open. That’s the thing about being surrounded by glass walls; you don’t notice minute details like that.
The fact that the door is open means that I can hear most of their conversation. Especially Kirk’s voice, which is deep and booming.
Maybe he thinks he is in the soundproof safety of his office, or maybe he is speaking this way purposely because he wants me to hear what he has to say.
While I sit at my desk, filling in the minutes of his last meeting with the board, I distinctly hear Kirk’s brother ask him what is the latest news with me.
I hear my name. Kirk’s response to his brother’s question about our relationship is—We were never in an actual relationship; it doesn’t make a difference.
My throat goes dry immediately, and I have to force myself to not look up from the computer. I don’t want to draw attention to myself. I want to know what more he has to say about me. I need to know exactly what Kirk Waters thinks our relationship is made of.
His brother asks him something else that I can’t hear clearly. Something along the lines of…is he is sure. This time, Kirk even breathes out a deep sigh before answering the million-dollar question.
Yes, I’m a hundred percent sure. She is of the same opinion. We have always been very clear with each other about it. We’re better off as people who work together. It was never serious. No strings attached.
I am sick to my stomach. I can’t type anymore. My fingers stop moving. I can’t sit here and listen to this.
I didn’t know what to expect when I returned to the office today. I have spent