“He is my boss.”
“I know.”
“He is a billionaire.”
“I had heard rumors.”
“He is emotionally unavailable.”
“Based on?”
“His entire personality.”
Across the room, Adrian let a child put a paper crown on his head.
Priya raised an eyebrow.
I sighed.
“That proves nothing.”
“Of course.”
Mia spotted me and waved.
Adrian looked over.
For one suspended second, his gaze met mine.
He smiled.
Not the rare corporate version.
Something smaller.
Warmer.
Dangerously personal.
I looked away.
Priya whispered, “Absolutely nothing.”
—
That evening, after the workshop ended, Mia fell asleep in the taxi before we reached Manhattan.
I carried her upstairs, changed her into pajamas with only minimal protest, and tucked her into bed beside Gerald.
Then I stood in my quiet living room.
Daniel’s photograph sat on the bookshelf.
The new photograph Adrian had given me stood beside it.
I picked it up.
Daniel and Adrian.
Two men from two completely different parts of my life, connected years before I knew it.
I turned the picture over.
*Being needed and being loved are not the same thing.*
For three years, I had built my entire life around being needed.
Mia needed me.
My team needed me.
Clients needed me.
Deadlines needed me.
The apartment needed repairs.
Groceries needed buying.
Forms needed signing.
Everything had a place because everything had a purpose.
Wanting something for myself was different.
Wanting meant uncertainty.
It meant risk.
It meant admitting that surviving was not necessarily the same as living.
My phone rang.
I glanced down.
Adrian.
At eight forty-two on a Saturday night.
I nearly let it go to voicemail.
Then I answered.
“Hello?”
“Julia.”
His voice sounded different outside the office.
Less formal.
“Did Mia get home all right?”
“She’s asleep.”
“Good.”
A pause.
“Did you call to check on my six-year-old’s transportation?”
“Partly.”
I waited.
He exhaled.
“There’s something I should tell you before you hear it from someone else.”
My shoulders tightened.
That tone was unmistakably professional.
“All right.”
“The board is considering a change in leadership structure at Blackwell & Reed.”
I sat down.
