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I wish my life was a blank slate before I met Gwen, but that’s hardly the case.
And now, that’s making my life complicated.
The lights above the elevator show that it has now reached the first floor. It pauses there, then starts back up to me.
When the doors open, I hope to see Gwen, but I know if the elevator is empty, I’ll ride down and find her.
I have to talk to her about what she saw.
What I don’t expect to see in the elevator is a man. Brian Campbell wears a grimace on his puffy, red-nosed face. The bags under his eyes hint at some late nights, maybe even on my account.
“Good. Great. You,” he says as he steps out.
I step past him. “Hey, Brian, two minutes, okay? I have to go down to the ground floor and clear something up.”
I make it into the elevator, and the doors start to close.
He puts his arm out, to block the elevator doors from closing. “You’re going to want to hear this,” he tells me grimly. “Big news, Brock. Big news. I’ve got a name for you. One of your own.”
Feeling frustrated, I eye his hand. He stubbornly continues holding the door.
The clip-clop of heels, louder by the second, makes me look over Brian’s shoulder.
Diana is striding toward us. She taps her sleek, silver watch. “That was five, Brock. I hate to do this, and I mean no disrespect. But the timeline is tight on this. We have to get the final cuts over to the team in the factory by noon, if we want to stay on track.”
“I know.” I nod at her. “I just need another few minutes. Hang tight. Get them rolling, I’ll be in soon. I’ve gotta run down to the first floor and catch up with Gwen for a sec.”
She’s not happy, but she departs.
Brian’s grimace turns more severe. He won’t get his ham-hock hand away from the elevator doors, which is annoying me. “Gwen… Gwen Temple, you’re heading down to see?”
Is this guy dense, or what? “Yeah. She’s my assistant.” And much more. Not relevant.
Rather than release the doors, like I want, he keeps them pinned as he enters the elevator with me. “Brock, stay away from her,” he says as the doors close us in.
I jab the button for the ground floor and barely register his words.
I can’t stop thinking about the hurt in Gwen’s eyes.
She thinks Vanessa pecked me on the cheek because I invited it.
It’s hard to believe my date with Vanessa was mere days ago. Of course, Gwen’s confused. Uncertain. She has every right to be.
Days ago, I was on a date with another woman.
Now, I only want Gwen.
I’m so caught up in worry about Gwen’s feelings that I barely listen as Brian rattles off another ominous-sounding warning about how I shouldn’t talk to Gwen.
Why not? What’s he going on about?
When my brain finally catches up, I shake my head. “Nah. Not an option.” Me, stay away from Gwen? Yeah right.
She’s honey, I’m a bee.
I will be drawn to her for the rest of my life.
“You better, son,” the silver-haired detective says, his bushy eyebrows converging on his red-tinted brow. “She’s the root of your problems.”
