Seth Carson is here. In Los Angeles. AtAlways Take Fountain. My workplace. My home away from home.
When I walked out of that hotel ballroom two years ago, I thought I’d never see him in person again. I sure as hell never expected him to show up here. I’d thought it was well established that the West Coast was my turf.Ismy turf.
Natasha leans against the doorjamb, and our eyes meet in the reflection of the mirror.
“Did you know?” I hold my breath as I wait for her to answer, unable to believe she knew about our history and brought Seth here anyway.
“I don’t even know what I could possibly know.” She sighsat the confusion on my face. “Clearly this is not the first time you’ve met Seth Carson.”
I shake my head, relieved to find the motion doesn’t stir up any more nausea. “We dated, all through high school. He was my...” I want to fill in the blank with some sort of teen-angst throwaway, but even as much as I hate him, that would be unfair, and untrue.
“He was my everything,” I finally say after a painful silence.
Natasha hands me a tissue, drawing my attention to the tears streaming down my face. “And it didn’t work out.”
I dab at my eyes before succumbing and scrubbing at them, not caring if they turn out as rough and raw as my heart currently feels. “No, it didn’t work out.”
“I take it that was his decision and not yours?”
I nod, blowing my nose loudly, as if the sound might end this conversation.
“And let me guess, you’ve been in a series of serious relationships ever since? With men who were never quite right?” Natasha looks at me as if she’s piecing together the last decade of my life in one breath. She’s way too on the nose for my liking.
But I can’t deny the truth. “Yup.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, leaning casually against the sink after checking for wet spots. “And how did Seth respond to the breakup? I imagine with all the traveling he’s done for work it hasn’t been easy for him to hold down something serious and long-term. Life on the road isn’t exactly conducive to commitment and stability.”
I huff out a sarcastic laugh. “From what I’ve heard, it seems like he goes through women like I go through books. Has a girl in every port, as the classics say.”
“So serial monogamy isn’t his thing?”
I swipe under my eyelids. “Quite the opposite, if the rumors are true.” It took a while before anyone told me the gossip about Seth, and once I heard, I immediately wished I hadn’t. Not that I could fault him for moving on—I certainly had—but the thought of his being with anyone else always stung. Mightstillsting on a low day.
Natasha hesitates for a second, but it’s not like her to hold back and be tactful, and not even my tears will change that. They haven’t before. “You’re a smart, successful woman, Lana. It’s been twelve years since you were together...” TheWhy the hell aren’t you over him yet?is implied.
I could very well spill the entire dramatic saga right now, but I don’t think I have the energy to make it through. “Yes, I know. I was okay for a bit, but we had an... encounter... at our ten-year reunion. It didn’t end well.”
I resolve to say no more, giving her just enough to justify my bitterness.
“You kids are going to be the death of me one day.” Natasha sighs. “Can you sit in the same room with him at least?”
I pull myself up to my full height, taking a final swipe at my frizzy hair and red-rimmed eyes. “Of course I can.” Despite my appearance, I am a professional.
“Good. Then meet me in my office. I need to make a quick call.” She cocks her head at the door with a scheming glint in her eye, and I know I’ve been dismissed.
I take as long as I possibly can to walk the twenty feet from the bathroom to Natasha’s office. Her door is wide open and Seth is sitting in one of the sapphire-blue velvet armchairs in front of her desk. I study him from behind, but there’s not much I can discern from the back of his head.
I creep into the room slowly, as if Seth might not notice me as long as I don’t make any sudden movements. My eyes stay firmly attached to the side wall opposite him.
The silence is suffocating.
“Parker.”
It sends a short-lived thrill through me when he caves and breaks the silence first. Short-lived because the sound of my last name on his lips shouldn’t still affect me.
“Seth.”
“It’s going to be very hard to work together if you won’t even look at me.”
