“For you? Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I don’t show you the other version, then neither of us gets to live it. And I’d rather lose you to a decision you made with all the information possible than win you in any other way.”
Simone closed her eyes, and when she opened them, a tear had fallen down the curve of her cheek. She didn’t brush it away. “Seven?”
“Seven,” Alexandra confirmed.
“I’m not promising anything besides walking in there.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
Simone inhaled slowly. “Okay.” She stood and picked up her coat and slid her bag on her shoulder. “I’ll see you then.”
The door clicked shut behind Simone, and Alexandra released the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding the whole time.
Alexandra arrived at Elements at six-forty-five. The valet recognized her car and didn’t say anything when she handedoff the keys. Ruby met her at the hostess stand. She’d been the night manager for nine years. She took Alexandra’s coat herself, then walked her to the private room without small talk. The door closed behind her with a soft thud.
Instead of the large banquet table, Alexandra opted for the smaller, more intimate circular table with a vase of flowers and candle on it. Nothing in the room had changed since she had last been here—teak table, low pendant lights, wall of glass to enjoy the view. Tonight, the rain was running down the window in slow, vertical lines, and the cranes in the distance were softened into halos.
A server she didn’t recognize—slim, dark-haired, mid-thirties—brought her a glass of Chenin Blanc.
“Ruby said this is your favorite,” the waitress said before turning to leave.
“Thank you.”
Alexandra swirled the glass three times to let the wine breathe, then took the first swallow without tasting it. Her chest had been tight under her sternum since the morning, and she no longer fought it.
Simone arrived at six-fifty-eight. The heavy wood door opened, and she walked in. The first thing Alexandra noticed was that Simone had changed her clothes since she had last seen her. She now wore black trousers and a soft green sweater, and her hair was down, loose by her shoulders. The hollows under her eyes were still there, but her hair softened her face. She brought a different coat than the one she’d worn this afternoon.
Simone stopped just inside the door and looked at Alexandra, and Alexandra looked back. Neither of them said anything for a long moment.
“You came,” Alexandra said.
“I promised I would.” She sat across from Alexandra.
The server came in behind her with a second glass of the Chenin and set it down in front of Simone and slipped out, and the door clicked shut. Simone walked to the round table and sat. She didn't reach for the wine. She put both hands on the table and looked at Alexandra across the candle.
“I have to be honest with you about something before we start. I still haven’t changed my mind. I only came because you asked me to, not because I think anything is going to change.”
“I know.”
“I just need you to know that going in.”
“I do.”
Simone nodded and picked up the wine. She took a long sip then swallowed, small and careful, the way she drank during meetings. Alexandra realized Simone was treating tonight as an appointment, and the only thing that betrayed her was that she kept her hair down.
Alexandra reached for the portfolio on the chair beside her and set it on the table between them. She didn’t open it. “I want to tell you what’s in this before you read it.”
“Okay.”
“I started writing it Tuesday night. After you left, I came back into the study and sat down at the desk and wrote until two in the morning. I wrote more on Wednesday after the meetings. I came in this morning intending to call Ruth on Friday and bring it to the chairman next Tuesday. When the newspaper article came out, it only changed the timeline, not what’s in it.”
“All right.”
“This isn’t a restructured version of the merger you had proposed earlier. It’s a completely new deal.”
