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I had a meeting in an hour, and would have to shower and change into my business suit after my bike ride. I usually rode first thing, but today I was going to ride after a meeting at the old building in the financial district which took all morning.
I went to the apartment I kept in the building and changed into my riding suit. I donned my helmet and gloves, checked the bandages over my scuffed knees, and left the building, bringing my bike down in the elevator with me.
For the next half hour, I rode around Central Park, my usual route, and had worked up a good sweat by the time I arrived back. I squirted m
y face with the water bottle and walked my bike into the building.
On my way, I met up with Keith Sheppard, one of my executives. Keith and I were friends and played a game of basketball whenever we could at the gym we both frequented.
"What the hell happened?" he asked, spotting my bandages.
I laughed and checked my elbow. "I ran into the prettiest woman I've seen in a long time, while she was jaywalking across the street yesterday."
"Ooh," he said and grimaced. "Which one of you got the worst of it?"
"I did," I said and pushed the bike through the security gate. "I managed to miss her but didn't miss the back of a taxi. My knees and elbows got the worst of the deal. Bike's good."
"Risks of being a die-hard cyclist, I guess."
"You got it."
"But at least you ran into a pretty young woman. I guess that's one way of meeting women in this town."
I nodded. "She thought I was a bicycle courier."
He grinned. "Did you disabuse her of that misinformation?"
"No, I did not. She kept offering to pay for my doctor visit or bandages. Wondered if I could get worker's comp. I guess she was thinking that since I was a courier, I might not have health insurance. Said she would call my boss in case I needed an excuse to take the day off. She was being so sweet worrying about my health care, I didn't have the heart to tell her my family owned the building."
"Oh, that's too funny," he said. "So, she has no idea that you're one of the wealthiest business moguls in Manhattan?"
"She does not and that's the way it's going to stay." I pushed the elevator button. "It's nice not to be recognized sometimes."
The elevator arrived and we stepped inside. Before the doors closed, I heard the clack-clack-clack of high heels on marble floors.
"Wait! Hold the elevator, please!"
A woman was running to the elevator.
I pressed the door-open button, and the doors bounced back to reveal her– the woman I'd almost run over the previous day, standing there in all her glory. She appeared completely frazzled, a strand of her shiny hair falling out of her hair clip. When she entered the elevator, everything about her made me stand up straighter. I had noticed she was attractive the previous day, but had been distracted by my wounds – and my anger.
But now... she was lovely.
When she saw me, she stopped in her tracks. The expression on her face was so comic I almost laughed out loud.
"Oh, it's you. Sorry," she said and stepped back off the elevator. "I'll wait for the other elevator." Her cheeks flushed beet red.
"No, no," I said quickly, waving her on. "Come in. I won't bite. They're doing construction and the other elevator isn't in service. This one's fine. "
"Okay," she said doubtfully. She stepped into the elevator and stood facing the doors, and I could tell she was utterly embarrassed to be running into me again.
She turned and looked at me. "Are you okay?" she asked, then pointed to my knees and elbows. "Did I do that?"
I glanced down at myself and smiled. "You did, actually. My name's Josh, by the way. Just in case you wanted to know the name of the man you injured."
"Ella," she said and grimaced. "I'm so sorry. It must be hard to keep working when you're injured like that."
"Oh, I'm fine," I said and stood up straighter, flexing my bicep like a bodybuilder. "I'm tough. Tough enough to work even with scraped knees and elbows."
