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“I won’t let you down,” I said when I found my voice.
His eyes softened, his smile broadening. “I know you won’t. If I thought you would, I wouldn’t have asked.” Mr. Hamerstein sniffed at his own wit. I let out a little laugh.
This was really happening. All my hard work was paying off in spades. “I’m thrilled, Mr. Hamerstein, and honored.”
“We only have the best of the best at this firm. I see the traits that could make you a star.” I wasn’t going to bother pointing out there were other interns who were as qualified as I was. If Mr. Hamerstein saw something in me, far be it from me to dissuade him.
“Is this effective immediately?”
He grinned. “See what I mean? Eager to start.”
“I am, sir,” I said solemnly.
“We’ll get to it on Monday. How does a little raise sound?”
“Fantastic, sir.”
“I thought so. In six months, the firm will pay for the necessary schooling for you to get your masters in accounting,” he said with a flair of triumph.
I gripped my knee with both hands to keep from shouting in excitement. “Mr. Hamerstein. Thank you. I—I don’t know what else to say.”
“I’m looking forward to this.” He stood, and I awkwardly followed suit. “Have a good weekend. Relax. We’ll hit the ground running on Monday.”
“I can’t wait.”
Nearly burstingwith pride as I stepped out into the November chill, I was on top of the world. I was tempted to call my father, tell him he’d been wrong about me, but I refrained. If he thought so little of me, he didn’t deserve to know about my success. I kept hearing him in my head saying something about counting chickens before they hatch.
“What’s that smile about?” Daniel looked more devastating than I’d ever seen him, in a three-piece suit, Persian blue tie, and long black cashmere coat, a gray scarf hooked around his neck. He fell in step beside me as I moved down the sidewalk.
“What are you doing here?” I was surprised, not unpleasantly, to find him waiting on me. I glanced toward the street, the black car nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s your coat?” Daniel asked, completely ignoring my question. He frowned as he took in my thin sweater and the stockings under my skirt, which did nothing to keep my legs warm.
“In Texas,” I replied nonchalantly. He kept up with me as he shrugged out of his long coat and draped it around my shoulders. All I could focus on was breathing in and out, his enveloping scent a blow to my senses. I temporarily forgot everything else, especially the cold. “I’m fine,” I said, even as I slipped my arms through the sleeves. The coat swallowed me whole. If I wasn’t careful, Daniel Elliott was going to as well, especially if he kept up this behavior. He’d never been blatantly disrespectful, but gentleman wasn’t a description that immediately came to mind.
“Does your coat usually travel without you?” Is he making a joke?The Daniel I had met over the last few weeks didn’t seem capable, always so serious, a man of few words. I’d wondered more than once if he even knew how to laugh.
“You’re not funny,” I said mock seriously.
“Then why are you smiling?” he challenged.
“I’m not.” But a corner of my mouth turned up in spite of myself. I pretended it hadn’t happened, making a conscious effort to frown. “I haven’t gotten around to asking my mother to send it yet.” I didn’t mention that was because I didn’t want my parents to think I was too immature to have remembered to bring a jacket to New York.
Typically, it was a fight for real estate on the sidewalk after work. I would bump and brush against so many people, I didn’t even notice when it happened anymore. But as I walked with him, the Sixth Avenue seas parted as if we had a bubble around us, like he owned the space and had allowed others to use it.
“Back to my original question. Why were you smiling when you left your office? I know it wasn’t because you were happy to be off work.”
I was excited, so eager to share my news that I couldn’t help myself. Words flowed out of my mouth in rapid fire, and I couldn’t stop. Daniel listened to every single one of them as if they were the most important he’d ever heard, focusing on me instead of where he was walking. It might normally have been unnerving to have all that attention on me, but I was too worked up. I didn’t have anyone else to share the news with. The closest thing I had to friends were coworkers. I couldn’t exactly gloat that I’d gotten this awesome position when some of them were after the same thing. I might be confident and competitive, but I wasn’t cruel.
“Congratulations, Vivian. I’m proud of you.”
My steps faltered, but I squared my shoulders and kept moving. I didn’t know if anyone had ever said that to me. I filtered through as many memories as I could in the span of a few seconds and didn’t come up with a single time. Hearing them from Daniel momentarily threw me off balance, because he actuallydidlook pleased for me. It seemed as if he’d have been surprised by anything else, which caused a tightening in my chest I’d never felt before. “Thank you.” My cheeks got hot before I remembered myself.
“I know Hamerstein. For him to take you on personally speaks volumes.” My cheeks heated again. Daniel’s confidence in me felt unreasonably good.
“This is me,” I said as we approached a set of stairs descending into the underbelly of New York. I started to shrug off his coat, but he placed a hand on the small of my back, guiding me down the first step. So I kept moving, staying ahead of him. He should have appeared awkward down here among the normal, everyday people, but he blended seamlessly, surprising me when he fished a MetroCard out of his wallet while he walked through the crowd like he did this on a daily basis. How often did he come down here?
When I held my card against the sensor on the turnstile, it flashed red. “Damn it,” I cursed under my breath.
