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“Everything to your satisfaction?” the attendant asks.
“Yes,” I murmur, and reach into my pocket for a tip. “Thank you.”
“Dinner and breakfast are served in the restaurant downstairs, but we also have room service. You’ll find everything you need for the spa experience in the bathroom. Give us a call if you need anything.”
The door shuts behind him and then we’re alone. Sophia runs a hand over the elaborate bedding, her form gilded by the golden sun setting outside the windows.
Just us again. Alone.
“Nice room,” I say.
She nods. Her hair had been in a bun when I picked her up, but somewhere along the ride she’d unraveled it, and it now hangs in glossy brown waves down her back. “It’s lovely here.”
You’re lovely,I think.
She looks at me over her shoulder. “So, what do we do now? Have dinner?”
“I could eat,” I say. I’ve been hungry for days.
Her eyes heat. “Me too.”
We make it down to the restaurant, with candlelit tables and bouquets on every table. We drink wine and order pasta and filet mignon, and then more wine, and I spend my time trying to make her laugh. A flush colors her cheeks and the blue of her eyes glitters with every chuckle.Beautiful,I think, and it hurts to look at her.
“Anyway,” she says, halfway through a story, “that’s how I got the internship.”
“You didn’t.”
She nods and sets down her wineglass. “Oh yes, and I can’t believe they hired me. Icalled the CEO’slandline.Her fourteen-year-old-son picked up!”
I chuckle. “To be fair, they had to hire you at that point. You were basically threatening to stalk the CEO until they did.”
“Yes.” Sophia covers her face with her hands. “I can’t believe she gave me a solid recommendation letter afterwards, too.”
“Well, I can. You did a great job, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know about that,” she says, and shrugs. “I hope I did, but I was young.”
I shake my head. “Don’t do that with me.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Downplay your accomplishments,” I say, “or feign humility. You were the best damn intern they ever had. Weren’t you?”
She taps her fingers against the table. “Yes,” she admits. “I created a new system for their internal filing. The CEO called it genius.”
“I’m not the least bit surprised.”
“You know me that well?”
“Yes,” I say, “and you don’t ever have to pretend you’re anything but the best around me. Don’t make yourself smaller.”
It takes her a long few seconds to answer. “Thank you,” she murmurs. “That’s a rare thing.”
My chest tightens at the thought of her dimming her shine for anyone, let alone Percy, with his dislike for her career. “It shouldn’t be,” I say. “Fuck anyone who makes you feel like you need to make light of your accomplishments.”
She gives a rueful smile. “You’ve never apologized for being ambitious.”
“Of course not.”
