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“Thank you.” I received them, offering up my cheek for a quick peck from him. While I carried the flowers toward the kitchen for a vase, I heard Eli chatting with Jazz.
“Hey, Jazz. Long time no see.”
Jazz giggled. “You could say that.”
The interaction struck me as odd, since Jazz had stopped coming to the Upper West Side brownstone after I moved out. Unless he’d started lessons with her too, which seemed unlikely. But even mild speculation about where they might have run into each other made my insides feel heavy. I couldn’t force myself to care.
I caught a whiff of the roses as I arranged them in a glass vase. The scent always reminded me of home. Rather, my parent’s house, which no longer felt even remotely close to my home. The scent of roses had long been baked into my subconscious as a harbinger of the anxiety my parents’ demands and expectations provoked. And though Eli probably didn’t know about that, it was only fitting that he’d brought me roses while expecting me to uphold our happy façade.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Cora!” Jazz poked her head into the kitchen just as I set the vase in the middle of the brunch table.
“Great. Thanks for the killer workout.” We waved, and she headed for the front door. Eli appeared in the kitchen a moment later.
“Those look great.” His smile lasted a second before fading. “So you took the rest of the day for a workout class?"
"I took the afternoon off,” I reminded him. “Personal time.”
“You haven’t checked your emails, have you?” He shoved his hands into his pockets, keys jangling as he started a slow walk toward me.
“No. I might sit down later and get caught up.” I sighed, pressing a palm to my forehead. Sweat still coated my skin, but there was no way I’d head for a shower while he was here. I didn’t want any opportunity for a romantic overture to arise.
He tutted, pausing at the dinette. “Well, you’ll read all about it later then. Such a shame the Fairchild deal was rejected though.”
My brows knitted together. “What?”
“Yeah. Can you believe it? Somebody actually outbid them.” He nodded, his gaze skating over my face, like he was analyzing me for information. “We still need to hold the vote, but you know the board’s hands will be tied. They have to go with the highest offer.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but I there was nothing I could say to argue. Eli was right. And this didn’t makeanysense at all.
“This is impossible,” I sputtered. “What was the new offer?”
“Two point seven million over asking.”
It seemed a little too convenient, just enough above asking price to beat Axel’s price and avoid the sale to the Fairchilds. “Do we know who made the offer?”
“It’s all in the email.”
I sighed. “Great. Well, I appreciate the update.”
He huffed. “Why are you so salty? Thought you’d be excited we’re milking evenmoremoney out of that building. Wasn’t that the whole point? Talk up the Fairchilds to get more money? We did that, and now somebody wants to pay more. This is money inourpocket, remember.”
“You’re right,” I said flatly. The money inourcollective pocket wasn’t an incentive, since it was going to the company. Even still, whenever he mentioned that money was “ours,” it meant it was reallyhis.Which was why I’d started to secretly disentangle our finances. I needed money of my own, money that he wouldn’t notice if I used or disposed of or acquired. “I was just…eager for this to be done.”
“It’ll be done on the same timeline as it was scheduled before,” Eli said, hisduhtone out to play. “Why do you care so much who it gets sold to?”
I knew better than to continue this conversation. “I don’t.”
“Right.” He ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek. “That’s obvious.”
The same ache appeared in my gut, the slow pulse that served as a warning signal. “Any other news?”
“Nope. Just thought I’d drop by on my way toourhouse to visitmywife.” He sniffed, fixing me with a disapproving look. “What about you getting changed and we go grab dinner? Make the rounds. Show our faces."
I wilted slightly. That was thelastthing I wanted to do. “Eli, I’m tired. I just want to be alone tonight.”
He nodded as if he’d been expecting that answer. “Yeah. Of course. Because youalwayswant to be alone.”
I had no response for that. It was only partially true. I wanted to be alone so much more than I wanted to spend time with him. My own company, at least, was tolerable.
