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I clear my throat, hoping it will clear my mind too. "The New York Times, huh?"
She smiles wider and spikes a brown, then looks up to the waiter. "Glenfiddich neat, please."
"Right away, miss," he nods, leaving her to turn her attention back to me.
"Don't look so surprised, Ashford."
"I can't help it," I laugh sarcastically. "First, you become a doctor. Now, a reporter? You're a busy woman."
"So, youdidhear I became a doctor?" she asks, narrowing her eyes. "And how exactly did you hear that? It wouldn't by chance be because you knew I was up for the position at Bardot, would it?"
"What are you doing here?" I bark, in no mood for her games.
"The better question is, what are you doing here? I thought for sure the name would have tipped you off."
The name? I think to myself…Fuck.Of course.
"Curie," I mutter with a bitter smirk. "As in Marie Curie. Fair enough. I should have known. I guess it was sounclever that I didn't even think to suspect anything. Surely a woman as smart as you would have come up with a better cover."
She shrugs with a satisfied smile. "It worked."
"How did you convince Sturgill to set this up?" I ask, growing more irritated and impatient by the second.
"Sure, maybe I had to tell a few lies to get this interview. But that shouldn't bother you…since you're not a man who takes any issue with lying."
"Is that how you see me?"
"It's not just how I see you," she scowls, her smile fading. "It's how Iknowyou."
"That's rich. I've never once lied to you, Vanessa."
"You're lying right now," she barks.
I press my hands together and let out a long steady breath, trying to keep my composure. I'm not going to bicker with her. I was already annoyed enough with this meeting when I thought it was with a real reporter. I certainly don't have time to fight in circles with an ex…no matter how good looking she is.
I wait patiently for the waiter to bring her drink and a second round for me, then lean in with an intense eyes and tone. "What do you want, Vanessa?"
The words make me wince as they roll off my tongue. It still pains me to say her name out loud. After she showed up at that party last weekend, I never thought I'd have to again.
"You owe me," she states plainly yet firmly. "I know for a fact that I was supposed to be one of the top picks for that position at Bardot…where you just so happen to work. Something happened to kick me out of the running, and you're going to change that."
"Wow. Calling on exes for favors just to get a job? You must be desperate."
"It's not a favor. It's reparations."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I scoff. "I don't even know how you think you're qualified to work at Bardot. How did you get into biochem anyway? I thought you wanted to operate on bunnies and cats or whatever. What changed?"
Her eyes light up with a fire unlike anything I've ever seen. I don't know what I said to make her erupt exactly, but it was something. Her nostrils flare and her lips tighten in a look of rage that she wears a little too well. I brace myself as her lips part. I'm in for it now.
4
Vanessa
It takes everything in me not to leap across the table and slap Joshua across the face. The only thing helping me to keep my distance is the memory of a time when I wanted to leap across the table and throw my body against his for other reasons. The more physical space there is between us and that distant chapter in our pasts - the better.
I toss back my drink and wave to the waiter to bring me another, noting to myself that I need to pace myself with the next one. I'm on a mission to salvage this opportunity at Bardot by whatever means necessary. The fact that I'm doing that while also blindsiding my ex while looking better than ever only sweetens the deal. But I can't be slurring my words and stumbling through this. I have to be flawless.
"You didn't hear I switched majors?" I ask calmly, trying to temper my rage - at least on the outside.
