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“You know, some models have people who put their clothes on for them,” I tell him. “I have to deal with someone trying to interfere.”
“Oh, you enjoy it too,” he says. “Don’t pretend with me.”
I shrug. “Oh, fine. Maybe I do.”
With both of us fully dressed, we make our way down the stairs and out into the town.
“So what do you think of Green Haven anyway?” I ask.
“I like it for what it is,” he says. “It wasn’t my choice to come out here. I had to come because of my temper problems.”
He says the last words in a mocking voice. I can remember Ragnar getting pretty angry from time to time, but I’m a little surprised by it. I would never think of him as the kind of person who’d have to take a break for anger.
“Has the rest been helpful?”
“I don’t know about the rest,” he says, then turns to look at me. “But I think the company has been nice.”
We’re on the street. Carefully, I move my hand towards his, half expecting him to avoid it or do nothing. But instead, he grabs on, happily.
Has Ragnar changed? Or is it just that he doesn’t care about the opinion of anyone in this little nowheresville?”
About then, the diner appears. It’s one of those classic buildings with a chrome finish on everything. The smell is delicious. Normally, I’d have to watch my calories in a place like this, but with Ragnar at my side, I feel like making today a special day.
“I’ve been enjoying myself,” I tell him. “I didn’t expect to, really. I’ve certainly been in my share of towns that had me pulling out my hair to leave. But I’ve kind of liked this town. The people are nice around here.”
“Fair enough,” he admits. “Not much in the way of nightlife though apart from that club.”
We walk into the diner. A woman gives Ragnar a smile and points us towards an empty table. “Is that what you do when you have free time? You hit the clubs and dance?”
“Only when someone drags me. I’m a lot less exciting than that.” He sighs as he sits down. For a second, he looks slightly sad, but then he shakes his head. “I bet you get up to a lot, though. There’s probably always a party for you models.”
“There’s certainly always something,” I admit, getting cozy in the red leather booth. “It can get a little exhausting though. With a lot of the industry people, you never know if you’re just having fun or doing an impromptu audition. Everyone’s always trying so hard to play their character and be exciting… Well, it’s fun enough, but it does get tiring.”
“Still more fun than sitting in your apartment listening to music and reading business reports,” says Ragnar. “That’s another part of why everyone was pushing me to take this break. They all think I work myself too hard.”
“Do you?” I ask. He certainly worked himself hard in school. He always cared so much about taking it seriously. Sometimes he drove himself nearly to the point of collapse.
He thinks for a little. “Well, maybe. There are just always things that need to get done. It feels silly to lie around resting when there’s always so much to do.”
I nod. I don’t understand exactly what’s happening between us right now. I’m very worried that at any moment something will happen and Ragnar will shut down and deny the whole thing.
But I’m going to see this through. I'm going to follow wherever he leads.
14
RAGNAR
About then, Emily finally gets a moment to herself and comes by the table.
“Always good to see you here, Ragnar,” she says, smiling. “This is the first time you’ve brought a friend though! Who’s this?”
Bradford seems a little surprised. “The two of you know each other?”
“Of course,” I say. “This is Emily. Her husband is Gorlag, who you should remember from school.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Bradford says. “I did wonder who the giant mansion belonged to.”
“But in answer to your question, Emily, this is Bradford, and Bradford, this is Emily.” I realize as I’m saying it that I’m not sure how I’m going to describe my relationship with him to Emily. Obviously, I’m not going to mention that we just had earth-shattering sex, but should Emily know that we’re maybe sort of seeing each other? For that matter, should I even mention that we’re exes? He might feel like that’s personal.
