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“Lena …” I said, but she was already opening up her emails, and lifting the phone off the hook.
“Can I help you with something?” she said, brusquely.
I frowned and felt my shoulders clench tightly. This wasn’t exactly the warm welcome I’d wanted her to give. If anything, Lena seemed cold.
“Not right now,” I said. “I’ll speak to you later, though. We’ve got quite a bit to do this week with the big meet on Wednesday, but I’m sure you’re up to the challenge.”
Lena didn’t seem to even notice me, and somehow that made me angry. I felt my jaw clench, and didn’t say a word. I just went into my office and closed the door.
I had plenty to do, and I spent the morning in a flurry of distractions. It was like I couldn’t settle on anything. My usually disciplined and focused mindset had collapsed, and I found myself struggling to work with my usual efficiency and rigor.
Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. I stepped out of the office and looked at Lena.
“You,” I said, quietly enough that I was sure the girls in reception wouldn’t be able to hear. “Let’s go up to the roof.”
“The roof?” said Lena.
“Yeah. I want to talk. And besides, I want to show you something.”
Theroofgardenshadbeen a personal idea of my own design. Sunlight nourished and fed the plants, which produced oxygen that was filtered down through the hotel, refreshing the air and making it breathable in the upper levels of the hotel. At the same time, condensation from the inside of the building was drawn up by an extraction system—also solar-powered, which kept the plants watered. As I led Lena up the staircase to the roof, we turned away from the helipad, and into the luscious forest of tropical plants.
“It’s beautiful up here,” said Lena.
“I’m glad you think so. Occasionally we do private events and invite special clients up here. But I’m hoping one day every roof in Waikiki will look like this.”
“This is a special company,” she said. I was pleased by this remark, but there also seemed to be a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Well, we’re glad to have you on board.”
“That’s the thing,” said Lena. “I just don’t think I can keep working for you, Alex.”
“What?” I said. I turned around in the garden and faced her. Was Lena … resigning? “Why not?”
She shrugged. “After what happened on Friday night, I just wouldn’t feel comfortable.”
“If you felt so bad about it, why didn’t you say so?”
“I didn’t want to bother you about it over the weekend. Besides it gave me time to think it through thoroughly.”
“Bother me? Why are you worried about it bothering me?”
“Because you’re a busy guy. You have a lot going on. You’re a billionaire entrepreneur.”
“I am busy,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t make time for you. For us.”
“Us?” said Lena incredulously, and then, she laughed. It was a solemn, mirthless laugh, but it irritated me nonetheless. I didn’t like that she was making fun of me.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, it’s just … us? There is no us.”
“There was on Friday.”
“That was just a one-time thing. And believe me, it can never happen again.”
I stepped closer to her. As a soft breeze rippled through the palm trees above our heads, I thought I saw Lena tremble a little. Was she afraid of me? Or was it more?
Was it a shudder of desire that I’d just seen run through her delicate frame?
