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Down the hallway, she made it close to the elevators when an achingly familiar voice called for her.
“Charlie, wait.”
She didn’t, but Rick was faster and caught up to her instantly. He trapped her forearm with his strong hand and turned her around to face him.
His expression was rigid, and she nearly lost herself when sherealized how much she missed him. Quickly, she tore from his hold and stepped back, and he did the same as though she had shoved him off.
“It doesn’t have to be this way. Stay,” he said. “I’ll go.”
How very sacrificial of him, she thought dismally. Not wanting to admit to herself how hurt she still was, she kept her distance.
“No, I’m tired and have things to do,” she told him, but he didn’t look less convinced than she was. Before he said more, she turned on her heels, needing the space. It would be a cold day in hell if she started begging him to take her back.
Rick was courteous enough not to follow, and for a quicker escape, she took the stairs instead. It was obvious she was running away in avoidance and didn’t have the energy to make it a graceful exit.
She needed the distance from him. Tonight was a rude ambush that threw a wrench on her time of healing. Now that she’d seen him again, she had to restart the process of getting over him. Again.
Seventeen
“Isn’t this better?We’re outside, we’re smelling the fresh air, and we’re getting some cardio!” Aera shouted cheerfully, throwing her arms in the air.
Charlie glared. “I think a more productive use of my time would be at the office. I told you I had things to do.”
“Relax, they’ve got things handled there. You’ve trained them well. And we hired an operations manager for a reason,” Aera chided. “You need to get outside and stop moping around.”
“I’m not moping,” Charlie insisted, picking up a four-iron club from her golf bag, then setting it back inside with a sulk.
“Then prove it by completing eighteen holes with me,” Aera snapped back, putting on her hat. “Don’t give Rick the satisfaction.”
The night before, Aera insisted on spending the day outside and suggested golfing. Charlie turned it down, but Aera was more tenacious. Apparently, she’d been acting so out of the ordinary at work that the staff began to notice.
Aera got the full story on the development with Rick. She didn’t seem surprised after each narrative, and Charlie wondered if the woman was a clairvoyant of relationships besides her own.
With her divorce official, Aera was handling the aftermath beautifully. It wasn’t all rainbows behind Aera’s confident demeanor, but she had the skills to fake it well.
They decided on a change of scenery and went with a different golf course Aera was a member of. Balboa Bay Club was a farther drive, but close to the beach and away from people they knew, which Charlie liked. She wasn’t in the mood to mingle.
“I’m not giving anyone anything,” Charlie argued. She had nothing to give, so to speak. “I just want to work. Is that so hard to believe?”
“It’s unhealthy the way you’re going about it, so I’m using my authority as an invested partner to turn you around,” Aera said cheekily. “I’m just preventing you from burning yourself out and running our business to the ground because of aman.”
Shocked, Charlie’s jaw dropped in offense, her shoulders raised. “That willneverhappen!”
“I should hope so,” Aera said. “I’ve hardly seen you distracted like this. Even when you were planning your wedding.”
“I had a wedding planner,” Charlie retorted.
“All the brides I’ve known, yours truly included, had planners, but we were still wrecked the months before our walk down the aisle.” Aera’s brows hiked up in amusement. “You, on the other hand, didn’t seem to realize you were even getting married until a fewdaysbefore.”
Charlie tried to find the falsities in Aera’s conclusions and failed. In truth, Charlie’s passion was her distraction. Doing the things she loved—beauty, fashion, and building a lifestyle out of it—she lived for them. No one else seemed to notice her lackluster involvement in her own wedding, which should have been a red flag.
Rick’s abrupt presence had affected her so profoundly that he became the distraction. His effect on her had compromised her productivity. Was she that pathetic to let a man impact her so?
“Fine, let’s play.” Charlie put a sports visor over her head. “We could’ve shot our bows at your house instead. It’s private there.”
Aera used her seventy-meter backyard archery range for practice when not training with professionals. Charlie used to love going over for practice in their early years.
“This place is nicer than my backyard.” Aera shrugged.
