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“Of course, sir. The driver is waiting for you outside.”
I cleared my throat. “Thank you, Mary. You did good today.”
After giving everyone else a brief report, I dismissed them, and they filed out of the building one by one. When I was the only one left, I went downstairs and stopped at the last step. The walls on either side of me were a dark gray, and the smell of smoke and ash still hung in the air, making me cough. I pressed my mouth into the crook of my elbow and crept forward.
Nothing remained but the charred remains of servers and debris.
When I was done scanning the area, I hurried back upstairs and onto the curb. Outside, I tilted my head back and inhaled deeply. In the distance, I heard an ambulance wailing, bringing me back to the present with a jolt.
Rebuilding was going to cost us months of work, and it was a setback I didn’t like, but I was grateful no one had been in the building at the time. Considering it was a long weekend, I’d even insisted the security guards take the time off and activated the high-security alarm systems instead. In the back of the car, I reviewed the footage again, studying each frame intently and frowning at the blaze.
As soon as the car came to a stop, I glanced up at the apartment building and blinked. The driver held the door open for me and waited until I was out before letting the door click shut. Heclasped his hands behind his back and held his head high. I lowered my phone and looked directly at him.
“Will you be needing anything else, Mr. Shaw?”
“Thank you, Jonathan,” I replied with a small smile. “I’m sorry you had to come in on your day off.”
“It’s no problem at all, sir.”
“Have a good rest of the day,” I offered before turning away from him. I took the stairs two at a time. A doorman in a black and red uniform hurried over and held the door open for me. I tilted my head in his direction as I stepped into the building, shoes squeaking against the hardwood floors. In the elevator, I ran my hands over my face and stopped at the collar of my shirt.
In the reflection of the glass, I saw the dark circles under my eyes and a line of soot down the side of my face, and I frowned. Using the back of my hand, I wiped it off my face and shook my head. The elevator doors pinged open, and I spilled out into the blue, carpeted hallway. At the end of the hallway, I took my keys out of my pockets and pushed the door open.
The smell of disinfectant hit me first.
Followed by the smell of eggs and fries.
Mrs. Montgomery rounded the corner in her black and white uniform, with an apron tied around her waist, and gave me a grim smile. “Welcome back, Mr. Shaw. Mary called and asked me to clean the house and prepare something for you to eat.”
I left my shoes by the door and exhaled. “Thank you, Mrs. Montgomery.”
“I changed the sheets, sir, and all of the laundry has been put away,” Mrs. Montgomery added, her dark eyes moving over my face intently. “Would you like me to call Doctor Bailey to come in and take a look at you, sir?”
I waved her comment away. “No, I just need to rest. Please lock up on your way out, Mrs. Montgomery.”
“Of course, sir.”
In silence, she moved away from me and hurried back into the kitchen. In a daze, I made my way down the cream-colored hallway and into the bedroom. There, I let the door click shut and fished my phone out of my pocket. I turned it over and over in my hands and checked the volume.
Still, it remained silent.
Why hadn’t Rachel called me yet?
With a grunt, I tossed my phone onto the bed and hurried out of my clothes. After a hot shower, I crawled in between the sheets and stared up at the ceiling. Once I was done answering a few more of my work emails, I switched off the laptop and went to sleep.
Two days later, she still hadn’t called.
Over the next few weeks, I kept myself busy with the reconstruction of the lower level and an endless parade of meetings in order to ensure everything was running smoothly. Every night as I lay in bed, I snuck glances at my phone and wondered why she didn’t call. I kept replaying our night together, and it filled me with a strange yearning.
But I had to let her go since she had made it pretty clear that she didn’t want to reach out to me, or she would’ve by now.
I couldn’t force her to be in my life if she didn’t want to be.
Yet, despite my best attempts to forget her, Rachel Booth was never far from my mind.
Chapter 4: Only you
Rachel
