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‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered to the elevator doors, then bending down, picked up the heel from the corner of the elevator.
The whole thing lasted for ten, fifteen seconds and then both of her shoes were without heels.
Without looking at me, she held her hand open and I wordlessly handed back her laptop.
‘Thank you,’ she mumbled in a small voice.
‘Okay then,’ I said and pushed my hands into my pockets. I was stuck between amusement and some other emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Attraction? Maybe.
After a few seconds of heavy silence, Charlie sighed. ‘You think I’m weird, don’t you?’ she asked into the quiet.
I smiled – she sounded so heartbroken about it. But because she was very focused on the elevator doors she didn’t see it. ‘Charlie, I think you’re…’
Before I could finish my sentence the doors opened and without a word she practically ran away from me.
I saw Charlie twice that day. We were all working on Michael Ashton’s complicated and – as we realized as we dug deeper – sticky situation. And Charlie did join both meetings I’d called in my room, and did everything I asked her to do. She talked to Michael Ashton and got all the missing information we needed and I realized she was very good at her job. Much better than the rest of the team. When we’d gathered everything we could for the day, she fled to her own room, then shuffled back and forth between her dad’s office and her own.
Whenever I looked up from my desk she was always busy and running around. She didn’t look in my direction the entire day. Not even once. Which was why when I called both meetings I had to leave a note on her desk to give her enough time to get there on top of sending her a meeting request through her email. Maybe trying to make sure whether she got my notes was why my eyes were always following her around. Because there couldn’t and shouldn’t be another reason.
* * *
It was around 7.30 p.m. when I got off the subway and started my walk back to my temporary apartment courtesy of Douglas Davis. Because my mind was still filled with work and things I needed to go over when I got home, I didn’t hear the shouts or the quiet curses.
It was a miracle that I didn’t fall on my ass when first a dog ran right past me, its body a hair’s breadth away from my leg, and then a human barrelled into me from my left side.
‘Please hold me!’
I grabbed the lamp post at the last minute so neither one of us would have to fall onto our faces and then tried to soften the blow by slightly turning so the girl could hit my chest. If I had missed it we would’ve for sure ended up at the hospital with the speed she ran into me.
I grabbed her shoulder and arm as she tried her best to hold onto the end of the leash as the dog tried his best to drag her behind him.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she gasped out, her body straining forward. She slightly turned her face towards me, but had kept her eyes on the dog. ‘You have to stop,’ she panted, pulling on the leash. The dog looked back at her and then down the street again. ‘You lost her,’ she continued, pulling a little harder. ‘She is gone, buddy. You scared her to death and saved us. What a good boy. Time to leave the stranger and go home now.’
I recognized who I was holding onto the moment she spoke.
The dog looked back at her over his shoulder, whined a little, body shaking to keep following whatever monster he had been following, but another tug from Charlie had him strutting back to her with his tongue lolling out.
Charlie let out a long sigh, her body relaxing a little bit. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she repeated as I relaxed my hold. ‘He saw the cat – and I didn’t know he would…’
I let her go and she finally glanced back and up at me.
‘I don’t k— no… no. No! Are you serious?’ she asked, her voice rising.
I chuckled at the genuine disappointment on her face.
‘I’m afraid so,’ I answered, still smiling down at her shocked and unhappy face.
The dog made it to her side and with his body pushed her a step forward – into me.
She immediately took a few steps backward for good measure.
‘Where did you come from? Are you… were you following me or something?’
I chuckled and glanced down at the dog when he barked at me once. ‘The subway. And yes, Charlie,’ I replied, chuckling. ‘That’s what I was doing, following you, when you ran into me from behind.’
‘But… Okay, that was a stupid question. What are you doing here?’
