She rushes over to the tall woman and they give each other air kisses on both cheeks. She turns to me and gives me the same air kisses on both cheeks.
“Summer, I’m so happy you could join us today,” she says excitedly.
Us? Who is she referring to?
I give her a confused look, and she smacks her forehead with her palm.
“Please forgive me for my rudeness. Summer, this is Helena; Helena, this is Summer.”
I feel like I’ve suddenly been thrown into an alternate universe. I figured at some point my path would cross with Helena considering she and Alexander still have the same friends. However, I didn’t expect a complete blindside on a lunch date.
“Summer! We finally meet,” Helena exclaims, pulling me into a tight embrace. I stand with my arms tightly at my sides, not knowing what to do next. When she finally pulls away after what seems like hours, she grabs my hands.
“I was just telling Xander that we must meet. It has taken far too long.”
I have to say something. What was I just thinking . . . something about taking one for the team?
“Well . . . it’s great to finally meet you, too,” I reply awkwardly.
I study Helena and she’s as stunning in person as she is in pictures. (I may or may not have looked her up on one or two occasions.) Her eyes are such an impressive shade of blue that I don’t think I’ve ever seen that color. And her teeth are so perfectly white; they might as well be glowing under a black light.
“Shall we head out, ladies?” Caroline asks, breaking up our long-awaited introduction. “This is going to be so much fun.”
~*~*~
I walk along the Manhattan street in a complete daze that I barely notice the cold wind hitting my face. Caroline and Helena are a few steps ahead of me, chatting a mile a minute, and I’m still trying to figure out what just happened. It’s becoming clear that Caroline planned it this way for whatever reason. She wanted me to join her and Helena today and I’m not quite sure why. Thinking back to our conversation from the night we met and her feelings about Alexander and Helena reuniting, what would she hope to accomplish today?
When we reach the café, I absently sit down in the chair between the two of them.
“Summer, I’ve heard very good things about your work,” Helena says with a huge smile. “I’m so happy that Caroline set up this meeting because I’m desperately in need of a decorator, and they say you’re the best.”
Is this really happening? Is she saying she wants to hire me? I stare at her in disbelief, trying to come up with something to say. She must notice my discomfort.
“Now I know you may be concerned because I was married to Xander. But I assure you there is nothing to worry about. I’m quite happy in a new relationship and Xander is happy with you.”
I glance at Caroline who’s busy on her phone. I don’t know if she’s purposely ignoring this conversation or not. Although, it is somewhat reassuring hearing Helena say the same thing that Alexander has been saying all along.
“I appreciate that Helena,” I say sincerely. “I know that you and Alexander have been able to remain friends and I think that’s great.” I give Caroline a side-glance.
Helena flashes me a gorgeous smile. I can’t get over how stunning she is, and I feel completely inadequate sitting next to her.
“Yes. We will always have an amazing connection, nothing will ever change that,” she says emphatically.
I nod in agreement even though inside I want to die. “So what are your thoughts for your apartment?” I ask, taking my iPad out of my bag.
Caroline has put her phone down and has suddenly become interested in our conversation.
For the next hour, Helena describes her Tribeca apartment and all the changes she wants to make. After listening to her specific requests, I realize Mrs. Rothera may have competition for the title of most high maintenance client. Of course, Helena’s not an official client yet, but we shall see. Before I make any decisions, I need to talk to Alexander.
Chapter Six
It’s such a joy to be able to come to Alexander’s house and Melanie be nowhere in sight. Following my lunch with Caroline and Helena, I texted Alexander and let him know I had a lot to tell him. I want to talk to him in person about Helena’s request for me to decorate her apartment. Who knows how he’s going to react to it. I’m still not sure how I feel about it.
After talking to Helena, it definitely seems like she has moved on as well. And neither she nor Alexander can control how Caroline feels about the situation. Regardless, I’m still not sure that working with her is the right decision. On another note, both she and Caroline were very pleasant, so maybe it’s the beginning of a friendship I was hoping for, with Caroline anyway.
I decide to go directly to Alexander’s house instead of going home. I arrive before him so I curl up on the couch under a heavy blanket with my laptop. I’ve always felt very at home in his house even before I started decorating it. In the beginning, Melanie would insist on being here, which is understandable considering I was a stranger. But Alexander never seemed to mind and always had an open-door policy. I realized later that her issues with me were because of her feelings for Alexander, not necessarily because she didn’t like me. Although, now it’s definitely both; in fact, I think her dislike for me grows by the day.
“Hello?” Alexander calls. My heart does a little flip like it always does when he’s around.
“Living room,” I call.
He’s loosening his tie with one hand as he walks in. For some reason, I think that’s one of sexiest things men do.
“Hi. You look gorgeous,” he says, leaning down to kiss me.
I smile. “Thank you.”
I watch him intently as he pulls his tie off.
“I can’t wait to hear all about your day, just give me five minutes.” He turns around before leaving the room. “How about I order in some dinner from It’s All Greek?”
I nod excitedly, he knows me so well. It’s All Greek is my favorite restaurant.
He heads upstairs to change and I take a deep breath. Sometimes I don’t know how I get mixed up in this stuff. When I began working with Alexander, I made a promise to myself that I would never get romantically involved with a client—and here I am. To complicate the situation more, his personal assistant despises me because she has feelings for him. And now his ex-wife wants to hire me to decorate her home. My life is quickly becoming potential talk show material.
While Alexander’s upstairs, my phone rings. It’s Mrs. Rothera and she’s probably checking up on me because I’ve been going out of my way to avoid her, well not her exactly, just the topics of her apartment, me moving out, and basically my entire life.
“Hello,” I answer, trying to sound rushed. I figure if I give her the impression that I’m extremely busy she might skip the interrogation.
“Oh, you answered. I figured I would need to leave a message because you’re quite the busy woman these days.”
Hmmm . . . I’ve often wondered if she knows I purposely avoid her. I mean, she’s supposed to be a psychic, right?
“I have been busy,” I reply defensively. “I was in the city all day today. And I’m getting ready to have dinner with Alexander.”
I don’t know why I felt the need to give her the play-by-play as if she’s my mother.
“That sounds nice,” she says. “I wanted to tell you that I think I’ve finally made a few selections from the sample ideas you left me. When will you be free to discuss them?”
I’m not going to hold my breath. She’s told me the same thing on three different occasions. I even delayed another project because she thought she needed to have the décor changed before winter solstice. I guess it would be bad luck until next winter solstice or something like that. Okay, so I totally made up the bad luck part, but she did act like it was urgent and then changed her mind at the last minute.
I check my calendar and give her a few different options.
“How d
id your dinner with friends go?” she asks, changing the subject. I hesitate before giving her the short and easy answer.
“It went just fine,” I tell her.
“Oh really. Well, good then,” she says, sounding surprised.
Why does she seem so surprised? She must have been really expecting our meeting to be miserable. I have to remind myself that I don’t owe her an explanation. So instead, I confirm our meeting to discuss her choices and end the call.
I must be deep in thought when Alexander finally comes downstairs.
“Why do you have that look on your face?” he asks.
I furrow my brow. “What look?”
He gives me a half smile. “You may not know this, but your facial expressions give away your feelings. Like right now, you’re feeling a mix of confusion and frustration.”
Crap. Am I really that obvious? It is kind of sweet that he pays so much attention to my feelings, though.
He sits down and faces me. “Was Caroline nice today? Be honest with me.”
I chew on my lip nervously. “Yes, she really was.” I pause. “Actually, someone else joined us at lunch.”
He looks confused. “Did Nick go?”
I shake my head. “No, not Nick. But someone else you know pretty well.” I hesitate. “Helena joined us.”
Alexander stares at me as if I have three heads.
“What? Why would Helena go with you?”
I force a smile. “She was perfectly nice. It was just unexpected, as you can imagine.”
He’s still giving me a blank stare. He finally pulls me in toward his body. “Summer, I’m so sorry.”
A few seconds later, I reluctantly pull away. “I’m okay. It started a little awkward but ended fine.”
He shakes his head. “The point is that was wrong of them to put you in that position. Despite the fact that Helena and I are friends, she’s still my ex. I’m sure that wasn’t easy for you.”
I drop my head. “There is one more thing.”
Alexander looks like he’s going to be sick.
“Oh, it’s nothing horrible,” I say, trying to reassure him. “She just asked me to redecorate her apartment.”
He expression changes. “Our apartment? I mean, our old apartment—she still lives there.”
Oh, I didn’t even think about that when she mentioned her place in Tribeca.
“She didn’t say anything about that. She just asked me, and I told her I would think about it. I wanted to talk you first.”
One thing I have noticed about Alexander is that he very rarely lets things bother him, and if he is bothered, he does an amazing job at covering it up. It’s very obvious he’s bothered right now.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
He grits his teeth. “I’m not sure what Caroline’s intentions were by blindsiding you today, but I will find out.”
I put my arm around his shoulders as I try to calm him down. I appreciate that he’s willing to defend me to some of the most important people in his life, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel guilty about this. I just hate the feeling that I’m coming between his relationships.
“I don’t want to be the cause of issues with your friends,” I say, looking down at my hands.
“Hey. Don’t do that,” he demands. “You haven’t done anything wrong. Just let me handle this, okay? And of course I would never expect you to work with Helena. That’s insane.”
I appreciate his support in this, but I can’t help but wonder if there is more going on here. He’s never made it a secret that he and Helena are still friends, and I know they’ve seen each other at events in the city. However, he does seem very cautious about this. I know he’s trying to spare my feelings, but I also feel that if I don’t take the job I’m drawing a line in the sand. That’s something I don’t want to do, ex-wife or not.
“Can I ask you something?” I say.
He grins. “Of course.”
I can’t believe I’m going to say this.
“Would it bother you if I did take the job?”
He looks so confused, and I don’t blame him one bit because I’m also confused.
“What?”
I hold up my hand. “Hear me out,” I exclaim. “Here’s the deal, Nick and Caroline are your best friends. Helena and you are still friends. If I don’t take the job, it would appear that I’m separating myself from a huge part of your life. When you and I got together, both of us had a past or, for lack of a better word, baggage. We decided we wanted to be with one another and with that comes our pasts. I’m willing to do this to prove that I’m secure in what we have.”
He shakes his head. “I understand what you’re saying but you don’t have to prove anything to anyone, especially me. And you certainly don’t have to work for my ex-wife.”
I smile. “How about I think about it and let you know what I decide?” I stop. “Unless you really don’t want me to.”
He shakes his head. “It’s not that. I just don’t want you to feel like you’re being forced into an extremely awkward situation.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and give him a long, slow kiss. “I’m ready to talk about something else,” I whisper.
He pulls me close to him again and whispers in my ear, “I have a few ideas.”
Right at that moment, the doorbell rings interrupting our close moment. Alexander groans.
“Don’t move,” he demands, leaping off the couch to answer the door. He’s back a few minutes later and sits down next to me.
“Now, where were we?” he flirts.
I couldn’t be happier to change the subject.
~*~*~
“I’m sorry, Ang,” I yell into the phone. She’s reprimanding me because I canceled plans on her again.
I’m walking through Whole Foods trying to get some groceries so I won’t have to eat white rice and lime-flavored tortilla chips for dinner again tonight.
“Don’t apologize to me,” she says. “You’re the one who wants to move and you’re the one who keeps putting off house hunting.”
She’s absolutely right. I’ve been so busy that moving has fallen to the bottom of my to-do list.
“I’m going to look this weekend,” I demand. “I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to fend off Mrs. Rothera. I’m sure she’s caught on to my busy schedule and all my attempts to avoid her.”
Angie and I make plans again to house hunt this weekend. After we hang up, I continue my shopping. My dad always used to tell me to never go into a grocery store when I’m hungry. He’s a wise man, I think to myself. I look down in my cart and roll my eyes. I definitely don’t need five different kinds of granola.
“Summer?” a voice says from behind me.
My heart sinks. I turn around and see Jake standing next to me. Even though we live in the same town, we very rarely run into each other. I suppose it was bound to happen at some point.
“Hello, Jake,” I say politely.
He gives me a warm smile. “Summer, wow—you look great. I’m assuming life is treating you well?”
I nod my head. “Yes. It’s wonderful.” I hesitate. “How about you?”
He nods slowly. “Really good. I’ve actually just bought a new home.”
Wow. Good for him. He had been living in a bachelor pad with a roommate when he wasn’t visiting me. It sounds like he’s finally making decisions that benefit his future.
“I’m very happy for you,” I say. “I wish you the best in everything.”
I start to walk away when Jake taps me on the shoulder.
“Brad told me you’re working on another project for him. He wouldn’t stop raving about you.”
Well, I suppose that answers my question about Mr. Cooper knowing about our breakup.
“Did you tell him that we were no longer together?” I ask. I would like to know what Jake said so I’m prepared should he ask me about it.
He nods. “Yes.” He pauses. “And don’t worry, I told him it was my fault.”
>
I pretend to be looking at something on the shelf in order to escape the awkwardness.
“Okay,” I say nonchalantly. What am I supposed to say to that? Maybe I should say something like “good” or “it was your fault”?
“Summer, I hope there comes a time when we can be friends again,” he says cautiously. “My actions this past summer have forever affected my life and relationships. I have a lot of regrets and I know it’s too late for us, you made that clear on Halloween.” My mind wanders back to when Jake crashed the Halloween party at Alexander’s. In all fairness, Alexander invited him. (It’s a long story.)
Winter Can Wait: A Novella (Seasons of Summer Novella Series Book 2) Page 4
