Let Me In (The Ink Well Chronicles: Book One)

by Jordan Bates

  “I didn’t know you were a writer.” Max said it with shock in his voice.

  I laughed a little at Max’s comment. He didn’t know anything about me. “You don’t really know anything about me.” I looked up at him now. There wasn’t a smug look on his face. No. It was clear he was upset.

  “You’re right.” He moved so that he was fully facing me, one knee propped in the air, an arm resting on it. His other hand lay perfectly on the ground next to me, holding him up. “So, tell me what I need to know.”

  And that was it. That statement and the look on his face were all I needed to know—that I should steer clear of Max Wellington.

  “We’re going to start walking down now!” Lilly shouted to us from a few feet away, where she, Greg, Erica, and two others were standing. I pushed myself up, not grabbing the hand that Max held out for me. He walked over to the group with a defeated look on his face.

  It was my first time looking down the mountain and seeing how we would get down. I hadn’t been paying much attention before, but seeing the railings down below spiked my heartrate.

  I could do this.

  I could walk down this mountain with my best friends. I looked around and it felt like a dream: Lilly smiling at me, Greg staring at Lilly, Erica talking with one of the other men, and Max laughing with the other man. Where did I fit in here? I clammed up, retreating slowly backwards towards the cable car station.

  I couldn’t do this.

  “Alexa?” It was Max who said my name, and for a man who knew nothing about me, he clearly knew something was wrong. His hand was outstretched to me, ready to pull me towards him.

  “Um.” I pushed my hair behind my ear. I took another step back. “I think I’ll just ride down and wait for you all.”

  “Alexa…” Lilly had taken a step closer to me. She knew the look on my face. She knew I was running. She knew all the reasons why.

  “I’ll see you all down there.” I gave a weak goodbye and walked away. I clutched my notebook to my chest and paid the fee to go down alone. I was the only set to go down when the cable car finally arrived.

  “We just have to wait a few minutes to make sure no one else wants to go down.” The attendant informed me as he opened the door to the car. I made my way to the back and stared out the glass window. I didn’t become aware that someone had entered the car until they sat next to me.

  “This seat taken?” I jumped, looking over at who the voice came from. Max.

  “No.” I looked back out the window, briefly seeing the cable attendant closing the door to the car. We were the only two in here.

  “Why did you run?” I wasn’t expecting him to ask me that, but for some reason I wanted to answer him.

  “I’ve been to Atlanta a few times in my life.” I didn’t turn around to look at Max. I didn’t need to see the confusion or questions in his eyes. “This is only the second time I’ve been to Stone Mountain.”

  “It’s a beautiful place. You should come more often.” I tensed. My hand gripping the bottom to my seat. I thought I could. I thought I could get through this without anyone seeing how it affected me. It’s why I didn’t tell Lilly and Erica how much I was freaking out in the car ride on the way here. It was why I simply agreed to this on a whim, because if I didn’t overthink it, I thought I could do it.

  “The last time I was on this mountain I was with my father.” I wiped away a tear that trickled down my cheek. “All I can remember about that day was that I was eating candy, taffy, to be exact, and it had been raining, so the mountain was slippery. I ate a few pieces and then tried to walk but slipped.”

  A laugh bubbled from inside of me. I turned towards Max. He was listening intently, like the words coming from me were all that mattered right now.

  “My dad thought it was because I was fooling around. When we tried to walk down the mountain he slipped. We laughed it off, slipping on and off all the way down until we hit dirt. It’s one of the funniest memories I have of him.”

  I laughed to myself again and looked up to the mountain.

  “I don’t want to sound rude, but I’m confused.” Max’s statement forced me to look at him and he looked confused. “Are you happy or sad?”

  “Both.” I said it with such certainty. I was happy and sad, but for the same reason. I was happy that I remembered the memory, period. Anything that had to do with my dad was always hard to remember, but I was also sad because I remembered it. It had been five years since my father’s death, and anytime I thought about him, I stopped functioning properly. Adam noticed instantly when it happened because he could never get me out of my slump. I had to come out of it on my own.

  “I thought I could go down this mountain today and replace the memory.” I looked out toward the mountain, a flood of emotions clouding my mind. “But then I realized I didn’t want to ruin such an amazing memory. So, I left.”

  I didn’t turn back to Max. We sat in silence as the cable car continued down the mountain. My phone came to life in my pocket with multiple vibrations. I looked down to see numerous texts from Adam.

  Hey.

  Why did you go?

  Why won’t you have service?

  Why aren’t you answering?

  Alexa.

  Answer me now.

  Fine.

  I knew by the way my phone was angled that Max had read them all, too. His breathing increase beside me and then the cable car shook. I bumped into Max’s arms and they immediately went to steady me. His eyes met mine and I couldn’t look away.

  “Thank you.” Then I moved. I moved as fast as I could out of the arms of my boss and out the door of the cable car that had just opened. I pushed the call button on my phone, hoping that Adam would answer, but nothing. I didn’t leave a message but called again. After two rings, it went to voicemail. The third call didn’t even register through, and the fourth, the same. Straight to voicemail.

  Max stood far enough away from me to give me space but close enough for me to know he was still there. I sent a text to Lilly, letting her know I was heading back to the apartment. I had my own key, so I didn’t have to worry. I could call for an Uber with no problem, and I did just that. I waited by myself as Max sat off to the side. When the Uber came up, I looked over to him. I could see confusion and understanding written on his face, but I entered and shut the door before he could make it to the car. I couldn’t look out the back window as we drove away, because I knew that Max was still standing there, watching me leave.

  Chapter 4

  “Mrs. Cartwright?” I looked up to the woman sitting at the reception desk in the lobby.

  “Hello?” I was confused by her questioning my name.

  “Mr. Wellington is expecting you in his office this morning. Please follow me.” I looked over to Lilly and Erica, trying to mouth my concern to them, but they just raised their shoulders in a shrug, and followed behind us. “We can drop you ladies off along the way.”

  No one said anything as we entered the elevator. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but what I did know was that I wasn’t scared. Max knew where we stood. We’d even had a decent conversation this weekend. He had seen a part to me that almost no one had. He had seen me at my most vulnerable.

  When I had gotten home that night and still hadn’t heard anything from Adam, even through to the next day, I turned my phone off. It wasn’t the most adult thing to do, but it was the only way I knew how to control the situation. I scrambled to find the phone in my purse, realizing it was still off, and frantically turned it on. I might have missed something that would have prepared me for this on-the-spot meeting. It took a minute for my phone to come to life—seven missed calls, three voicemails, and twenty texts. Almost all from Adam. Only one voicemail from Greg, stating Max wanted to do my introductory meeting today.

  I tried to riffle through the messages from Adam when the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, and I continued up while the girls headed to work. Every message was filled with rage. This wasn’t something that I wa
s used to, but then again, I understood why Adam would be mad. I had never ignored him or turned my phone off. The last few messages were ones of worry and regret. My heart melted because I knew he didn’t deserve this.

  I shot him off a text letting him know I would call him later tonight after work. A woman in a gray dress greeted me once the elevator opened to Max’s floor. I left the other receptionist in the elevator, while this new woman lead me to Max’s office. I hand’t been on this floor yet, but all I could see were conference rooms and one giant office against the back wall.

  “Mr. Wellington is excited to see you this morning.” She stopped at the double doors behind her desk and turned back to me. I couldn’t read the smile on her face, but she opened the door and waved me in. “Good luck.”

  Her words seemed more like a warning as I stepped into the lion’s den.

  When I walked through the door, I didn’t know what to expect of Max’s office, but it suited him all too well. Light chrome office furniture, dark grey walls, an open window skylight above and off to the left-hand side of the office. The only thing that seemed out of place was the purple couch sitting to the side, which looked as soft as it probably felt.

  “Please sit down, Alexa.” Max was standing in the middle of the office holding out a chair for me. I slowly made my way over. I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be when I sat down. We were both silent while he made himself comfortable across from me. He took his time getting papers straightened out on his desk before settling his eyes on me.

  “How was the rest of your weekend?” I looked down at my hands that were planted against my legs and smiled. I didn’t know why he cared, but I knew he meant his question with all sincerity.

  “It was actually pretty good. Well, until this morning.” I looked up to him now. He was standing over his desk, hands planted firmly on top of it. His eyebrows were drown together in confusion and the fire in his eyes scared me.

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing, just, I didn’t even know I was meeting you this morning.” The confusion didn’t leave his face. “I turned my phone off after I got back to Lilly’s on Saturday and didn’t turn it on until I was in the elevator this morning.”

  “This meeting made you upset?” I understood now how what I had said didn’t make sense. It wasn’t the meeting this morning that had my mood heading south. It was the texts from Adam, and the more I thought about them, the angrier I got. I didn’t have to tell Max any of that, but for some reason, I wanted to. For some reason, Max felt safe. Like a third party who judged, but only because he didn’t know Adam or me, and I felt like that was the best-case scenario right now.

  “No.” The word came out as barely a whisper, but I was looking at Max directly in the eyes. The tick in his jaw stopped and his eyes softened.

  “I see.” He sat back down, readjusting the papers on his desk a second time. “You don’t have to disclose. We can just jump into your work here.”

  Max handed me a copy of my application, which was only half filled out. I tried not to laugh at how pathetic the application looked. I had barely filled anything out on it.

  “I know that Greg did your phone interview, and you came highly recommended from Lilly, but what I don’t understand is why you only filled this out halfway. You haven’t listed where you graduated from or what degree you graduated with. I don’t see previous employers on here either.”

  “I didn’t think it mattered all that much since I had already gotten the job and was given this to fill out after the fact. You’re just now looking at it anyways.” The silence quickly filled the air and Max sat there waiting for the answers to his questions. “Fine.”

  I readjusted myself, my hands not leaving my thighs this entire time. Them being glued to me meant I wouldn’t fidget, but talking about myself made the urge grow stronger. I let out a huff and laid it all out for him.

  “I went to USC, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. I worked in retail for six years before coming here.”

  Done. Simple. I didn’t have to talk about myself anymore.

  “Creative writing? Why are you working in the accounting side of the business, then?” He moved from his seat to the one next to me.

  Great. He wanted to know more. I loved learning about new people, I just didn’t like talking about me or my life. I wasn’t that interesting, but with how intently Max was listening, exactly like he had in the cable car, I felt like I was being plastered all over TV.

  “This was the job that Lilly could get me an interview for, so I took it. I may have a degree in creative writing, but I am a total math geek at heart.” I laughed at my own words. Normally when I told friends of this truth, they thought I was weird. I couldn’t believe that I was telling my boss now, that I was opening up to him. By the look on his face, he didn’t seem to think this was weird at all. It settled me a little that he wasn’t judging me, especially since I was laughing at myself. He didn’t even see how nervous I was, or maybe he did and just didn’t care.

  “You have the brains and the looks.” His comment barely caught my ear, but it was there hanging in the air. I blushed. I didn’t want to bring attention to the comment. It may have seemed harmless, but the butterflies in my stomach said something else. “Is there a possibility that you would want to transfer over to our editing department?”

  “I’ve thought about it, don’t get me wrong. But I’m actually happy where I am now.” It wasn’t that I loved math more than reading, but there was something about working with numbers that made my blood rush. Max moved his attention to the phone that was vibrating on his desk, and then back to me. “Go ahead. I should get downstairs to work anyway.”

  I could tell the moment the words came out of my mouth that he was disappointed, and I was a little, too. Our conversations were becoming less strained. I felt like I was understanding exactly who Max was for the first time, and I had only known him for a week.

  “Wellington.” He answered his phone in one hand and motioned to the door with the other. I took that as my cue to leave, but instead of heading out of there with my tail between my legs, I realized Max was following me. His hand grazed the lower part of my back, brushing at the seam of my skirt, as he led me to the door. He didn’t pull away, and shockingly, neither did I. It wasn’t like it was an advance, was it? He was being a gentleman.

  I could let him be a gentleman.

  He stopped us just before letting me out. “Just remember, the offer still stands.”

  He left it at that and closed the door. I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me or whomever was on the phone with him. I made a pit stop to the bathroom to get ahold of Adam. I knew I had said later, but I was hoping I could at least get the arguing out before I started work. Three rings and nothing.

  I knew he was upset, but I truly didn’t know what to do right now. We had never had this kind of thing happen before, and now that we weren’t in the same state, my mind started to race with all that could go wrong. Could he be so upset that he wouldn’t talk to me, period? Would he still come out here? Was I overthinking all of this? Something in the pit of my stomach told me that all of this was wrong, that something wasn’t the same between us anymore. My heart broke at the thought of this.

  Lilly and Erica took me under their wing after I showed them the messages Adam had sent me. I was grateful to have them here for me. There were promises of alcohol tonight. The only thing I didn’t tell them about my meeting with Max was his offer to move me to another department. I didn’t know why, but it felt good to have something just for myself for once. Right before it was time to leave, Greg came by my desk.

  “Alexa, I was wondering if we could talk in my office before you leave?” I packed up my things and followed him into his office, waving goodbye to the girls. The concern on their faces didn’t help me. Two meetings. One day. Now I was worried, when I knew I shouldn’t be.

  When we walked into the office, I notic
ed more stacks of manuscripts on his desk. My worry went away and excitement filled me, especially with the prospect of Greg asking me to help out with another project. Even though I had told Max I wanted to be in financing, it didn’t mean I didn’t love reading and editing. “Please sit down.”

  Taking my seat, I looked around his office. Thinking about Max’s office today in comparison to Greg’s—they were totally opposite. I hadn’t noticed before, but Greg’s office was filled with color and paintings adorning his walls. It felt like a museum, but one that you could stay in forever.

  “I wanted to thank you for helping me on that last proposal. Max thought that your estimate for the author was quite accurate.”

  I perked up. “Thank you, Greg, but I thought that the rough-bound copy of the book was thanks enough. Especially since it was signed.” I was happy that he wanted to personally thank me, but I didn’t think it necessary. My enthusiasm left as Greg cocked an eyebrow.

  “What book?” His question threw me as I pulled it out of my bag. since getting this book, I had finished it at least a half-dozen more times, marking my favorite spots with sticky notes.

  “I’m sorry, Alexa, but I didn’t give that to you.” Now I was the confused one.

  “Then who did?” I was holding the book in my hands, staring at it. The book felt heavy in my hands. I knew what he was saying. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself yet. This book had been my friend for the past week. I read it almost every night before bed.

  “All I know is that the only people who knew about you working on the proposal were Max and me.” Max. His name coming from Greg sent chills up my spine. I didn’t know if that was bad or good. What I did know was that instead of being angry, which this time last week I probably would have been, I was grateful. Max said he wanted to get to know me, but it seemed that he was already there.

  “Max.” His name coming from my mouth felt like a first.

  I heard a sound from behind me. I turned around to see Max standing in the doorway, his arm braced against the frame. His face was in a hard line, like he didn’t know if he was going to say something or not. Our eyes locked just before he turned to leave without saying a word. I could see through the glass of Greg’s office that he was headed for the stairs. He didn’t even want to wait for the elevator to get away from me.