Chapter 25: Black Ties and White Lies: Chapter 25

Margo watches me with a confused stare. Her eyes pop from the office to me. “We were here yesterday and you said this was your office.”

I gently nudge her into the room, letting the door shut behind me. ‘It was my office, but now it’s yours.”

“Why the sudden change?”

“Simple. This one has the best view. I don’t appreciate it the way you do.” I could’ve watched her stare at the city below her all day yesterday if she’d let me. It’s probably what I would’ve done if we hadn’t gotten into the fight. When I’d stomped off angry, setting up camp in the conference room as she stayed in here looking out the windows, I’d contacted the building staff and asked them to do some rearranging. The corner office does give the best view of the city. If you stand along the glass windows in the far corner, it feels like you’re floating in the sky.

“Beck,” she whispers, staring at me with too much emotion. It makes my chest feel heavy and tight. It constricts longingly as her eyes gloss over. “You didn’t have to.”

I take a cautious step toward her, testing the space between us. Both of us hold our coffees, the drink like a barrier in our hands from me getting any closer to her. “I know I didn’t have to. It doesn’t change the fact I wanted to.”

Her lips pop open as her eyes search my face. For once, I don’t know what she finds in my features. I’ve always been good at putting on a mask of indifference. In fact, it wasn’t really a mask. It’s my personality. I just typically don’t care about others—until her. I wouldn’t have been able to keep this office knowing that she could’ve appreciated it so much more.

“What about you?” The ice shakes in her cup as her hand drops to the side.

I shrug, turning my head to look at the connecting door between the offices. “I’m not far, just through that door. My new office is what was supposed to be yours.”

“I thought I was going to get a cubicle or maybe a desk next to yours,” she jokes, setting her drink down.

“We don’t have cubicles here. I believe in a more collaborative work space.”

“I noticed. Why do I get a private office then?”

“Because the only person you need to collaborate with is me.” I walk to the door that connects our two offices. My new one used to be Polly’s but I moved her to a different floor to oversee one of our new projects we just took on. She has the largest room for that floor, a slight upgrade from the one that was intended to be Margo’s before the plan changed yesterday.

I open it, pointing to my new office. It’s only slightly smaller than this one, but it doesn’t have the corner view that allowed the view of Manhattan she fell in love with.

“See, we can now easily collaborate.”

Margo rolls her eyes at me, turning to take in her new space. “I can’t believe this is mine. Does an assistant need this much? If I’m just your coffee girl then I hate to break it to you Beck, but I don’t think I need any kind of office, no matter how much I love what I’m seeing here.”

“You’re going to be in charge of much more than just grabbing me coffee,” I tell her. And then I take a seat across from her at her desk, and we go over her tasks while here at Sintech.