Chapter 11

Walking towards the Stone building, Tobias re-read the email once more. It had shown up on his cell phone a few hours ago when he and Matthias had boarded his private jet to return to New York. Matthias had slept most of the time, recovering from partying hard while in San Diego, and Tobias had spent the entire time going through the financial figures of more new startups he’d heard about from the new business contacts he had formed.

Tobias,

HR gave me a generous advance that will more than help cover the cost of the hospital bill. I am extremely grateful to you and to Stone Enterprises for helping me out. I’m sorry for anything I might have said before, rashly, when I was under stress.

Savannah

But every now and then he had looked away from his financial data and read Savannah’s email, as if trying to second guess the motivations behind her sending it.

She had been the first one to reach out. It seemed to be working. He had planned to remain distant, to stay out of her way and to give her the space she so wanted. Maybe she was starting to reminisce, as he so often had, about what they had shared for one brief moment. If she was still interested, if she wanted more, it would be up to her to make the first move.

And he would be waiting.

It was Friday evening, soon after 5.30pm, when Tobias walked into the Stone building after Morris had dropped him off. He didn’t consider it strange to be coming to work when so many were leaving for the weekend. For so long now, this had become his second home. He avoided going home to an empty apartment with a schedule that was mostly free over the weekend. There was only so much boxing and running, and reading of the newspapers and various magazine articles that he could do. Although next weekend would be different.

Still thinking of his impending weekend, when he’d be taking his private jet to Martha’s Vineyard, he stepped out of the elevator on the 21st floor and found himself face to face with Briony and Savannah. “I didn’t expect to see you until next week,” said Briony, surprised.

“We landed twenty minutes ago,” he replied. “And you’re coming to work, now?” Briony asked. The elevator doors closed as other people climbed in and left the two women and Tobias standing in a small circle outside. “I have some things to catch up on.” He glanced briefly at Savannah and noted that she had said nothing. He tried to read her expression, knowing that he hadn’t yet replied to her email. Something told him—maybe it was the way she looked away quickly when he turned to her—that she was uncomfortable.

“Was it a good trip?” Briony asked as Savannah pressed the elevator button again. “Time will tell,” he replied, conscious of the fact that Savannah hadn’t looked at him or said anything. “I must get on,” he said.

“Don’t work too hard,” Briony cried out as the women stepped into the elevator.

“I won’t. See you on Monday.” See you both on Monday, he wanted to say, but didn’t. Keeping his distance seemed to be working. As hard as it was to ignore her, that’s what Tobias had to do.

~~

“That man never lets up.” Briony commented, belting up her thick cashmere coat. “He doesn’t know how to relax.” Savannah said nothing as she reconsidered her plan. Would it be too obvious if she pretended to forget something in her office just so that she could go back upstairs and seek out Tobias? If she could somehow make it appear that she had run into him again by accident. He hadn’t replied to her email, and even now he’d barely looked at her, had barely noticed her. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the sight of him with that darkened stubble, rough and rugged, albeit in a sharp suit, wasn’t going to help her forget him.

Had he always looked so hot? He was a concoction of danger and mystery mixed together with a splash of intrigue. She inhaled deeply, thinking how the lack of men and romance in her life now seemed to drive her towards taking desperate measures. It didn’t help that Tobias Stone looked more attractive to her every day. It didn’t help at all that the longer she worked here, the harder it would be to forget the feel of his hands around her waist and the hard press of his lips on hers.

Her insides turned molten again, as they always did when she thought of him. “I wonder if he’s broken up with Naomi?” Briony wondered. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her around in a while.”

Savannah shrugged. “You think so?”

“We used to see her around his office a few times, not much, but she’d come in towards the end of the day, every so often.”

“She did?”

Briony nodded. “And she came to a few Christmas parties.”

“How long have they been together?”

Briony shrugged. “Maybe a couple of years. I’m not sure. They went away last Christmas, I can’t remember if they were together the year before.”

A couple of years? He’d paid for sex for a couple of years? In Savannah’s books that sounded more like a relationship, rather than an exchange of services.

“Are you sure you don’t want to have a quick drink tonight?” Briony asked. “I feel as though your first full week in your new job needs to be properly celebrated.”

“How about we save that for the next time, when we’re going out for my birthday?” Savannah replied, becoming more anxious with each passing minute that took her away from Tobias. “I don’t believe it! I think I’ve forgotten something upstairs. I need to go back.”

“It can’t be that important,” Briony exclaimed. Lying was not her forte, and she was already hesitant about her crazy idea. What if Tobias saw straight through her? He had before, he would again, and she would look like a real fool. Blowing hot and cold with him—like a high-school virgin who wasn’t sure whether she was ready or not—was further compounded by the realization that a lot depended on his mood. He’d told her he couldn’t stop thinking of her that night, but did he still feel the same way now?

“It’s…my organizer.” She said, weakly, coming up with an excuse which was as pathetic as her motivation for needing to go back up.

“You still write things down?” Briony kissed her on the cheek. “Try to enjoy your weekend,” she winked.

“Drinks next week. My birthday is on Tuesday but I can’t go out that night. How about next Friday?”

“In time for Valentine’s Day weekend.” Smiled Briony.

“Valentine’s Day hasn’t meant anything to me in years,” Savannah sighed as they hovered around in front of the revolving doors. She wasn’t even sure what she was going back up for, but she felt a pull and she needed to speak to him, alone. “Next Friday, I promise, and I’ll arrange childcare.”

“Okay, hon. Have a good weekend.” Briony slipped through the revolving doors leaving Savannah hovering. She walked slowly towards the elevator bank, trying to think of reasons why she shouldn’t go and seek out Tobias, but her pull towards him—made all the more stronger because he’d completely backed off from her—drove her to hit the elevator button. But when the elevator arrived, it was Tobias who stepped out. Seeing her, he appeared to do a double take before plucking at the cuff of his jacket.

“Oh, hey—” she stammered as someone pushed past her and got into the elevator she’d been waiting for.

“I thought you were leaving?” He asked, and she could feel it already, his all-too inquisitive gaze running over her face. Heat warmed her cheeks and she wondered if he could see through her little ruse. “I am. I was. I forgot something,” she managed to blubber. “I thought you had things to do?” She asked him, unable to look away from him. His face wasn’t as smooth as usual, but rough and coarse and she resisted the urge to trace her fingers over his dusting of dark hairs of stubble.

“I did but I’ve had an impromptu dinner date and it’s been a while since we’ve met.”

An impromptu dinner date? She instinctively knew it was with a woman. Men didn’t do dinner dates. For one thing, they wouldn’t call it that. “Oh…that’s…that’s…nice.” It felt like someone had skewered her heart. Was he seeing Naomi again? Or had he moved onto someone else? She stabbed the button to the elevator, determined to go upstairs on her fool’s errand.

“You and Jacob have a good weekend,” he said, breezily, and walked away, leaving her to wait for an elevator she didn’t want, and an office that she had no reason to return to. She made her way to the 21st floor anyway, only to stay in the elevator and travel the entire distance back down again. As she walked out of the Stone building, she checked her cell phone and saw that Tobias had replied to her email only a few moments ago. Her heart jumped for joy.

At Stone Enterprises, we strive to do our best for our employees. Briony has updated me and is pleased with your progress.

That was it? She shoved her phone back into her handbag in contempt. That was all he had to say? Nothing that she could reply to—or cling to? Nothing that had hidden meaning, or an ulterior motive. Nothing that she could take away and analyze.

Nothing.

Instead he’d given her a few lines of cold and impersonal; something hollow and meaningless, as if it had been taken from the company’s marketing brochure.

She knew the real reason she was so mad. It was because he hadn’t said the things she’d been wanting to hear. She was left feeling hollow and knew what it was that she missed: the other Tobias, the one who had shown an interest in her and seemed to care.