Will went last. He looked at her for a long while, his blue eyes sparkling with pride. There were few things she loved more in life than making her mentor proud.
“You’ve always said you’d follow me anywhere. After the last six months, the feeling is entirely mutual.” He swallowed hard. Suddenly, they weren’t in a makeshift conference room on the southern Orlisian border. They were in Dakar, Senegal, covered in dirt and sweat from a day’s labor in a long-ago urban slum.
“You did good work here, Sophie. I hope you know that. You touched some lives.” She remembered him saying the same words to her when they’d said goodbye in Senegal. She’d been seventeen years old, and he’d changed her life forever that day.
“In the end, you saved the one life you so desperately needed to save. We’ll miss you for the duration, but I’m glad you’re going home with him. Michael’s a good man, the right man for you. For what it’s worth, please accept my blessing.”
Only the desk lamp was on when she opened the door to their room and slipped inside. They’d drive to Kaliningrad the next day, then fly home to New York via Frankfurt. Sophie had had Michael to herself for days, and it would soon be time for her to share once again. But not tonight.
She locked the door behind her. Michael lay sprawled on the bed on his stomach, all scruff and innocent green eyes. He propped himself up on his elbows, chin in his hands.
He was naked.
“I missed you.” He rolled on to his side and stretched. His long body reached the length of the bed, his feet hanging slightly off the end. Sophie’s eyes widened, and she made a sound in her throat. She looked down; she couldn’t not look down.
He’d been waiting for her for a while and clearly hadn’t been able to keep his hands to himself during that time. Her things crashed to the floor, and she leaped on to the bed, pushing him onto his back.
There was no talk of work on their last night together in Europe.
Chapter 18
February 24, 2014
Sophie knew something was wrong before they’d left the base camp.
She’d been up since dawn, packing, having last-minute meetings, touching base with as many people as possible before leaving. Michael, having few possessions and no official role, kept mostly to himself. She saw him laughing with Will and later in deep conversation with the Rev. Mostly, she was too busy to keep track of him.
There were no long goodbyes. They loaded their things into the SUV, exchanged brief farewells with those in the compound, and they pulled away. Neither of them could endure long goodbyes. No GYL alum could.
As they were getting ready to leave, she could feel his aloofness. She caught him staring at her, his eyes brooding, his touch impersonal. Her dark, angry Michael had returned.
With flawless courtesy, he insisted she ride in the front seat of the vehicle with the driver. So she wouldn’t feel ill, he explained.
“I want to be with you,” she protested.
“It is better if you sit up front.”
During the silent drive to Kaliningrad, she wracked her brain, trying to figure out what had happened to cause his sudden change in mood. Had it been something Will had said? Something she’d said or done? She glanced in the mirror and saw him staring out the window, his mind far away. Was it only yesterday that she’d told Anjali that they hadn’t fought? She had spoken too soon.
Whatever his problem, he wasn’t talking. Not at the airport in Kaliningrad. Not during the ninety-minute flight between Kaliningrad and Frankfurt. By the time they reached the business class lounge in Frankfurt, the tension between them had grown thick, and Sophie felt sick, angry, and scared.
“Okay, let’s have it,” she blurted out as they sat down in the lounge with coffee and lunch. “What’s your problem this time?” The words came out harsher than intended, and Sophie regretted going on the offensive.
Michael looked at her imperiously. “My problem. Of course, I am the one who has a problem.”
“You’re the one sulking. All I’ve done today is pack my stuff, say goodbye to my colleagues, get some work done, and fly here. I’m not sure which of those tasks has made you so angry.” She saw fury simmering deep in his eyes, melting the iciness.
“Yes, you did get some work done, didn’t you?” His voice became suddenly unpleasant. “Last night, before you came to our bed, you got some work done.”
She stared at him, confused. What had happened the night before?
Shit. The meeting about our media plans.
“I can float it to Michael…I’ll give you his answer before we leave.”
“Are you talking about the meeting I had with the exec team about media coverage?”
“Yes, I am. Imagine my surprise when the Rev asked me how I felt about your proposal. I had to tell him, of course, that you had not bothered to seek my opinion.”