“I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you.” He paused then said, “It was hard. I vowed never to allow myself to become attached to anyone after that. I didn’t ever want to suffer that kind of loss again. My mother’s death is a big reason I am the way I am…closed off and cold. At the same time, it motivated me to be the best that I could be in other ways, to make her proud. So, some good and bad came of it.”
My stomach churned as I prepared to ask the question I needed an answer to. “Did you become attached to Genevieve?”
“Yes,” he simply said.
My heart was palpitating. “How long were you with her?”
“Two and a half years.”
“I see.”
When I looked down, he placed his hand on my chin and moved my face to meet his eyes in the darkness. “What do you want to know, Soraya? Ask me.”
“What happened with you and her?”
“Genevieve took a job with me as a broker right out of school. We were serious…or so I thought. Anyway, to make a very long story short, I actually started my company with a friend of mine named Liam Gainesworth. Liam, Genevieve, and I worked very closely together. I eventually found out they were having an affair behind my back. Liam went on to start his own company, which is now one of my competitors and took Genevieve with him.”
Wow.
“That’s awful. I don’t even know what to say. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It wasn’t meant to be.”
“I know, but I can tell that it hurt you.”
“I’m here with you, aren’t I?”
“What does that have to do with it?”
“Because I don’t want to be anywhere but here. If anything were different in my life, I might not be. I don’t understand it, either, Soraya. This. What’s happening between us. I can’t make any promises. I just know I don’t want it to stop.”
Neither do I.
“We’d better go back out before they think we’re—”
“Fucking?”
“Yeah.”
He buried his face in my neck and chuckled against my neck. “God forbid.”
“Thank you for being patient with me.”
He growled, “Patient isn’t the right word...”
“Maybe not.”
As I took his hand to lead him out of the room, he nudged me back for a moment. “Hey…” When I turned to face him, he leaned his forehead against mine. “I’ll wait as long as you want me to. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thank you.”
We were both much more relaxed after our talk. We spent the rest of the night quietly listening to the conversations around us at the party. I leaned my back into Graham, who wrapped his arms around my waist, the warmth of his body balancing out the goosebumps from the contact. I didn’t know where this was going, and for the first time, I resolved not to analyze it.
CHAPTER 10
SORAYA
THE NEXT DAY AT THE OFFICE, they kept coming in droves. Dozens of roses. Pink ones, red ones, yellow ones. A new dozen was delivered every hour. It took me a bit to figure out why he was doing it. It was the story I told him about my father and the rose ceremony. I later found a card that had fallen off of the first dozen that read, These are long overdue. My heart felt heavy and filled with something unidentifiable all at once.
Tonight was the gala I was supposed to be attending with him. It was going to be way out of my comfort zone, and nervous jitters followed me around all day. I’d picked out two different formal dresses at Bergdorf’s on my lunch break.
When I got back to the office, there was a plate of Indian food at my desk. The smell of curry was nauseating.
“Ida? How did this food get here?”
“A delivery guy left it, said it was for you. I thought you ordered it.”
“I get Indian for you, but you know I hate it.”
Then, a thought crossed my mind. I took out my phone.
Soraya: You didn’t order me Indian food, did you?
Graham: I did.
Soraya: Why?
Graham: I thought you liked it? I saw you going to pick it up.
Soraya: Um…how is that? You were following me?
Graham: It was only one afternoon. I missed your face. I was gonna pull up next to you like Mr. Big, surprise you and take you out to lunch. Then I saw you rushing out of Masala Madness and figured you already had plans.
Soraya: LOL. I was getting lunch for Ida. Indian gives me heartburn.
Graham: I need to work on my stalking skills.
Soraya: That was really sweet of you, though.
Later that afternoon, Graham sent me another text.
Graham: Hey, I heard they changed the name of the gala in honor of me.
Soraya: Really?
Graham: It’s now called the Big Blue Ball.
Soraya: LOL.
Graham: They’re giving out swag bags with ice packs and ibuprofen.
Soraya: You’re crazy.
Graham: For you, I am.
Soraya: What time are you picking me up?
Graham: Holy shit. Am I actually allowed at your door?
Soraya: Yes.
Graham: 7:30 then.
Soraya: I’ll need your approval on my attire. I have two dresses on hold at Bergdorf’s and still can’t decide.
Graham: You know I’m gonna veto whatever it is, just so I can watch you undress.