The second hour was spent trying to decide what she would say. What she would do. Should she go to her old apartment, wait for him to get off work? No, that would be hours away, she would definitely psych herself out.
Okay, so show up at his office? She didn't want to create a scene. Didn't want to embarrass him or herself, at least not anymore than was necessary.
Don't want to wait, don't want to embarrass yourself. Jesus, suck it up. GET TO WORK, TOCCI.
About twenty minutes outside the city limits, she bit the bullet and called him. She cursed when she got his voicemail, then immediately called again. Nothing. So she took a deep breath and really fortified herself and called his office.
“The Stone Agency,” his assistant's smooth voice answered the phone. “Wulfric Stone's office.”
“Hi, Ayumi,” Katya said nervously. “This is Katya Tocci.”
“Good to hear from you, Ms. Tocci. What can I do for you?” Ayumi asked politely.
“Is Wulf available?”
“I'm sorry, he's not here.”
“Oh … okay ...”
“But he did give me instructions, in case you ever called,” Ayumi continued. “If you need anything, I'm at your disposal, or if there's an emergency, I can go get him.”
“No, no, no, no, no emergency, I'm fine,” Katya said fast. “Do you know when he'll be back?”
“Oh, I'm sorry, he won't be back today. He's at a grand opening for a new business. There's a ribbon cutting, and then there's a party.”
Katya's mind raced, going back over the days and weeks and months. To when they'd first ever met, in her bakery. When he'd stared at her like he hadn't recognized her.
“... I have a waiting list.”
“You have a waiting list?”
“Yes. If you'd like me to make cupcakes for your party, I can have them to you in roughly three months.”
“A wait list, huh.”
“I'm sorry, but I'm very busy today. If you'd like to look at my portfolio, I can give you our website.”
“No, no, three months is fine. We're having a party in about five months time, so if you think you can pencil me in, that would be great.”
Jesus, it had been five months since that conversation. She could hardly believe it.
She never did make his cupcakes.
The universe is amazing.
“Ms. Tocci?” Ayumi asked.
“Yeah, sorry, here,” Katya had forgotten she was on the phone. “Hey – could you tell me where that party is?”
30
It took Katya a lot longer to get to the address Ayumi had given her then she'd thought it would. She wasn't sure how long the party was lasting – was it already over? Would she be able to find him? It would be just her luck that she'd get there, and he'd already be gone.
She parked at a meter a couple blocks away, but didn't have any change. She decided screw it, she was on her way to figure out her future, who cared about a parking ticket. She took off jogging down the street.
It had been an hour since she'd spoken to Wulf's assistant. She'd asked the other woman not to warn him that she was coming, didn't want it getting more awkward than it already was – if he was off guard, she could just barrel right into it all, just blurt out her feelings.
If he's even there. It's after five – I spoke to her about an hour ago. He wouldn't leave the party that soon, would he?
She was so lost in her thoughts, she wasn't paying attention as she rounded a corner. She ran smack into someone's back and almost fell down. Someone else grabbed her arm and hauled her upright.
“I”m sorry,” she said quickly. “So sorry.”
“No problem,” the man she'd hit said. “You okay?”
“Yeah – what's going on?” she asked, trying to look around. There was a huge crowd in front of her that was taking over the sidewalk.
“They're doing an opening ceremony for this new mall – everything is gonna be ten percent off after they open the doors,” he explained. “We're all waiting for them to cut the ribbon.”
“Oh my god,” she breathed. “They haven't … haven't cut the ribbon yet?”
“No, but they're about to. Whoa!” he exclaimed when she pushed in front of him. “Good luck, lady!”
It was no easy task, shoving her way to the other side of the crowd. It was absolutely packed, and huge. She finally got to the other side and stood against a polished cement wall that came up to her eyebrows. She put her hands on top of it, then scrambled to lift herself up.
It was a gigantic fountain, water cascading over a huge shaft of onyx in the center. She carefully stood up on the edge and finally looked around.
The crowd was even bigger than she'd realized – she was barely halfway to the front of it. She sort of recognized the building, but it was in a part of town she didn't go to often, and a lot of work had been done to it. They'd maintained the historical feel, but updated everything and had added a whole parking structure on the side.
For whatever reason, she had assumed the ribbon cutting and the party would be taking place inside the building. She had also assumed it would be an office building. Ridiculous, really. Still assuming things, even after everything that had happened to her.
The ceremony was taking place outside, in front of the crowd. There were two posts with a huge red ribbon strung between them, a comically large bow in the middle. Several men and two women stood in a line behind it. Two other men were forward and off to the side, and one of them was speaking into a microphone. The other one stood stoically and silently, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Wulf,” she whispered, straining her eyes to get a good look at him.
He looked the same. Tall and handsome, his face so serious and stern that he looked angry. But she knew him better now, and all she saw when she looked at him was the man who told her she was like a present. Who told her she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
An applause broke her out of her reverie, and she watched as Wulf moved to the ribbon. A large pair of silver sheers had appeared in his hands, and while people clapped and cheered, he began sawing through the thick ribbon.
Katya frowned and started looking around for an easier way down off her perch. This wasn't right – this was Wulf's moment. She didn't like it when her relationships interfered with her career, so she shouldn't be interfering with his. She would wait around and after the crowd had gone inside and calmed down, she could seek him out. Or she could go wait at his apartment, even.
If you still have access to it. He probably took you off the list. Why should you be on it? You've changed your mind more times than a – STOP IT RIGHT NOW. NO MORE THINKING ABOUT ANYTHING UNTIL YOU TALK TO HIM, YOU RIDICULOUS, SILLY, PRESUMPTUOUS -
She had been walking along the cement edge, which was the width of a balance beam. She had noticed that at the other end, the stairs rose to meet it, and she would be able to hop down a couple inches as opposed to a couple feet. But her coordination wasn't as good as she'd thought, and one wrong move sent her careening to the right, over the crowd. She started windmilling her arms and over corrected, leaning too far to the left.