Chapter 10

My breathing seemed to stick in my chest. What was he doing here?

I put a hand to my messy bun and looked down at my sweats. I cracked the door and put on the most croaking voice I could. I was, after all, supposed to be sick.

"Hi," I said, giving him a weak smile.

"Hey. I was just in the neighborhood. Walking. You know how I love to take solitary walks."

I nodded, thinking I'd only seen him stride around in the office building, but knew it was best not to argue.

"Can you just give me a minute?" I asked. "I'm not terribly presentable."

This made him smile and he leaned casually against my doorframe. "Take your time."

I gently shut the door and rushed to my bedroom, throwing open my closet and digging furiously until I found a cute, casual cotton dress and threw it on. I yanked down the messy bun and retwisted it so the mass of hair that had fallen was now tucked back up.

I ran on tiptoes to the medicine cabinet, took out some cold medicine, and placed it strategically on the kitchen counter.

I smoothed my hair one more time, took a breath, and opened the door. He looked up from his phone, smiling.

"I'm excited to see the lair of Elena," he joked, walking in and looking around at my single room apartment. His eyes went to the medicine bottle and the blankets piled on the couch and then back to me.

"But you're okay?" He said, his eyes locking on mine.

"I think I was worn down by all the crazy stuff in the last few days. I totally crashed."

He nodded and his face relaxed. "I'm glad you're good then."

I'd been so flustered, I only now noticed he held a brown paper bag. He held it out to me.

"I stopped and got you stuff. I didn't know exactly what was wrong, so I got some of each."

I took it and looked in. It had cough syrup, pain reliever, fever reducer, a small heating pad, some toothache ointment, and a can of soup.

I looked up and smiled. "Thank you.”

He shrugged.

"Please, sit," I said, trying to shift blankets.

He did. It looked odd, him in his beautifully cut and creased suit, lounging back against my fleece blankets. His vetiver scent filled my small living room.

I tried not to think how it seemed like something out of my high school fantasies.

"I can only stay a few more minutes," he said, his fingers toying with the fringe on a pillow. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm going to live," I said, leaning against the counter and opening the cough syrup bottle from the bag. Mercifully, my phone pinged before I had a chance to try to fake a spoonful.

I looked at the screen, saw it was Cathy, and ignored it.

"Would you like a drink of water or something?" I asked.

"I'm good."

My phone pinged again. And then two more times in quick succession. Charles's eyebrows raised.

"Someone besides your boss wants to talk with you," he said, and I couldn't tell if he was being playful or a little annoyed.

"Do you remember Cathy?"

"Blonde? Chipper? Friend of yours?"

"Yes."

He nodded and I was once again impressed with how much attention he'd been paying without me realizing it.

"It's her."

I picked up the phone a looked at the message that was still lingering on my screen.

"She's on our high school class reunion committee. Looks like she's insisting I join this group chat to RSVP."

Charles frowned. "I didn't get an invitation."

"They're just coming out. Plus, I'm sure they didn't think you'd actually come, so you're probably not the first person they're notifying."

"Why wouldn't I?" His face looked curious and slightly disappointed.

"Why would you? You're successful. You're busy. You don't need to, I don't know, network or hang out."

"Have you RSVP'd?"

"No."

"You should."

I looked at him, surprised. This was such a surreal conversation. I sat down opposite him and looked at his lean, relaxed body taking up a large portion of my couch.

I picked up my phone and signed on. "I probably should for Cathy anyway, since she's one of the organizers."

"I'll go if you'll go."

At first I thought he was joking. I laughed, but then stopped at his slow smile.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Wait, are you serious?"

"Why not?"

I couldn't come up with a reason, so I just shrugged.

All right, I thought. Let's call this bluff.

I messaged my RSVP to the group. After a second Cathy responded with clapping hands emojis. One other person gave me a thumbs up despite the couple dozen that were currently signed on.

Just like in high school, I'm mostly unnoticed, I sighed. This is exactly why I didn't want to go.

"Why the sigh?" Charles asked.

"Let's just say high school wasn't great for everyone."

"I'd amend that to say high school isn't great for almost everyone."

I was surprised. He held my gaze and I felt my brows knit.

"Surely you can't mean you, too."

He shrugged. "Teenage angst exists no matter how lucky the person."

I couldn't imagine what he'd be angsty about, I thought.

I copied the link and put it in a message, sending it to the powerful, handsome man sitting across from me whose presence still didn't seem to fit in my living room.

He looked at his buzzing phone and smiled as he clicked a link. His eyes met mine, and he typed something without looking, a mischievous grin on his face.

I looked down at my phone as his message popped up. He'd signed on, and he'd RSVP'd.

"There." He said. "Now will you go for real?"

I would have to anyway, for Cathy, but this made it more interesting, though probably more painful.

"You'll get to see all your old high school pals," I said. "I bet they'll be happy to see you."

"Maybe. We all move on and change, right?"

"I guess."

We looked at each other in silence for a moment.

My phone buzzed. It was Cathy, but she was texting me this time.

Did you see what just happened? she texted. Charles frickin' Rafe just signed on and RSVP'd!

Yes, very exciting, I replied, feeling the exact opposite.

Oh my gosh, the RSVP's are blowing up! Cathy continued. Look, the pair of twins from chemistry are RSVPing, too! I was sure they would decline. Looks like your old crush has quite the powers of attraction to get even them coming.

I put the phone down.

"Sorry," I said looking over at him. "Told you it would cause a stir if you came. That's Cathy already counting the numbers of RSVP's you've inspired.."

He laughed.

I tried not to obviously inhale as he shifted his body. Vetiver wafted over me and I felt my pulse quicken.

Both of our phones began to ping and vibrate, buzzing and dinging like they were possessed. We looked at each other, our eyes widened, and then looked down simultaneously at our phones.

"Uh oh," I said.

"That's interesting," he added.