Chapter 25
1737 Words
Summer’s POV
I found her sitting at her desk, staring at her computer.
She looked up.
The moment she saw me, her expression changed.
“Look at you.”
I stopped.
“What?”
She leaned back in her chair.
“You look like you have your life together.”
I stared at her.
“That’s a very dangerous thing to say.”
She laughed.
“I know.”
I walked into her office and closed the door behind me.
She immediately turned her attention to me.
“What?”
I sat down.
“Lena.”
Her smile faded.
“What?”
“You are not going to believe what happened to me today.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“What happened?”
I placed my handbag on the chair beside me.
“I’ve had two encounters with Andrew Knight.”
She stared at me.
Then blinked.
“Andrew Knight?”
I nodded.
“Andrew Knight.”
She leaned forward.
“Your boss?”
“Yes. Our boss.”
“The Andrew Knight?”
“How many Andrew Knights do you think work here?”
“I don’t know!”
She threw her hands into the air.
“I’m just clarifying.”
I stared at her.
She stared back.
Then slowly, her expression changed.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“You’ve never actually spoken to him before.”
“Exactly.”
“And today you saw him twice?”
“Exactly.”
“Twice?”
“Twice.”
She leaned back in her chair.
I nodded slowly.
“I know.”
“What happened?”
“I got into an elevator.”
“Okay.”
“And he was there.”
“Okay.”
“Then I got into another elevator.”
She stared at me.
“And he was there.”
Silence.
I nodded.
“Exactly.”
Lena’s eyes widened.
“Summer.”
“What?”
“Are you sure the man you saw was actually Andrew Knight?”
I stared at her.
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I recognized him.”
“From where?”
“Magazines.”
She blinked.
“Magazines?”
“Newspapers too.”
She stared at me.
I sighed.
“Lena, I know what our boss looks like.”
“Do you?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Yes.”
“Because you’ve never spoken to him.”
“I’ve seen him.”
“From a distance.”
“That still counts.”
She began laughing.
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
I folded my arms.
“I recognized him.”
“Fine.”
“Thank you.”
“But what did he say?”
I hesitated.
That was the problem.
I didn’t know why the conversation had stayed in my mind.
“Nothing important.”
Lena’s eyes narrowed.
“Summer.”
“He just asked me questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Normal questions.”
“Such as?”
I sighed.
“How long I’ve worked here.”
“Okay.”
“What department I’m in.”
“Okay.”
“What kind of projects I work on.”
Lena stared at me.
I stared back.
She slowly leaned forward.
“Our boss asked you all that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
“I don’t know.”
She gave me a look.
“Exactly.”
I sighed.
“Maybe he was just being friendly.”
“Andrew Knight?”
I frowned.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
“It clearly means something.”
“I’ve never met the man.”
“Neither have I.”
“But you’ve seen him.”
“So have you.”
“Not like you have.”
I stared at her.
“What does that even mean?”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
I looked away.
The truth was…
I didn’t know either.
I couldn’t explain why the conversation had stayed in my mind.
It hadn’t been inappropriate.
Andrew hadn’t said anything strange.
He hadn’t crossed any boundaries.
He had simply asked me questions.
Normal questions.
And yet, there had been something about his attention.
Something I couldn’t quite place.
“Maybe he was just trying to get to know his employees,” I said.
Lena tilted her head.
“Maybe.”
I looked at her.
“Don’t say it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you don’t believe me.”
“I believe you.”
“You don’t.”
“I do.”
“Lena.”
She smiled.
“Fine. I don’t.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Whatever.”
She laughed.
She reached across her desk and took my hand.
I looked at her.
Her fingers tightened around mine.
“I feel bad.”
“Why?”
She remained quiet.
“I know what he did.”
I continued.
“I know why we’re getting divorced.”
“I know I made the right decision.”
“But he looked…”
I searched for the right word.
“Broken.”
Lena’s expression softened.
“And you feel sorry for him.”
“Yes.”
“That’s okay.”
I looked at her.
“It is?”
“Of course.”
“Even though he cheated?”
“Feeling sorry for someone doesn’t mean you have to take them back.”
I remained silent.
“You can love someone and still leave them.”
Her voice was quiet.
“You can miss someone and still know they aren’t good for you.”
I looked down.
“You can feel sorry for the person who hurt you and still choose yourself.”
My eyes began to sting.
Lena squeezed my hand.
“And you did.”
I looked at her.
“You chose yourself.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
Then I nodded.
“I think I’m trying.”
“I know.”
“And some days, I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing.”
“You are.”
The answer came immediately.
Certain.
Unwavering.
I laughed softly through the emotion gathering in my throat.
“You sound very sure.”
“Because I am.”
“How?”
“Because I watched you disappear while you were married to him.”
I went still.
Lena’s expression changed.
“You were always worried about what Ethan wanted.”
She continued.
“Where he wanted to go.”
“What he wanted to eat.”
“When he wanted to travel.”
“Whether he was happy.”
“Whether you were doing enough.”
I looked away.
“You stopped asking yourself what you wanted.”
Her voice softened.
“And now you’re finally asking.”
I swallowed.
“I don’t know what I want.”
“You don’t have to know yet.”
I looked back at her.
“You’re allowed to be lost for a while.”
The words settled somewhere deep inside me.
“You don’t have to immediately become a completely different person.”
“You don’t have to wake up tomorrow and have your entire future planned.”
“You just have to get through today.”
I smiled faintly.
“That’s your advice?”
“Today?”
“Today.”
I let out a quiet laugh.
“I can do today.”
“Good.”
She squeezed my hand once more.
“Then tomorrow, we’ll deal with tomorrow.”
I looked at her.
“You know you’re annoyingly wise sometimes?”
“Sometimes?”
I laughed.
“There she is.”
I rolled my eyes.
But I was smiling.
I felt like I could breathe.
Then my stomach twisted again.
I froze.
Lena immediately noticed.
“What?”
I pressed a hand against my abdomen.
“Nothing.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Summer.”
“I’m fine.”
“You just went completely pale.”
“I think I need to eat.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
Lena stared at me.
“Summer.”
“I had coffee.”
She blinked.
“Coffee is not food.”
“I know.”
“You’ve been back at work for hours.”
“I know.”
“And you haven’t eaten?”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
She stared at me.
Then stood.
“Come on.”
I looked at her.
“Where?”
“Food.”
“Lena.”
“No.”
“I don’t feel like eating.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
She grabbed her handbag.
“Because you’re eating.”
I sighed.
“I’m not a child.”
“Then stop behaving like one.”
I stared at her.
She pointed toward the door.
“Come.”
I stood reluctantly.
The nausea had eased again.
Probably because I had finally admitted that I was hungry.
Or perhaps because Lena had decided that I was.
Either way, I followed her out of the office.
For the first time that day, I allowed myself to stop thinking about work.
About Ethan.
About Andrew Knight.
About anything.
I simply walked beside my best friend.
And for a few minutes…
That was enough.
By the time I returned to my desk, I felt better.
Not completely.
But better.
I sat down and looked at the work waiting for me.
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly.
I kept busy.
I answered emails.
Reviewed project designs.
Spoke with my colleagues.
And every now and then, my mind returned to the strange coincidence of running into Andrew Knight twice in one day.
I tried to dismiss it.
I really did.
But there was something almost amusing about it.
I had worked at Knight Constructions for almost two years without ever having a real conversation with the man who owned the company.
Then, on my first day back after a divorce…
I ran into him twice.
In elevators.
Of all places.
I shook my head.
It was probably nothing.
Just an unusually strange day.
Nothing more.
I turned back toward my computer.
And tried to forget about it.
Unfortunately…
Somewhere else in the building, Andrew Knight was probably doing the exact opposite.
- Writer
