2.8 | Miles Away

04 | Closing In (II)

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C L O S I N G   I N

(part two)

THIS TIME ROUND, I managed to get a closer look at Hale & Co. After assuring the receptionist that I knew the way, I slowly headed to Nate Johnson's office on the fifth floor. The elevator walls were made of glass, and I peered around as I made my way up.

It really was such a strange place. Not only did it lack the warmth that I was so used to feeling at Sereinn, it also lacked the sleek professionalism I'd seen at other offices. The employees were few and most of the doors were pulled shut, as if the bulk of Hale & Co.'s work wasn't done here but somewhere more important. This building seemed perfunctory and temporary and...cold.

Yes, that was the most apt word for it. I stepped out of the elevator and turned to Nate Johnson's office, only to be stopped at the front desk.

"Ms Evers." It was the same assistant who'd showed me around just several days ago. "I'm afraid Mr Johnson won't be done for another fifteen minutes. He's asked if you're willing to wait for awhile—he'd be more than happy to see you after."

"Oh, of course," I assured her. I'd be willing to wait more than a quarter of an hour if that was to Sereinn's gain. "I'll just grab a coffee and come right back."

"I could make you some, if you'd like."

As much as I'd enjoyed the coffee back then, I didn't exactly want to be struck by the déjà vu again. The familiar taste had thrown me entirely off-balance that day, and I needed to keep a leveled-head to negotiate with Nate Johnson.

"No, thank you," I said quickly. "I don't want to be an inconvenience. Could I just leave these files here?"

She agreed and let me place them on the counter. Bidding her goodbye, I returned to the elevator and leaned against the walls with a sigh. It was just as well. This extra time could be used to come up with a more convincing argument.

Perhaps I'd start with—

"—Mr Johnson," I mumbled to myself, practicing for what I would say later. "You have to understand that... No, too assertive. Please try to understand that—yeah, no, that's too nice." I huffed out a breath and stared an imaginary Nate Johnson dead in the eye. "Look, butthead, if you're going to start metaphorically pissing all over Sereinn to mark your new territory, then you're fighting fire with fire... Although, technically, pee does put out little fires, so that's really not a good analogy."

Damn it.

I wished I were level-headed and diplomatic, patient but firm. But I was none of those things. I was dealing with this situation the way I'd always done anything else—by grabbing the bull by the horns and hoping for the best. With a resigned sigh, I stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened.

Then I stopped dead in my tracks.

The man who stood barely five feet away had a frozen expression on his face that I was certain matched mine. My chest tightened as his name escaped me in a whisper of a breath.

"Miles."

What could I say to the man whose heart I broke three years ago? There wasn't any word in any language that could even begin to cover it. My mind raced in a desperate search for something to say, but I could only gape at him.

Miles seemed just as taken aback as I was. "D-darcy?"

His voice was everything I remembered and more. A low, quiet rasp; his tongue curling around the syllables of my name with familiarity. I suppressed an instinctive shiver just to hear it. It has been so long. I let out a slow breath, realizing how easy this could be. With him, there was never any need for fancy words or grand gestures.

A smile stretched across my face as I took a step forward. "Hi."

His grayish-blue eyes widened and he took a quick step back. The files he'd been carrying slipped from his grasp and tumbled to the floor. "Fuck," he swore under his breath, and leaned down to pick them up.

I moved forward to help him, but my fingers had barely brushed a file when he swiped them out of my reach. When he straightened again, I was startled to see the expression on his face. Instead of the bewilderment and wariness from before, all I saw was outright hostility. His eyes were narrowed and his lips pressed in a grim line.

"What're you doing here, Evers?" he hissed.

I blinked. That word sounded so foreign on his lips that, for a moment, I almost forgot that it was part of my name. "What—"

"Did you schedule an appointment?"

"I did, with Nate Johnson. Are you here to see—"

I stopped as my brain finally caught up. Hale & Co. Hale. How hadn't I realized this before? When I'd first seen this name, I'd even found it familiar. And of course I had—because Hale was the name of Miles's older brother, long since deceased, but the sibling he'd idolized through his youth.

Hale Callaghan was the reason Miles studied at Riverton college. He was the reason Miles suffered through hazings to land a spot in a fraternity. He was the reason Miles tried so hard to not be a disappointment to their father.

The realization hit me like a lightning bolt, and my eyes widened. "Hale & Co.," I breathed. "This is your company!"

He arched an eyebrow. "Took you long enough."

I ignored his snub, my mind still reeling. "I can't believe it. I mean, I always knew you'd do great things and I'm so glad that you're—" A sudden thought came to mind. "The coffee. The one I had when I visited Nate the other day. Did you make it?"

His jaw tightened. "Don't be ridiculous. Many people take their coffee the way you do."

"Many people also do not." I wasn't fazed when his glare deepened. A warmth had bloomed in my chest upon seeing him again. It felt like...everything had fallen into place now that he was here. I tucked a stray curl behind my ear and beamed up at him. "It really is so good to see you again, Miles."

The words seemed to flip an off-switch within him. He recoiled from me as if I were an open flame and tightened his grip around the files until his knuckles turned white. "Stay the fuck away from me, Evers," he hissed. "And get the hell out of my company."

"But I have a meeting with—"

"Not anymore. Set foot in Hale & Co. again and I'll have security throw you out."

He stormed off to the adjacent elevator without another word, leaving me gaping after him.