Caleb would look after me, but I was worried about who would take care of Nichelle, Everett, and Verity. Nichelle hadn’t worked a day in her life. She had no qualifications to fall back on. I could have gotten her a job at the childcare center but when I’d offered, she’d refused to admit there was a problem at all.
She was the proverbial ostrich sticking its head in the sand.
Nash had made out that Psychos had more to offer than it seemed from the outside, and his invitation to attend tonight had been playing over in the back of my mind. But I’d ultimately decided that going back there was foolish. Nash had already caused a rift in my relationship with Caleb. Unknowingly, of course. But it was still there. And it was something I needed to fix.
So after work on Friday, I said goodbye to Vincent, Josie, and Sarah, and drove into the city. I refused to let my mind wander to what was happening at Psychos later that night, and instead focused on the ring on my finger and driving to the man who’d given it to me. I knew he’d still be at work, but there were a lot of great little restaurants popping up around his building that I’d been looking forward to trying out.
I managed to get a parking spot half a block away from Caleb’s building and quickly walked the rest of the way. The streetlights had come on, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation of a fancy meal in a nice restaurant.
In the lobby, the doorman smiled at me when I entered. “Miss Arthur. Good to see you again.”
The man quickly walked to the elevator and pressed the button for me.
“It’s nice to see you again, Jeremy. Do you have much planned for the weekend?”
“Yes, ma’am. My son has a baseball tournament.”
The elevator binged its arrival, and I stepped inside. “I hope he does well.”
Jeremy reached around and pressed the button for Caleb’s floor, without me telling him where I was going. “Me, too. He’s been practicing hard. Enjoy your evening.”
The doors slid closed, and I used the elevator mirrors to check my hair was neat and rub at the corner of my eye where my eyeliner had smudged. Caleb’s building was huge, and his company owned the entire twenty-seventh floor. When the doors slid open, I came face-to-face with Caleb’s elderly receptionist. Literally. The older woman and I stood nose to nose.
“Oh,” she cried, jumping back a step. “Sorry, love. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be there.”
I gripped her arm to steady her. “No, I’m sorry for sneaking up on you. I was just coming to pick Caleb up for dinner. Were you leaving?”
Lindsay nodded, and I put a hand out to stop the doors from closing behind me.
“Yes, I already said goodbye to Mr. Black for the night. I’ve just been collecting my things. Dinner sounds lovely. It’ll be good for that man to get out of the office for a little while. He’s been here late every night this week.”
I smiled at the fondness in her tone. “He works hard.”
“Indeed he does. But don’t let me hold you up. Do you remember the code for the security door?”
“I do. Zero-eight-seventeen.” It was an easy one to remember, because it was Caleb’s birthday.
“You got it. Enjoy your evening.”
I wished her the same and let her pass me by into the elevator. Caleb’s reception area was deluxe, just like everything else about him. Leather couches sat to my left and right, and in front of me was a long reception desk with a thick marble top. The company logo was etched into the wall behind in shiny gold lettering.
It was all very Caleb, reeking of money and class and quality. It was beautiful.
Our relationship would be too, once all this stuff with Axel was taken care of. Caleb and I would get back to normal, and then we could start planning our wedding.
I rounded the desk and punched the code into the security door. It opened with a quiet click, and I let myself in, making sure it was locked again behind me.
On the other side, the workspace was more like any other office. A myriad of desks in a big open space for low-level workers, and glass-walled offices around the perimeter for higher-up executives. Each had a view of the city and beyond into Providence and Saint View.
All the lights were still on, but predictably, all the lower-level workers had cleared out for the day, ready to start their weekend the moment the clock had hit five. But I knew Caleb would still be sitting behind his desk. He was always the last to leave.
A moan filtering through the office stopped me in my tracks, but I didn’t hear it early enough to stop myself the heartache of seeing where the moan came from.