Page 73 of If We Were Young

I stood and shifted from foot to foot. Had I woken up in an alternative universe? I thought last night we got through all this…

“Yes. Thank you, I’m aware of the meeting.”

Picking up his biro, he gouged a blue line in his black-bound notebook. Not a sketch book, I guessed.

“Monday. Nine. I won’t forget.” Lowering his phone, he stabbed at the screen to switch off the call.

“Everything okay?”

“Divorce settlement meeting.”

Oh, okay, well that explained the grump.

“We okay?” I motioned between us.

“Yes.”

No smile.

I opened my mouth to say something, I don’t know what, when the lift doors chimed and the sounds of heels clacked against the flooring of reception. That’s how quiet it was in my office as Matthew murdered me with his death glare. Watching him as I was, with the intensity of someone borderline mentally unhinged, I was sure I caught the briefest of flinches, but he quickly hid the flicker that darted across his face.

“Matty, there you are!”

“Amanda.”

She glided in, hair smooth, power suit crisp and sharp. Her face contoured to within an inch of its existence.

“Gosh, you look rough. Didn’t you sleep? I told you to stay in the hotel with me.”

Okay, that time there was a definite flinch.

What did she mean ‘with me’?

“Grr.” He made that sound. Like a big Scottish oaf.

“Well, Matty, I just spoke to your mother, and she’s asked me to remind you about tomorrow evening.”

For a split-second he lost all restraint and the cool businessman shimmered in front of me, showing me a flash of the person underneath; like a mirage but only if the mirage was for an excessively tall and moody abomination of a man. “Shit.” He pushed a hand through his hair, and I watched the strands, almost feeling them smooth against my palm. Amanda coughed and cleared her throat.

“It’s just as well I remember these things. I’ve booked you on a sleeper tonight. That way you can be there for the morning.”

He graced her with one of those blinding smiles. The earth span in its glory.

“Thank you.” The frown came back far too quickly. “Although we need to be coming out with a defined rebrand today.” The death stare swizzled back in my direction. “Veronica, how long are we talking before we have any results at all?”

Veronica now, was it? What happened to hand holding and oxygen defying kissing?

Amanda curved an eyebrow and looked between us.

“It’s hard to come up with results when you won’t consider fundamentals such as changing the name so it sucks less.”

Ooh. That’s not very professional.

I huffed out a breath by way of apology.

This was no way to run a business. Five years I’d kept us afloat by remaining courteous, professional, and trustworthy.

“I told you already, the name has to stay.”