My phone rang at 9:47 AM.
I was still in bed staring at the ceiling when Brian's name appeared on the screen. I answered it with the energy of someone who had gone to bed later than they should have.
"Ethan you son of a bitch." He did not bother with a greeting. "How did you manage to pull a client like Mr Zedd?"
I opened my mouth to respond.
"I just got an email in the company forum from his team saying they want to collaborate with us on his Abu Dahar project," he jumped in before I could get a word out.
"Brian I didn't really—"
"At this pace you are guaranteed to get that promotion. You hear me? Guaranteed."
My chest tightened . I was getting excited.
"First Lumi♡Live now Mr Zedd." He laughed. "If I had known you were going to be my lucky charm I would have intervened on your behalf for the promotion last year."
I sat up straight.
"Wait. What?"
"That's in the past now. Let's look toward the future."
"No hold on, you could have intervened last year?"
"The future Ethan. Eyes forward."
so all those times I got looked over , Brian could have stepped in all along and simply chose not to. He kept talking like he had not just said something that deserved a full separate conversation and I let him because I did not have the energy to pull it out of him right now.
"You know what, take today off," he said. "Anything you want."
"How about a raise?" I said immediately.
Silence.
"Come now. Let's slow down a little."
Yeah that was too much and I knew it the second it left my mouth.
"But..."
Something in his tone shifted.
"But I can intercede with the head office on your behalf and have them increase your commission to ten percent. How does that sound?"
"I'll take it," I said.
"Good man. Come in early tomorrow and we'll discuss the details."
"I will."
Click!
I put the phone down and sat on the edge of the bed.
I didn't do anything at all. I had shown up to a party and Raina had done the rest. Every introduction, every vouching, every door she had quietly opened in that room. Mr Zedd, Delara, all of it ran through her. I needed to do something to show my appreciation.
She had been at Morning Dew twice now and both times she said the coffee was good. That much was certain.
I picked up my phone.
Hi. Thank you for last night. I'm free today so I was thinking maybe we could go out for coffee. That is if you're not busy. Let me know.
I put the phone down.
It buzzed almost immediately.
Sounds good. Text me the time and place.
I looked at the message for a moment then put the phone face down and got up to shower.
I was late.
I stopped at the flower shop on Crestline on the way and spent longer than I planned picking between stems because apparently I had opinions about flowers now. I settled on a single white lily because a full bouquet was expensive and I wasn't stable financially . Not yet.
She was already inside when I pushed the door open.
Sitting at the window table, coat still on, looking down at her phone. She looked up when the bell rang.
I crossed the floor toward her. "Sorry I'm late. I stopped at the flower shop."
I held out the lily.
She took it and looked at it.
"Lilies?"
"You sent me lilies at the office," I said as we sat down. "I figured it was your favorite."
She turned the stem in her hand. "I love lilies. But I didn't pick them. I asked my assistant to send you flowers and left the choice entirely to her."
"Really."
"I gave her no direction at all. She picked these herself."
I thought about that for a second. "I guess lilies are just an easy choice."
"I guess so," she said.
We picked up our menus and ordered. I told her to try the pie before she had even looked at the dessert section.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Trust me," I said.
A few minutes later Chloe appeared with our order and set everything down on the table.
"Thanks Chloe," I said.
" Anytime "She replied with a wink and left.
Raina watched her go. "Chloe. Do I sense tension between you two?"
"She's my neighbor," I said. "Same building. She borrows my dish soap every other week."
Raina laughed. "I was joking."
"Oh...sorry" we both laughed.
She tried the pie.
I watched her face without making it obvious I was watching her face.
"Okay," she said after a moment. "This is genuinely ridiculous."
"I know."
"How is a cafe pie this good?"
"Sol has been making it the same way for eleven years," I said. "He told me the secret was refusing to write the recipe down. Said the moment it became a formula it would stop being good."
She looked at the slice with something close to respect. "I believe that."
I took a sip of coffee. "My boss called me this morning. Mr Zedd's team reached out to Us. They want to move forward with the full Abu Dahar campaign, the promotional art, and everything graphic design related ."
"That's great news," she said.
"It's because of you," I said. "You opened every door in that room last night. I just walked through them."
She set her fork down. "Your work got you through those doors Ethan. I just made the introductions."
"You did more than that."
"You would have gotten there on your own."
I looked at her. "Maybe."
She held my gaze for a moment then looked back at her pie and something about the way she did it told me she was not comfortable sitting in gratitude for too long. Which I found interesting for someone whose entire career ran on people expressing it.
After that the conversation moved somewhere else entirely and neither of us steered it there deliberately. She mentioned how her mum baked the best brownies and she had just managed to recreate the recipe. I told her I would love to try it someday . I also talked about my earliest days as a freelancer designer .
We laughed about a joke I made .
We talked for almost two hours and I only noticed the time because Chloe came by to ask if we needed anything else and Raina ordered another coffee and I took that as permission to stay.
She was easy to talk to in a way that surprised me. Not because I had expected her to be difficult but because the ease of it was specific. Like talking to someone who was genuinely listening rather than waiting for their turn.
I had wanted to ask her how she knew where I lived ...but that went out the window. I didn't wanna ruin our conversation and the mood that evening
Thinking back now. I should have paid more attention to that matter. Maybe it could have made a difference. or it's just wishful thinking.