Amulet, p.24
Amulet, page 24
A different emotion threatened to overcome Alex, but she swallowed it down with a smile.
“Thank you, Sarah. It means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
“Well, it’s all true. You’re doing great. Keep it up. Now, tell me about what you’ve got going on this week. What matters are you working on?”
As Alex filled her mentor in on the matters she’d been staffed on, she made a mental note to reach out to Val. Two months had passed since they had said goodbye to each other in his office. Two months had passed without a word from him—no phone calls, no text messages, no emails. She’d tried to call him in recent weeks, but the calls had always gone to voice mail, and she couldn’t work up the courage to leave a message. She’d even walked by his building a few times, hoping to run into him. But she hadn’t.
Alex had thought that time away from Val might help her to forget him, how she felt when she was with him. But if anything, Val was in her thoughts more and more with each day that passed. She couldn’t help wondering how he was doing. She missed him.
She’d read the news stories about the deal with FiberTech falling through. It must have been so difficult for Val to tell his employees. Alex should have been there for him. She should have been there to tell him she knew his company would be okay because they still had him.
But she wasn’t.
Most of all, though, Alex wanted to see Val so she could figure out if the feelings she still had for him were just a figment of her imagination, the result of her romanticized memories of Israel and their time together, or if there was something really there between them. Something more.
As she sat in Sarah’s office, listening to her mentor’s good advice, Alex resolved that she would reach out to Val and ask him to lunch. If he agreed, she would soon learn the answers to all her questions.
And she would know if that amulet he had given her really did grant wishes.
****
The last couple of months had gone by in a blur for Val. He had basically been living out of a suitcase, and half the time he woke up in the morning not remembering what city he was currently in. He had spent hours in taxis and waiting around in airports, all for lunch with a customer here, an afternoon with a customer there, meeting and talking, listening and taking notes.
When he was in the office briefly between customer visits, Val spent all his time with his engineers and sales personnel. He reported back to them about what their customers liked and what they didn’t like, what was working for them, and what was causing difficulties. The engineers worked overtime to design and redesign, coming up with different ways to solve new problems and better ways to address old ones. The sales team spent more time with the engineers and learned more about how to identify the customers’ needs—both the needs the customers knew they had, as well as those they weren’t even aware of.
There was an energy pulsating in the hallways and the conference rooms at Span Global. Everyone was working together. Everyone felt needed, each person contributing something only they could bring to the table. When Val paused to take a breath now and then, he saw it. He felt it. His company was alive again. He didn’t know how long it would last, but he was thankful for each day they got.
Although FiberTech had canceled their orders about a week after their board meeting and moved their accounts to Pierce Industries, just as Val had predicted, none of Span Global’s other customers followed suit, which was encouraging. Moreover, instead of losing employees to Pierce, his company had to hire two more engineers and another junior sales rep to keep up with the volume of work. They were actually growing.
It was mid-March when Val finally took a week-long break from traveling—his longest break in two and a half months. He was exhausted, and he knew that if he didn’t stop to relax and regroup, even for just a week, his body would go on strike and force him to stop.
Val got into the office a little later than usual that first Monday back, so happy to be sleeping in his own bed that he hadn’t even heard the alarm clock go off. People were hustling and bustling in the halls, groups meeting in the conference rooms, and phones ringing as he passed by closed doors on the way to his office. These were all good signs, Val thought to himself. All good signs.
He waved at Judy as he passed by her desk—she was also on the phone but looked up and grinned when she saw him.
Finally, Val stepped into his office and shut the door (Judy had an especially loud voice when she was on the phone). He put his laptop bag down on the desk, took out his computer, and docked it. Sitting in his comfortable leather chair, feeling satisfied at how things were going, he patiently waited for his computer to boot up and emails to appear on the screen.
As his inbox updated, Val quickly scanned the senders and subject lines. He had checked his phone for emails just before leaving for work that morning, but already forty-four new emails were waiting for his attention. Another good sign.
Val skimmed the list of emails from newest to oldest, and as he got to the bottom of the list, he noticed the name of a new sender—AlexW@Farber.com. It was an email from Alex, sent from the email address at her new firm.
Ignoring the other unread emails, Val double-clicked on the one from Alex.
Dear Val,
I hope you are doing well. I heard that the deal with FiberTech didn’t go through—I was really sorry to hear that. I truly believe you did everything you could to make that deal happen. I don’t know what else to say about it, other than I know you and your company will be fine.
I also recently discovered (somewhat accidentally) that you are a client of Farber and McCraw, THE LAW FIRM THAT HIRED ME! How could you not tell me they were your lawyers? In any case, after asking her a series of very direct questions, I got Sarah (YOUR LAWYER!) to tell me exactly how the firm came across my resume. So now I know you were behind it all. You were the reason I got the interview. You are the reason I have this job, this job that I love.
SO, I thought maybe you would let me take you out to lunch to thank you. I’m making a big-time salary now (thanks to YOU), so you pick the place—my treat! I’m free today, and also Thursday or Friday, if you’re busy today. What do you say?
Alex
What did he say? Val had tried to put Alex out of his mind over the past two and a half months. If he were really being honest with himself, Val would have admitted that part of the reason he was doing so much traveling was to keep himself mentally and physically occupied, so he wouldn’t have time to think about her. So that he would fall asleep at the end of each day as soon as his head hit the pillow and wouldn’t have time to picture Alex’s lovely face or hear her soft laughter. Or think about that amazing kiss.
Stop it, he told himself. It was just a stupid email, and there was no reason for him to be conjuring up images of Alex huddled next to him, the two of them gazing into the sunset from the top of Mount Precipice in comfortable silence, shoulders touching. No, there was simply no reason for that.
Val had a few options here. One—he could simply ignore the email, just not respond. But that would never sit well with him. Val wasn’t one to run away from problems. He faced them head-on.
Two—Val could respond and give an excuse for not being able to make it. He had been traveling practically non-stop for the past ten weeks. It would be perfectly reasonable for him to need some time to catch up on work without having to take a long lunch break to chit-chat with a former employee. But this would be another attempt to avoid seeing Alex. He couldn’t just blow her off. Especially since, to him, she wasn’t just a former employee.
So, Val looked at his calendar. He already had lunch meetings set up for Thursday and Friday. It would need to be today, or Alex would have to wait a couple of weeks until his schedule cleared up a bit. Which of course also meant that Val would have to wait a couple of weeks to see Alex. And now that the prospect of seeing her, talking to her, being with her was just within reach, he couldn’t bear the thought of waiting another two hours, let alone two weeks, for it to happen.
Val hit “Reply” and typed up his response:
Sure. Let’s meet at 11:30 at Miguelito’s.
That was all he wrote—no names, no greeting, no closing. He had picked an Italian place he liked close to her office, even though it meant he would have to walk ten blocks to get there.
Almost immediately, another email from Alex popped up on the screen, and, eagerly, he opened it:
Great! See you soon!
There, it was done.
Despite the number of emails he had to go through, the almost continuous stream of people who stopped by to see him on his first day back, and the endless number of contracts and legal documents he had to review and sign before lunchtime, it seemed like forever before it was eleven o’clock.
Noting the time with a sigh of relief, he pushed away from his desk and stood up. It was supposed to be a warm spring day, so he left his jacket in his office and walked out to the reception area where Judy sat at her desk. She looked up as Val walked toward her.
“Heading off to lunch?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.
He nodded. “Yes.”
Something kept Val from saying more, as though he was doing something wrong by seeing Alex and trying not to get caught.
The more Val thought about it, the more he wanted to hurry up and leave. He threw a “see you later” over his shoulder at Judy and walked as quickly as he could out of the office, making his way down to street level via the least populated route, hoping to avoid making conversation with anyone.
What was he doing, agreeing to have lunch with Alex?
Val asked himself that question over and over again as he walked ten blocks to the restaurant, head down and hands in his pockets. There was no reason for him to have lunch with Alex. None at all. He was getting used to the solitude again, and Israel was fading in his memory. Why did she have to email him like this, out of the blue, on his first day back in town?
And why did he have to agree to see her?
Well, the answer to that one was easy—Val had agreed because he wanted to see her. No matter how much Val tried not to think about it, he missed being with Alex. In whatever capacity they had been together, the point was that they had been together, laughing, sharing, eating, joking. He missed knowing where she was and what was going on in her life. He missed strategizing with her and hearing her ideas. He missed her smile.
Man, he was pathetic.
All Val had to do was get through lunch, and then he could go back to the way it was, before Alex came to work for him. He would find himself a hot little number and date her for a little while, get his mind off things, focus on rebuilding his company, and forget about Alex. He never had to see her again.
And then he saw her, and the feelings came rushing back into him, almost knocking him over.
Alex was looking in the other direction, and Val took his time studying her as he approached, forgetting all about his solemn vow to forget her. A warm feeling grew in his chest and quickly spread through his body all the way to his fingers and toes, just at the sight of her.
The way Alex stood there, in a dark blue pin-striped dress with cap sleeves and a slitted neckline, her head gracefully tilted to one side as she tried to peer around some diners who were sitting at the open-air tables in front of the restaurant, presumably trying to locate Val—she was, in a word, breathtaking.
And Val was hopelessly in love with her.
****
At the sound of footsteps approaching, Alex turned and saw him. Val was even more handsome than she remembered, despite the serious expression on his face. She had never seen him look so grim, his features so severe. Although Val walked in her direction, it was as though he didn’t see her, and for a moment Alex wondered if he would just keep walking past.
She shook off the feeling of disappointment and put on a smile as Val came up to her.
“Hi, Val! There you go sneaking up on me again.”
He didn’t even crack a smile. “Did you ever think that maybe you’re just completely oblivious to your surroundings?”
Alex chuckled, but Val didn’t join her laughter, even though he had been the one to make the joke. He looked past her again to the door of the restaurant, and Alex wondered if he had only accepted her invitation to be nice. Because it didn’t seem as though he wanted to be there at all.
“I think they’ve got a table ready for us,” said Alex, turning away so he wouldn’t see the tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. “I told them to seat us inside. I hope that’s okay.”
“Sure,” he replied flatly. “That’s fine.”
Alex led the way inside the restaurant, where the hostess greeted them.
Once seated, Val picked up his menu and began looking at it.
Picking up her menu, Alex said, “This was a good choice of restaurant. Sarah brought me here on my first day of work, and the food was really good. I’m assuming you’ve been here before?”
“Yes. A few times.” His gaze did not stray from the words on the menu.
Val had never acted this way with her before. Even that last morning in Israel, after they had kissed—even then he hadn’t given her the cold shoulder. He had always been kind and pleasant. He had always made Alex feel as though he cared about her.
What had changed in the last couple of months? Why did Val seem so distant?
Unable to deal with the silence between them, Alex said, “I had the rigatoni the last time I was here, but I feel like trying something new. What are you thinking of getting?”
Val sucked in a breath, still studying the menu. “I’m not sure yet.”
Alex had never felt at a loss for words with him, but now, suddenly, she had no idea what to say. All she could do was look at him. His dark brown hair was tousled, as though he had been running his fingers through it all morning. Lips pressed together in a serious line, eyes dull and tired, Val wasn’t himself at all. What was going on with him? Was he just exhausted? Or was it something else?
Suddenly, Val looked up from his menu and caught Alex looking at him. She quickly lowered her eyes, pretending she had been studying the lunch options all along, even as her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
Val cleared his throat. “So, how do you like having a real job with a real salary?”
Looking back up at him, Alex smiled, relieved to hear him speak. “It’s great, Val. I’m so happy at Farber. Sarah is a great mentor, and everyone I’ve worked with is wonderful. They’re all really patient and give constructive feedback. And they’re so good about getting me involved. It’s a lot like the environment at Span Global, where people look out for each other and are happy to be there. Your company spoiled me in terms of work environment, so I’m glad Farber can live up to the expectations you set.”
Val nodded, then resumed his perusal of the menu, which he likely had memorized by now.
Their server came, and they placed their orders. Then there was more silence.
“So, what’s new with you?” Alex asked, hoping he would offer more than a one-word answer.
“Aside from losing the deal with FiberTech and then losing them as a customer altogether?”
Val’s expression softened as soon as he’d uttered the words, and Alex knew he regretted them. He sighed but uttered no apology, although a certain look of sadness crept into his features.
This was not the Val she knew.
Still, she had to say something.
“I still can’t understand how that happened,” Alex replied softly. “Our meetings in Israel went so well. Gideon practically told you outright that you had it. It just doesn’t make sense. They’ll be sorry. Who are they getting their components from now, Pierce?”
Val nodded.
“They’ll definitely be sorry. Is that why you’ve been traveling a lot lately?”
Val looked up at her in shock. “How do you know I’ve been traveling?”
Alex felt herself blush again, and she reached for her glass, hoping the water would return her cheeks to a normal hue. Taking a sip and setting the glass back down, she answered truthfully. “I tried calling you a few times over the past month, but I kept getting your voicemail. I didn’t want to leave you a message when I had nothing really important to say. So, I finally called Judy and asked her if you were out of town, and she told me. She said you’d be back today, so I thought I’d send you an email so you could ignore it if you were busy catching up on stuff. Which I’m sure you are.”
“Yes. There are a lot of emails and messages I still haven’t even touched.”
Again, Val seemed to wince at his own words, and again Alex wished he would just tell her what was bothering him.
Looking down, Val blew out a breath, just as the server returned with their salads.
As they began nibbling on their greens, Val surprised her by speaking. “So, the job is going well. I’m glad to hear it. How’s Billy doing with his injuries and rehab?”
That was the kind and considerate Val she knew, and Alex couldn’t help smiling. “Billy’s doing great. He started walking without a cane a few weeks ago. I think he’s going to physical therapy only once a week now.”
Alex saw Val clench his jaw out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked at him again, his face was relaxed. “That’s great. That was a terrible thing that happened to him.”
“Yeah. There are a lot of bad people out there. The funny thing is that this happened to Billy on the way to his car, which he parks in the indoor parking garage in his firm’s building. You know, one of the fancy garages you berated me for not parking in, then promptly paid for on my second day working for you.”
Amazingly, the stern line of his lips curved, just slightly. “That is somewhat ironic,” Val replied, “but I still stand by my berating of you for parking in the sketchy lots.”
Alex laughed, the tightness in her chest easing. She had really missed Val. Being with him again now only made her realize how much.
Their entrees came, and as they ate, Val began to abandon his serious demeanor, slipping back into the pleasant banter Alex knew and loved. Val asked her about what she was working on and how she liked it, and Alex asked him about all the different places he had been in the last several weeks. They talked over and around each other, and the words just flowed, effortlessly. Like they used to.
