CELESTE
The glass doors at Apex Innovations were not like any doors I had seen before. They slid open without making a sound, like a metal mouth waiting to swallow people who wanted to make it big.
I fixed my skirt, which I had bought from a thrift store and made to look more expensive. My laptop bag was okay so I just adjusted it. My stomach felt funny like it did before I had to give a presentation at NYU.. This was different. This was not about getting a good grade. This was about Gabriel's future. For three years I had been staying away from people I knew in my city hiding in Brooklyn. Today I was going back to the corporate world, which was all about glass and steel. This was the world that had hurt me when I was just twenty years old.
My friend Maya had told me that morning "You look great C. Go there and show them what you are made of. You do not need any help from anyone. You built this." She had given me coffee. Gabriel had put a dinosaur sticker on my shoe.
I walked into the lobby. It was very quiet and fancy with marble and black steel everywhere. A woman at the desk checked my ID and smiled but it did not look like a real smile.
"Celeste Lawson. Junior Financial Analyst. Floor 42. Reporting to Ms. Thorne " she said.
I had seen Ms. Thornes picture on the company website. She looked sharp and cold like a knife.
The elevator took me up to the floor. When the doors opened I saw people in suits walking around and talking on their tablets. This was where the real work happened at Apex Innovations.
Someone said, "You are late."
I turned around. Saw Ms. Thorne. She was even taller than I thought and her blonde hair was pulled back tight. She looked at my shoes, my bag. Then my face. I knew she did not think I was good enough. She did not see a person who had survived on little money; she saw a girl who did not belong here.
The meeting had started three minutes ago she said. "Come on.. Be quiet. You are here to take notes not to share your thoughts. Mr. Cross does not like people talking too much."
She took me to a glass conference room. There were people sitting around a long black table.. The man at the head of the table caught my attention.
He was not looking up. He was staring at a tablet and frowning which made him look both friendly and scary. His jawline was sharp. His dark hair looked great in the light. He looked like someone from my past. In a suit.
It was him.
I remembered that night three years ago. The way he had looked at me in a club like I was the only person there. The way his hands had felt, strong and gentle. I remembered his skin and the things he had said that made me feel like he really saw me.. Then I remembered the next morning when I woke up to an empty bed and the three years of silence that followed.
Ms. Thorne said, "Mr. Cross this is Celeste, our junior hire. She will be taking notes."
Allen Cross did not look up. He just swiped his screen. Said, "Sit down. We are wasting time."
His voice was deeper than I remembered. It sounded cold. He sounded like a man who always got what he wanted.
I sat down. Opened my laptop trying to hide my face. I thought, "He does not remember me. He does not know who I am. Just get through this."
Then the door opened again. A delivery guy came in with a package for Ms. Thorne. When she reached for it she bumped my arm and my phone slid across the table. It landed face-up showing a picture of Gabriel from Sunday. He was. Covered in chocolate ice cream with bright blue eyes that looked just like Allens.
I reached for my phone. I was too late.
Allen Cross finally looked up. He did not look at me at first. He looked at my phone and for a second his face changed. He looked surprised. Then he looked at me.
Everything stopped. The air conditioning, the sound of pens on paper the traffic outside. Everything was gone. I felt his eyes on me like he was trying to see through me.
"You " he said, not like a question. Like he had just figured something out.
Ms. Thorne asked, "Mr. Cross is there a problem? I can replace her by lunch."
Allen did not even blink. His blue eyes searched mine looking for the girl from the club the one who had disappeared. I saw confusion then annoyance and then coldness in his eyes.
"No " he said, his voice. Serious. "No problem all. Lets get started."
The meeting was a blur. I saw numbers and charts. All I felt was his eyes on me. Every time I looked up he was watching me. He was not the guy from the bar anymore; he was the boss. I was in trouble.
I realized that my secret was out. It was, like a bomb waiting to explode.. Allen Cross seemed like the kind of guy who would rather blow everything up than let someone else control the situation.
As the meeting ended he said, "Junior, come to my office in five minutes."
I froze.
I watched him leave, my head spinning. I had spent three years keeping Gabriel from the people who might hurt him. Now I had walked him right into Allen Crosss path.
I stood up smoothed my skirt and headed to his office. The lion wanted to talk. I knew that things were about to change. Again.