Chapter 6 - THE FIRST DATE THAT WASN’T A DATE
Six months after I stopped reporting to Adrian, he asked me to dinner.
I said no.
He looked startled.
“Why?”
“Because you are still chairman.”
“I am chairman of Kane Holdings.”
“I work for Kane Holdings.”
He frowned.
“You report to Julia Mercer.”
“Yes.”
“Who reports to the board.”
“Yes.”
“I am one vote.”
“A very large, terrifying vote.”
He almost smiled.
“So no?”
“No.”
I went home proud of myself.
Then complained to my friend Lena for forty-five minutes.
She listened.
Finally:
“You want him to ask again.”
“No.”
“You absolutely do.”
“He's complicated.”
“He's a mafia boss.”
“Former-ish.”
“That is not a normal modifier.”
Fair.
Adrian did not ask again.
That was how I knew he had changed.
Old Adrian repeated requests until the world rearranged itself.
New Adrian heard no.
Months passed.
Vincent's criminal case moved toward trial.
Adrian's own legal exposure stabilized.
Independent management took over Kane businesses.
Noah started first grade.
I built an actual life.
Then Julia Mercer left Kane Holdings for another company.
I received an offer from a major law firm to become chief administrative officer.
Nathan Croft's firm.
The same firm Sophia once tried to contact.
The symmetry felt almost excessive.
I accepted.
My last week at Kane Holdings, Adrian came to my office.
“I heard.”
“Yes.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“More money?”
“Yes.”
“Traitor.”
“Capitalism.”
He smiled.
Then:
“When is your last day?”
“Friday.”
“Saturday?”
“What about it?”
“Dinner.”
I looked at him.
He waited.
No pressure.
“Is this finally a date?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Painfully.”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
Our first date was terrible.
The restaurant lost our reservation.
A reporter recognized Adrian.
Someone spilled wine on me.
Noah called halfway through because he believed Gerald was sick.
Stuffed-elephant illness apparently presents as “looking tired.”
Adrian apologized.
I laughed.
“It is fine.”
“No, this is objectively bad.”
“I've had worse evenings.”
He looked at me.
“Wedding?”
“Never married.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
He immediately regretted the question.
“I mean—”
I laughed again.
For once, Adrian Kane was nervous.
I liked him better that way.
We left the restaurant and walked three blocks in Manhattan rain.
No security close enough to hear.
He asked about my childhood.
Noah.
Work.
My mother.
Things he somehow did not know after two years of my controlling his calendar.
Then I asked about Sophia.
He became quiet.
“Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
He told me how they met.
College fundraising event.
She hated him initially.
Smart woman.
They married at twenty-seven.
She challenged the Kane family constantly.
He loved her.
Then his father died.
Power changed him.
Work consumed everything.
Sophia became increasingly uncomfortable with the criminal side of his inheritance.
She wanted him to leave.
He kept promising:
“After this problem.”
“After this year.”
“After Noah is older.”
Then she died.
I understood something.
“I can't be Sophia.”
Adrian looked startled.
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
“I'm not going to heal what happened by taking her place.”
His eyes softened.
“I don't want you to.”
“And Noah?”
“He needs his mother remembered.”
“Yes.”
“He also needs to know loving you doesn't betray her.”
That was exactly right.
Then Adrian said:
“You know why I look at you?”
I groaned.
“Noah has ruined that question forever.”
He smiled.
“You walk into rooms without asking who owns them.”
“What does that mean?”
“My entire life, everyone changes around the Kane name.”
“I didn't.”
“No.”
“I was terrified of you for six months.”
“You hid it well.”
“I alphabetized fear.”
He laughed.
There it was again.
That deep laugh from the hallway.
This time nobody froze.
I smiled.
And for the first time, Adrian Kane reached for my hand.
He stopped before touching.
“Can I?”
Choice.
“Yes.”
I took his hand.
Nothing exploded.
Nobody disappeared.
No empire collapsed.
Just two adults walking through Manhattan rain.
May you like
Sometimes beginnings are allowed to be ordinary.
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