Page 15 of Meet Me in a Mile

Fifteen

Lydia

“I can’t believe you forgot you were supposed to be here today,” Erik mumbled under his breath as crowds of prospective architects wandered around the Hilton hotel reception room. “I told you, first week of September. Put it on your calendar.”

“I didn’t forget,” Lydia said, adjusting their poster board. “I was late.”

“Because you forgot.”

“Maybe I got distracted again wallowing about my youth center proposal and it slipped my mind. You can’t just expect me to remember to show up to these sorts of things on a random Thursday.”

Erik looked at her pointedly. “I sent you an email reminder. And I also told you we could talk about the proposal if you’re still upset.”

“I’m not upset.” Lydia smiled politely at a young woman who stopped by their table to pick up a pamphlet. “It’s been two weeks. Why would I still be upset?”

“Is this what having a daughter is like? Passive-aggressiveness? Glaring at me from across the room?”

“Yes.” In truth, the rejected proposal wasn’t bothering her as much as the fact that Jack had also turned up to represent Poletti’s today. No offense to the Future Architects of New York, but if she’d known he would be here, she probably would have tried to get out of the mixer. She glanced across the room to where Jack was busy mingling and networking, handing out business cards and Poletti’s pamphlets.

“You know I was as out of the loop on that decision as you were,” Erik said.

“It’s not just this proposal, Erik.” Lydia sighed. “It’s every other rejected proposal I’ve found on my desk lately. Is this why? Nobody gets to climb the ladder or sit center stage until the leadership is done showing off for Marco?”

“I’m gonna talk to Marco about what’s been going on.”

“No, don’t do that,” Lydia said. “I don’t want to be the girl who whined to the boss because she didn’t get picked.”

“That’s not what’s happening here.”

“But that’s how everyone will see it. All they’ll see is me. Stepping on toes.” That’s the last thing she wanted—to be the office tattletale. “The decision’s already been made. I’ll just have to do better keeping up with the office politics next time.” She looked away from him, no longer capable of enduring that pitying gaze, and organized the pamphlets on their table for the fiftieth time since arriving. Someone, likely Kirsten, had gone out of their way to plaster the poster board and the pamphlets with pictures of Poletti’s best contract builds. On one tiny image in the corner of the poster was an eco-friendly residential building design Lydia had helped create a couple years ago.

“Well,” Erik said. “If you change your mind about that, I’ll be making the rounds.”

“Right,” Lydia said, eyeballing the handsome architect that had just appeared on the other side of the room. “I know why you’re really going over there.”

“It’s called networking,” Erik whispered. “You should try it. Might make you feel better.”

“Excuse me for bringing the vibe down.” Despite her sullen mood, she conjured a smile, which Erik returned before making his way across the room. He was right. She couldn’t stay frustrated and annoyed forever. She’d just have to get over it. And maybe she’d do that. Tomorrow. Today she only had to last one more hour; then she could pack up and flee this reception room. She even had the afternoon off from work as a reward. Her phone buzzed and she dug it out of her pocket. Luke had been texting her on and off all morning, keeping her entertained as she complained, first, about forgetting about the mixer, and then second, about being stuck at the mixer.

She bit her lip, wondering if she was being selfish, smiling down at his texts, indulging their conversations beyond just a trainer and a trainee. But they were friends, weren’t they? Friends don’t repeatedly fall into bed together . That day in Luke’s apartment flashed back in bits and pieces. Again, she’d told herself that it hadn’t counted as breaking their rule, that it didn’t mean anything, because she didn’t want to hurt Luke, who’d been nothing but good to her as a trainer, as a friend, and...whatever else they sometimes were.

They’d both just been so disappointed, so sad, that they’d gravitated toward each other that day like magnets. Comfort was all they were after, nothing more. Thankfully, Luke seemed to have understood that. They both knew the marathon was only two months away. They both knew where their focus needed to be, and they hadn’t spoken of that day since. So she didn’t know why she hadn’t been able to shake the memories of what they’d gotten up to.

Training, she thought. Focus on the training. She was gearing up to run fifteen miles this weekend. Each run was getting longer and harder, requiring more of her focus and attention. She felt sort of bad because she’d been spending more time with Luke than anyone else. She wasn’t seeing Ashley as much as she used to, and there was probably some maid of honor thing she was failing at, but one thing at a time. Just focus on the next step you have to take, as Luke would say.

When she looked up from her phone, a young man in a slightly oversized suit was hovering by their table. Lydia shot him what she hoped was an inviting smile. “Hey! Are there any questions I can answer about Poletti’s?”

Now that she’d opened the lines of communication, the man stepped forward. “I’m actually just looking to get a feel for a few different firms.”

“Are you still in school?” Lydia asked, curious.

The man nodded. “My final year. Does Poletti’s do a lot with sustainability?”

“Um...” Lydia started answering. “I can’t say it’s a priority, but we definitely work on the occasional project.” She pointed to their poster. “This one was great. We prioritized a cool roof design to deflect sunlight instead of absorbing it. The building owner was on board with going green, so we focused on renewable energy systems and leaned heavily into solar power.”

“Did you take a lot of courses on sustainable building when you were in school?”

Lydia chuckled. “Oh, so many. I remember doing this course where the professor talked about how green buildings have healthier inhabitants and that really stuck with me. I think it’s part of what made me want to focus on sustainability.”

The man picked up a pamphlet. “I’m glad to see you getting to put all that knowledge into a design.”

The corner of Lydia’s mouth quirked. If he only knew how much of that knowledge she’d poured into her youth center proposal. “Here,” she said, passing him a business card. “If you have any more questions you can reach out to our admin assistant, Kirsten. She’ll put you in touch with someone that can answer them.”

“Awesome, thank you.”

As the man wandered to the next booth, an older woman with curls upon curls of dark hair and green cat-eye glasses approached. In an odd turn of events, she held a business card out to Lydia. “I couldn’t help overhearing,” she said. “You sound like you know what you’re talking about on the sustainability front.”

“It’s definitely one of my passions when it comes to new builds.” Lydia glanced down at the business card. Angela Reeves. Coleman and Associates.

“Do you have a card?” Angela asked.

Lydia touched her pocket out of habit, but realizing that all she had were the generic cards for Poletti’s, she picked one up and scribbled her name on the back.

“Thanks,” Angela said as Lydia handed it over. “We do a lot of work in that area, and if you’re ever interested, I’d be happy to sit down with you and talk about what Coleman and Associates has to offer.”

Lydia opened her mouth, staring down at Angela’s card again, her brows furrowed. “Oh, gosh,” she said. “Thanks, but I’m not currently looking.” Had she been mistaken for a new grad? “I’m actually really happy where I am.”

“Offer doesn’t expire,” Angela said. “Just putting it out there.”

Well, Erik had told her to network—though she didn’t think this was exactly the networking he had in mind. “Thanks, Angela. It was good to meet you.”

“Good to meet you too, Lydia,” she said before melting back into the crowd.

Lydia stared at the card long after Angela was gone, and she didn’t know why. She wasn’t looking for another job. She was happy at Poletti’s. Most of the time. The past few weeks had been an anomaly. Things would blow over between her and Jack and the leadership team. Still, her curiosity got the better of her. It couldn’t hurt to take a peek at what the competition was doing.

She googled Coleman & Associates on her phone, scrolling through some of the projects listed on their website. It took all of thirty seconds for her to become completely engrossed. She’d seen some of these building designs around the city, marveled at them even. And Angela was right, this company put a big emphasis on sustainability. Lydia was drawn to their About page, and was reading the team bios when a shadow fell across her screen.

“You look like you could use a coffee.”

“Luke?” she said, surprised to find him standing there, holding out a warm paper cup. “What are you doing here?”

“I was volunteering at the youth center. You’re basically down the street. I figured I’d just meet you here and we could head over to the gym together when you’re finished. What time does this wrap up?”

“Supposedly after lunch,” she said. “So hopefully anytime.” She smiled her first real smile of the entire day. “How’d you get in without a pass?”

He lowered his voice, whispering like it was a secret. “You can get in anywhere either wearing a construction vest or carrying multiple coffees. It makes it look like you belong.”

She shook her head, lifting her cup. “You didn’t have to do this.”

He shrugged. “You sounded like you could use a pick-me-up. So I made it extra sugary just the way you like it.”

Lydia took a sip. She swore the sugar went straight to her bloodstream, and she beamed at him before narrowing her eyes. “I’m not going to hear about this during training later, am I?”

“I would never,” he said.

“Mm-hmm. I’m on to you, Luke Townsend.”

He did a twirl, checking out the room. “So, this is what architects get up to for fun, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say fun. I’m supposed to be networking.”

“And how’s that going?”

“I think a woman just tried to poach me for her firm, so pretty well, I’d say.”

“There you go. And you’re in charge of this display thing?” he said, gesturing to the poster board.

“I am single-handedly holding this display together. My supervisor ran off to try his luck with a man at the bar,” Lydia said, pointing Erik out. “And Jack is a networking machine, apparently, so I’m on my own.”

Luke set his eyes on Jack and didn’t look away. “So, that’s Jack, huh?”

She frowned at his tone. “What?”

“Nothing. He’s just handsome and very charismatic, judging by all the laughter going on over there.” Luke’s brow arched as he caught her eye. “Not at all the dastardly villain you made him out to be.”

Lydia flushed at the mention of the other week. In between all the sweaty adult fun, she’d also inadvertently revealed to Luke that Jack was her office crush. In fact, she thought her exact words were something along the lines of I thought he liked my work . God, was she in middle school? It sure sounded like Jack was the boy that broke up with her at recess, stomping all over her heart. Admitting that to Luke almost felt stupider than sleeping with him again.

Groups around them started to pack up and Lydia sighed. “Finally! I didn’t want to be the first to leave.”

She passed Luke her coffee so she could tear down the Poletti’s table display. The sooner she got everything packed up, the sooner she could get out of here.

“How’d we do, running buddy? Any takers?”

Lydia’s entire being flushed as Jack appeared at her side, grabbing the poster board from the table and folding it into sections. “Uh, maybe a few.”

“I handed out so many business cards Poletti’s is going to be flooded with résumés.”

How strange it was to be standing here, Jack on one side and Luke on the other. Should she introduce them? Would it be weird? Jack had no concept of Luke’s existence, and yet she’d already given Luke a far too detailed rundown of Jack and her work situation. What would she even say?

Before she was forced to make the decision, Jack tucked the poster board under his arm and tossed the bag full of pamphlets over his shoulder. “Gotta run,” he said. “But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lydia watched him disappear into the crowd.

“I get it now,” Luke said a moment later.

“Huh?”

He gestured to his face, a coffee still in either hand. “You gotta look behind the eyes. Clearly the supervillain type.”

“Shut up,” Lydia replied to his teasing. “It’s not funny.”

“Whatever you say, running buddy .”

Lydia snatched her coffee back. She knew Luke was just messing with her, and she supposed that was better than having a serious conversation about it. Though she would have preferred if he’d simply ignored the whole damn thing. “I’m officially not talking to you.” Lydia took a long drag from her cup, hoping the burn of the coffee down her throat would ease the burn in her cheeks. She was grateful when her phone started ringing.

“Hey,” she said, answering Ashley’s call.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Um, I’m with Luke. We were just about to leave that architect mixer I told you about and head to training.”

“Could you do me the world’s biggest favor first?”

“Of course,” Lydia said.

“Meet me at the City Clerk’s Office at two o’clock.”

She frowned. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s good. Great. Bring Luke if you want.”

Lydia caught Luke’s eye. He looked as concerned as she felt. “Ash, what’s going on?”

“I’m getting married.”