Nicole meant well, but she was wrong. I did see the real him. And he was in pain and felt betrayed by everyone around him.
I promised her I wouldn’t call or text. But I never said anything about going to see him.
At three in the afternoon, I showed up at August’s building. It wasn’t hard finding out where he worked. His name was all over the Wall Street Journal, CNBC and Linked In.
Even though my heart was pounding against my chest the entire elevator ride up, I convinced myself this was a good idea. It wasn’t for me. Hell, it wasn’t even about us. I just needed to convince him to stop letting his brother take his glory away.
“Hello,” I greeted the young woman seated behind a rounded reception desk. She was frantically typing into the computer and putting calls on hold.
She glanced up at me and ignored me. “Hi, um I’m here to…”
She held up a finger and answered another call, immediately putting them on hold.
“Hi there. You here for the interview? Mr. Matthews’ office is down the hall, but—”
“I’m not. I’m here to see August Hartman.”
Her eyes widened and she scrolled through her screen frantically. “Today? I-I’m sorry I must have mixed up the appointments, he’s completely booked, what did you say your name was?”
“No, no, I—don’t have an appointment. He doesn’t know I’m here, could I just…pop in for a minute? I won’t take up too much of—”
She stared at me like I was from another planet. “Without an appointment? Oh no no no no no, Mr. Hartman won’t see you without—”
“Oh for Christ’s sake,” I muttered to myself and walked past her. “This is him, right?” I pointed to the double wooden doors, pushing one open and stepping inside.
“If we keep going at this pace—” a man facing the other direction stopped speaking instantly when August looked up with a glare sharp enough to slice through me if I let it.
The man who was talking swiveled in the chair. “Sorry, is our time up already?”
“That’s not my assistant, Eddie,” August muttered before pounding a button on his desk phone, anger brewing in his eyes. “What the hell, Debbie?”
“I’m sorry, she barged in sir, I didn’t want to cause a scene by stopping her.”
I was breathless and a little bit flushed. The older suited man stood from his chair. “You’ll have to wait your turn, like everyone else, doll.”
“I’m sure this can wait. What I have to say can’t, so perhaps you can give us a moment?”
With a sly grin, the man approached me. “Ah this isn’t business, is it?” He glanced over at August for confirmation who said and did nothing.
“Eddie Jones.” He took my hand and kissed the back of my palm. I frowned and pulled it back.
“I am not charmed. If you would please—”
“Five minutes, Eddie. I do apologize.” August’s flat tone stung, but I looked past it.
Not about me. Not about us.
He stayed seated as Eddie walked out. His hair was slicked to the side, eyeglasses perfectly in place. Crisp, clean suit that pressed against the back of his chair as he leaned back, a shiny silver pen tracing his bottom lip.
August seemed anything but happy to see me. I swallowed the pit in my stomach that screamed this was a bad idea and stepped closer, eyeing his massive office. Granted, the view from the wall-to-wall windows was spectacular, but why would anyone need so much space to work?
My voice was small when I finally spoke. “Why are you here?” It wasn’t exactly what I’d wanted to say, but there was a point and I was going to get to it.
I hope.
He frowned. “Shouldn’t that be my question?”
“August, you don’t belong here. And I think you know that.”
