She took a shuddering breath, her eyes turning shiny before she got control.
“I’m here to meet with Theo and Maeve about a job.”
“What job?” I asked suspiciously.
“The Clark Street property.”
“There’s no residential there,” I replied. “It’s not a project for Lowenthal.”
“I’m not in residential development anymore,” she said. “I quit my job at Lowenthal Properties.”
That was a shock. Her parents must have had a coronary.
“Please Grace, can we talk? Just give me ten minutes and I’ll leave you alone when we get out of here, I promise.”
“Fine.” Hopefully, someone would let us out before Theo got back.
I dropped into a chair on one side of the table, slouching like an angry teen. Nicole sat at the end, facing me.
“A lot of things have changed with me recently,” she began, her eyes searching my face. “I left the company so I could start my own architecture firm. I also put my townhouse on the market and moved to an apartment over my new company. And I came out to my parents and told them that I’m a lesbian, then I told them that they need to stop controlling my life.”
When I didn’t answer she added, “It’s all because of you, Grace. You gave me the courage to make the big changes. Being with you made me a better woman, even if it took me a little while to figure it out.”
Her face was so earnest and hopeful I could feel the ice melting around my heart. A recent conversation with my therapist flashed through my mind:
“The thing about holding yourself to such impossible standards is that sometimes it also means that you hold others to those same standards. You’re going to mess up sometimes Grace. You’re going to fail. And so are the people you love. You need to learn how to forgive them as well as yourself.”
“What do you want, Nicole?”
“Can we try again?” she asked. “Let’s start over. Totally in the open this time, with no secrets between us, and without the pressure of that stupid Grant Park College project that neither of us really wanted anyway. Please?”
I sighed deeply, feeling my resistance fading.
“You really hurt me,” I whispered.
She nodded. “I can’t promise I won’t hurt you again, I can only promise it won’t be on purpose.”
She slid out of her chair and kneeled down next to me, taking my hand in hers.
“I love you Grace. I know I never said it, but I’ve loved you for a long time. And more than that, Ilikeyou. You’re probably the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“That’s a sad statement on your life,” I said dryly as I felt the ice around my heart crack right open.
We both started laughing, and then I was on the floor too, taking her face in my hand and kissing her. All the tension in my body melted as our lips touched.
“Nicole,” I gasped as we broke apart. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too.”
We pressed closer to each other, kissing and touching each other like we hadn’t seen each other in years.
“Ah I see our plan worked.”
We both jumped apart as Theo’s amused voice rang out from the doorway. He looked incredibly pleased with himself.
“Will you be leaving for the day, Grace?”
I pushed to my feet, bringing Nicole with me, and dragged her towards the door.
