Chapter 5 - The Empty Chair
Two months passed.
My promotion worked.
Richard Kane stopped interfering.
Adrian and I remained professional.
Painfully professional.
Then Mia's school announced Father-Daughter Day.
She handed me the paper over breakfast.
“We don't have to go.”
I read it.
“Mia—”
“It's okay.”
She smiled too quickly.
“We can watch movies.”
My heart cracked.
Her father, Daniel, had died in a car accident when she was fourteen months old.
She knew him through photographs.
Stories.
Videos.
But some absences become more obvious as children grow older.
That evening, I found her invitation in the trash.
I called Adrian.
He answered immediately.
“Claire?”
“Are you busy Saturday?”
Silence.
“Tell me.”
I explained.
He didn't hesitate.
“What time?”
“Adrian, I'm not asking you to pretend—”
“What time?”
“Eleven.”
“I'll be there at ten forty-five.”
Saturday morning, Mia knew nothing.
We walked into the school gym.
She saw fathers everywhere.
Her hand tightened around mine.
Then she stopped.
Adrian Kane stood beside the refreshment table.
No security.
No assistant.
No billionaire armor.
Just dark pants, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a yellow flower in his hand.
Mia stared.
“Adrian?”
He crouched.
“I heard someone needed a dance partner.”
She looked at me.
“You called him?”
“Yes.”
She turned back.
“Are you busy?”
“Extremely.”
Her face fell.
He smiled.
“But nothing today is more important than this.”
She threw her arms around him.
I looked away before either of them saw my tears.
Later, while children danced with their fathers, Mia stood on Adrian's shoes because she couldn't follow the steps.
“You're terrible,” she told him.
“At dancing?”
“Yes.”
“I run seventeen companies.”
“That doesn't help dancing.”
“Apparently not.”
She laughed.
Afterward, Mia ran toward her friends.
Adrian joined me beside the wall.
“Thank you.”
“You don't have to thank me.”
“Yes, I do.”
He watched Mia.
“She shouldn't have an empty chair because someone is afraid of gossip.”
I looked at him.
“Someone?”
“You.”
“That was subtle.”
“I've been subtle for two months. I hate it.”
I laughed.
He stepped closer.
“I love her, Claire.”
My smile disappeared.
He didn't look away.
“And I'm in love with you.”
“Adrian…”
“I don't expect an answer today.”
“Good.”
“Because I'm terrified.”
That surprised him.
“Of me?”
“Of believing this can work.”
He nodded.
“That makes two of us.”
Mia suddenly appeared.
“Are you having another complicated conversation?”
Adrian sighed.
“Yes.”
She shook her head.
“You two are exhausting.”
Then she grabbed both our hands.
“Come dance.”
May you like
And for the first time, I didn't pull mine away from his.
---
