Borrow My Seat novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Flowers

Lane came back on Monday, alone, with roses.

I saw him through the glass from the mezzanine, standing in the lobby in a good coat with a bouquet of twenty-four white stems and his sad, humble face on.

It was the face he used when he forgot my birthday.

The receptionist looked up at me, and I nodded.

"Let him in," I said. "I'll come down."

I took the stairs, and half the studio drifted after me and leaned on the railing.

Tobias stayed at his office door with his arms crossed, watching, and he did not come down.

I had asked him not to.

"Ingrid," Lane said, with a catch in his voice. "Thank you."

"You have two minutes."

"I've been an idiot."

"I've heard."

"I let it get out of hand. Chantal's a kid, and I wanted to keep the peace. I'm going to tell her father it's over. I'm going to end the whole thing." He held out the flowers. "Come home. Let's fix this."

"Home."

"Our place. Your things are still in the closet."

"My things are at Greta's."

"Then come get the rest of them, and we'll talk. Just us. I'll explain everything about the paper."

"What paper?"

He blinked.

"The certificate," he said, and recovered. "You saw it. It's complicated."

I looked at him for a long, quiet moment.

At the railing above, someone's phone slid out of a pocket and clattered, and nobody picked it up.

"Lane, are you married to Chantal?"

"I told you I was."

"Then why are you in my lobby with flowers?"

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