Chapter 69 It's Not Amazing
Living together as a couple started out very good on the first night. Emily brought some of her stuff over, and they had drinks on the balcony to celebrate her arrival.
The next morning morning, Emily wanted to spend some time on her sketches but kept being distracted by Byron traipsing in and out of her room between work meetings and chatting about random topics. It was hard to get angry with him for interrupting because he was so happy to see her there. But did he have to come in nearly every half hour and interrupt her workflow?
Finally she tried to tell him gently that she wanted to get some work done.
“You’re right,” Byron said at once, “I should have thought of that! How about you keep your door closed, and I’ll knock if I have something important to say?”
“Sounds good,” she replied.
It was going to be a process of adjustment since she had previously only come here to hang out and play, not to live.
The sun came out in the afternoon, and Emily rolled out her yoga mat in the sun-drenched living room. She had only started the exercise routine when three men in overalls entered the suite.
“Oh, hi,” she said, feeling a bit self-conscious as she was in the middle of a stretch. “Are you here to see Byron? He’s out right now.”
“Hello, we’re here to start work on the skylight,” one of the workers said.
“Oh, well, I guess you know what to do,” Emily said, “go right ahead.”
She recalled Byron talking about having a skylight put into one of the guest bathrooms. It was annoying that he didn’t tell her the workers would be coming today.
Just as she got back into her yoga flow, Byron’s assistant came by to drop off some printouts he had asked for.
Emily gave up on the yoga and decided to go outside for a walk instead. She went to the closest beach, but this didn’t improve her mood. Living in the middle of downtown seemed so stressful, and it was only hitting her now.
She had already given 30 days’ notice at her apartment and was in the process of slowly moving all her stuff over to the penthouse suite, but now she thought, was it the right thing to do?
When she met up with Byron again in the evening, she needed to talk to him about it.
“It’s kind of weird to have people traipsing through here all the time,” she said.
“They always do, and you didn’t seem to mind it before.” Byron seemed pretty unconcerned as he sat there reading through the pages his assistant had dropped off.
“Yes, but that was different. I was just visiting, so I was just one visitor among many. Now I live here, and when I’m trying to focus, all these people are just being allowed in by the concierge.”
“I thought you wanted to have a skylight,” Byron said, a little more concerned as he looked up from his papers.
“I don’t really care one way or the other,” she said, “It was your idea. But the point is, the place is like grand central station.”
“You said you were a social creature,” Byron objected, “And you always liked it here.”
“I’m social,” she agreed, “but when I’m at home I like to have a little bit of time to myself.”
“Okay.” Byron tapped his fingers on the armchair like he did when he was thinking, “We’ll make some changes. I don’t have to allow everyone in. What about my mom and some close friends and my assistant? For the rest, the concierge can call us and ask.”
“I appreciate the thought,” Emily said, “but it still wouldn’t feel right to me. I’m just not used to having so many visitors.”
“But what can I do?” Byron asked, irritated. “This is what my suite is like. You know that.”
“Yes,” she said, feeling somewhat bitter, “I did.”
Suddenly she had the urge to go back to her own place. She put on her jacket, and by the time Byron realized what she was doing she was on her way out the door.
“Wait, are you mad at me?” he asked, walking out to the elevator while she pressed the call button.
“I’m not mad,” she said, but she couldn’t really explain it.
“Emily, don’t go, please,” he said. His gorgeous face reflected all sorts of emotions from sadness to utter panic.
“I just need to be home now,” she said, entering the elevator.
Maybe she didn’t feel at home in the suite, even though she loved Byron with all her heart. It felt as if he was in charge of everything, and for someone who valued their independence as much as Emily did, this simply couldn’t work.
She felt a little relived, though lonely when she got back to her apartment. It had seemed like all she wanted was some quiet time, but now she missed Byron and hoped she hadn’t hurt his feelings.
Emily hated to do this to him, remembering how he clearly had issues of abandonment, and he seemed so vulnerable. But she felt suffocated inside the downtown suite.
Emily resigned herself to a sad evening of watching TV, but soon the buzzer rang. She felt hugely relieved to know it was Byron. Maybe she had been secretly hoping he would come back for her.
When she opened the door, Byron was dressed in one of his best silk shirts and a sharp black suit, hinting at the outlines of his powerful v-shaped body.
“Good day, Miss,” he said brightly, “Have you had a disagreement with your boyfriend? Are you wondering whether moving in with him was a good idea?”
Emily hardly dared to smile, still a little upset about what happened. “Maybe. And who are you?” she asked, playing along.
“I’m your friendly neighborhood real estate agent,” he replied. “And if you’d be so kind as to look at my portfolio, you’ll find everything you need to stop these arguments once and for all.”
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