“Keep it.”
“I couldn’t possibly.”
“I insist.”
“I don’t have any need for such fine clothes.”
“Gabi,” I seethed, “for fuck sakes, just keep the clothes, will you? Not everything has to be a battle.”
She smiled.
“What’s funny?” I demanded.
“That’s only the second time you’ve gotten my name right since you hired me.”
“What?”
She nodded. “I’ve been asking you to call me Gabi for months. This is the second time you did.”
“Oh.”
Shit.Had I really ignored her request like that? Maybe she was right. Maybe my head was way too far up my workaholic ass that I was beginning to miss all the little things. Little didn’t necessarily mean unimportant.
I raked my fingers through my hair and leaned against my desk. “I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not.”
She smiled again, even softer this time. “You’re right. It’s not. But thank you for saying so.” She bit her bottom lip, which was a dangerous sight to see that made my insides squirm. Did she have any idea how beautiful she was? “I should go. Thank you for the opportunity, even though things didn’t work out. We tried, right?”
She turned and made for the door.
“We didn’t try,” I said. “Not really.”
She paused halfway to the door.
I pushed off my desk. “Stay. Give me one more chance to do this right. Now that you’ve raised the issues, I’ll make it a priority to pay attention to my attitude and make adjustments. I’ll give you a more reasonable workload. No more weekends or late nights. If it suits you, I could hire a second assistant for the more tedious tasks to free you up to come to client consultations with me. If you’re interested, of course.”
Gabi cocked her head to the side. “Are you serious? After all that, you still want me to work for you?”
I nodded. “After all that, I’m convinced more than ever that you’re the right person for the job.”
“I don’t know. Words are easy. Actions are a whole different thing.”
“I agree. You don’t have to decide right away. You can take some time to think it over.”
Gabi studied me calmly. “Okay.”
“Okay, as in you’ll keep the job?”
“As in I’ll think it over,” she said with an amused smile.
Some of the tension that had built up inside me began to ebb away. “You know where to find me.”