Chương 3
Those details were dangerous.
Details made people real.
And real people were harder to walk away from.
The waiter arrived with the next course.
Neither of them spoke while the plates were placed down.
For a moment, the silence felt comfortable.
That surprised Callum.
Most silence on first dates felt like a problem waiting to be solved.
This one did not.
“So,” Helena said after the waiter left, “your daughter.”
Callum smiled immediately.
The change happened before he could stop it.
Helena noticed.
“You look different when you talk about her.”
“Different good or different concerning?”
“Different honest.”
He looked down.
“Ruby is nine.”
“Nine.”
“Almost ten.”
“You corrected that very quickly.”
“She corrects me faster.”
Helena smiled.
“She sounds like you.”
“That is what scares me.”
“Why?”
“Because she is smarter than me.”
“That is not usually a bad thing.”
“It is when she uses it against you.”
Helena laughed.
“What does she use it for?”
“Negotiation.”
“She negotiates with you?”
“Everything.”
Callum shook his head.
“She once convinced me that a later bedtime was educational because she was learning time management.”
“That is actually a strong argument.”
“It was two minutes before midnight.”
Helena covered her mouth briefly.
The gesture was small.
Almost youthful.
Then she caught herself and returned to the composed woman everyone else knew.
Callum noticed.
He wondered how often people saw the person underneath.
Probably not often.
“Does she know you are here?” Helena asked.
“Yes.”
“And what did she say?”
“That I needed to stop dressing like I was going to a parent-teacher conference.”
Helena looked at his jacket.
“I am beginning to think she may have a point.”
Callum looked offended.
“This jacket has been through a lot.”
“Such as?”
“Three job interviews.”
“That is not a defense.”
“One funeral.”
Helena stopped.
“Sorry.”
“It was five years ago.”
Still, her expression changed.
Not pity.
Something closer to understanding.
People often reacted badly when they heard about Diane.
They either became too sympathetic or uncomfortable.
They treated the divorce like a wound they were afraid to touch.
Helena did not.
She simply let the information exist.
That was rare.
“Does Ruby see her mother?” she asked carefully.
The question was not invasive.
It was practical.
Callum appreciated that.
“Sometimes.”
A pause.
“Diane lives in another state now.”
Helena nodded.
“I imagine that is complicated.”
“It is.”
He did not add anything else.
Not because there was nothing to say.
Because there was too much.
The conversation moved naturally after that.
They talked about books.
About cities.
About how strange it was that everyone claimed they hated small talk but most friendships started with exactly that.
Helena admitted she hated public speaking despite having addressed rooms filled with thousands of people.
Callum admitted he hated networking events despite being comfortable interviewing strangers.
“That makes no sense,” she said.
“It makes perfect sense.”
“You can ask a stranger personal questions but cannot walk into a room and say hello?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because when I interview someone, I have a purpose.”
“And when you meet someone?”
“I have to be myself.”
Helena became quiet again.
That answer landed somewhere.
Before either of them could continue, Callum noticed Helena's phone light up.
She glanced at it.
The calm expression returned immediately.
But not before he saw concern.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
It was too fast.
He looked at her.
She sighed.
“That was not convincing.”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“Work.”
“Bad work?”
“Not yet.”
Callum waited.
He did not push.
After a moment, she put the phone face down.
“I have a board meeting tomorrow.”
“That does not sound unusual.”
“It is not.”
“So why did your face change?”
Helena studied him.
“You notice too much.”
“It is part of my job.”
“No.”
She looked toward the window.
“It is part of who you are.”
The answer caught him off guard.
He looked away first.
A few minutes later, they finished dinner.
Callum reached for the bill at the same time Helena did.
“I can pay.”
“I know.”
That made her stop.
“You are not going to argue?”
“I was raised by a woman who taught me arguments should be chosen carefully.”
“And this is not one?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I think you are perfectly capable of paying for dinner.”
Helena smiled.
“Most people would say that differently.”
“Most people would assume I am trying to prove something.”
“And are you?”
Callum looked at the table.
“Maybe a little.”
The honesty made her expression soften.
“I appreciate that.”
They walked outside together.
The air was colder than Callum expected.
The city moved around them.
Cars passed.
People hurried along sidewalks.
Somewhere nearby, someone was playing music badly enough that it became entertaining.
Helena stood beside him near the entrance.
For the first time all night, neither of them seemed certain what came next.
A goodbye.
A second date.
A polite promise that would never happen.
Callum held the flowers.
“You can keep those.”
She looked at the tulips.
“I was planning to.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“They were from a gas station.”
“I noticed.”
“That does not bother you?”
“No.”
She took them from him.
“Callum?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He knew what she meant.
The flowers.
The conversation.
Garrett.
All of it.
“You did not need me to defend you.”
“No.”
She looked down at the tulips.
“But it was nice not having to explain why I deserved basic respect.”
The words stayed with him.
Before he could answer, a black car pulled toward the curb.
Helena looked at it.
Her driver.
Of course she had a driver.
Callum almost smiled at himself.
The night had somehow reached a point where that no longer surprised him.
She opened the door, then paused.
“I would like to see you again.”
Callum looked at her.
The billionaire.
The woman whose name was known by people who never knew his.
The person who had every reason to find him completely impractical.
“Are you sure?”
May you like
Helena tilted her head.
“That sounds like you are the one who thinks I am out of your league.”
