"I'd join you, but I have a meeting in five."
I turned to Reg. "If you don't mind?" I said.
"Lead the way," he replied and nodded to Josh.
We left the security office and Josh gave my arm a quick squeeze before he left to take the elevator back up to his office. On my part, I left the building, slipping on my sunglasses and taking the sidewalk.
I spend the next twenty minutes walking along the external walkway along the east side of Central Park. Then I stopped in at my favorite coffee shop and got a latte, so I could finish off the day.
Reg stood a few feet away from me, his hands crossed in front of him.
"Can I get you anything?" I asked him and pointed to the counter at an array of pastries and drinks.
He shook his head. "No, thanks Miss. I'm fine."
I paid and returned to the Macintyre building, Reg a few dozen feet behind me. Once I got inside, I stopped, and Reg came over to me.
"I'll wait until you get on the elevator."
"Okay, if you think that's necessary," I said.
"I do," he replied and folding his hands once more.
I went to the elevator and pressed the button, then waited, coffee in hand. Finally, the elevator opened. Reg nodded to me and then I entered, seeing it was empty.
Finally, the elevator doors closed, and I went up to my floor, feeling a bit strange that three was so much fuss made about my whereabouts.
I hoped they found out who the man was soon.
Later that afternoon, Steph called me, and I was so excited to see her name, I actually gasped.
"Steph, I haven't heard from y
ou in weeks," I said, smiling as I imagined her sitting in her dorm in her sweats and hoodie, her Mickey Mouse slippers on her feet. Although we texted each other a lot, we hadn't actually spoke in person.
"I know, girlfriend, I decided to give you a call. I have Monday off and thought I might come down to Manhattan. I talked to my prof and I can skip class on Friday so that'll mean we can spend the whole weekend together. I mean, when you and Mr. Big aren't going at it."
I laughed. "If you're here, we won't be going at it, believe me. I need to spend my time with you. Mr. Big can spend time in his office catching up with work or something."
"Okay, but I don't want to interfere too much with your budding romance. If you need to spend time with him, I'll understand and can take a trip to a day spa and luxuriate or something."
"Not on your life. While you're here, I'm all yours."
"Okay, girlfriend, I'll see you on Friday night. Pick me up at Penn Station?"
"I'll see you there. Oh, I'll be with a bodyguard, so be prepared."
"Oh, you guys actually have one? I can't believe it. I guess a guy as rich as Josh would need one."
"Luckily, a guy as rich as Josh can afford one. They're damn expensive. You don't just have one guy. You have five. Three for each day and two spares in case on or two of them are sick or killed."
"Oh, God, don't say that."
"Don't worry," I said and tried to downplay it as much as possible. "It's just a precaution."
"Okay. See you soon, kiddo. Smooches."
"Smooches back."