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I saw a flash of pink at the end of the trail and I sped up, calling out to her "Sara!"

She stopped on a paved trail and whipped around to face ?"

I pulled up short "What?"

"Back there!" she said, short of breath "I didn’t know you guys funded B&T! They don’t need to disclose that at this stage Hello, conflict of interest!"

I scrubbedso fking complicated "I didn’t think it would be a problem"

"Let me lay it out for you," she said "The head of finance of B&T’swith the head of the venture capitalist fir firm Think you maybe have a conflict? Do you think maybe you’d like your new sex buddy to have soets the best possible price on pre with this bollocks? I felt nation "Christ, Sara! I’ging you to ensure you do your job well!"

She sighed, holding her hands up "I don’t actually think that But that’s how it could look How long have you been doing this? Don’t you kno these things get spun? This is a new position for ry for every detail about you Look how much the press follows you, even five years after Cecily left town"

She was hypersensitive about publicity, and spin, and it was bewildering This was all a load of bullshit, and I could tell she knew that She looked away, arms crossed over her midsection, shoulders slumped The truth was, I didn’t care who saith Sara Five years out from the Cecily drama and I realized you couldn’t help what anyone said anymore No way could Sara understand that

I walked over to atree several feet away, ducking under the curtain of leaves, and sat doithan issue as you’reit out to be"

She stepped closer but re "My point is that there needs to be some level of discretion With or without a potential conflict, I don’t want Bennett to think I sleep with clients as a point of habit"

"Fair enough, but I don’t think Bennett has a lot of roosnext to rass "There wasn’t any reason for you to be there I wasn’t expecting to see you and it threw er you beneath the table, I just wanted to coet a chance to see you, say hello You could be hed a little, and then stopped But then a few seconds passed and I realized she’d started to laugh again: silent at first, and then she was holding her stohter

"You think?" she ered her reaction, so I just sat still, i beside a wo her kit

She cal "Yes, I could be uy in a club, in a banquet hall, a warehouse, a library--"

"Oi, Sara I didn’t ood lesson tomyself is a constant process As soon as I stop and consider hoell I’ else"

I pulled up a long blade of grass, considering this "I should have texted"

"Probably"

"But you knoould have been thrilled to see you rando at Stella & Suo out to dinner with uest roo"

"Because I don’t care if we’re seen together," I said, growing frustrated "Why do you?"

"Because people will get invested," she said, turning to look at me "People will discuss it, make a narrative out of it They’ll speculate, look into e are, e both want Relationships in the public eye don’t do well and it will follow you forever if you ad once

I listened to the wind blowing past us,in this little cave of quiet, hidden froht want to witness our conversation andup inside me: the realization that I wanted Sara, that I’d alanted Sara--from the first day I saw her I also accepted the truth that I’d expected Sara to eventually hope forlimits, not her

"Max, I’m kind of a mess," she said quietly

"Will you at least tellup at the branches overhead

"I’, but it’s not always easy to be kept at such arhed a little, humorlessly "I know" And then she leaned over, and pressed her ainst mine

I expected a tiny peck, a discreet public kiss to wipe the slate clean after I’d adiven her a heads-up and she ad wholly deeper: her hands on either side of ry for hs

"Why are you so nice?" she whispered, and then kissedany possible reply

But this one stuck It felt too big to disregard and pave over with rind under a tree I pulled back "I’enuinely fond of you"