Chapter 73 - Long Time No See
Keeley's lab ran late and she was exhausted but still had to write an outline for a research paper that was due tomorrow.
To motivate herself, she stopped by the kitschy little coffee shop she discovered her sophomore year of college just outside campus. She could use one of their lemon scones right now.
It was past dinner time so the White Leaf Café was much emptier than usual. In fact, there was only one other person in it, sitting in the corner watching the door while sipping a Frappuccino.
Focused on her goal, she didn't notice this person and headed straight for the counter. "Hi, I'll have one of your lemon scones to go, please."
"Sure thing honey, that'll be $2.98."
Keeley rummaged around in her purse for spare change when a deep voice spoke from behind her.
"I've got it."
"Hey thanks! You didn't need to do that," she said cheerfully, turning around to see more of the kind stranger than just his arm. All of the blood drained out of her face in an instant.
Wearing one of his usual Armani suits, Aaron looked rather out of place in such a simple coffee joint. What on earth was he doing here? Weren't there fancier places to get coffee in his part of town? Of all the rotten luck.
You'd think living in a city with more than eight million people in it would make it easy to avoid just one. Apparently not.
Keeley wasn't the same person she was the last time they met. She would treat him like any other acquaintance and be civil even if she would rather be anywhere other than here. He wasn't worth worrying about.
"Long time no see," she said coolly.
Though his presence was as powerful as ever, he gave off the slightest hint of nervousness as he leaned against the counter. She might be imagining it; after all, he was the king of poker faces.
"It has been a while. You look good."
Her straight blonde locks were shoulder length and she had gotten side bangs the year before since all the girls at school were doing it. Keeley always kept her hair long when she was with Aaron because updos were the fashionable thing in New York's socialite circle. She had been excited to try something new.
The unexpected compliment threw her off. "Thanks. Uh, you too."
She wanted this conversation to end quickly so she could get back to her normal life but Aaron seemed to have no intentions of letting her go.
"Why don't we catch up over dinner? My treat."
"I don't have time; I have a paper to write," she declined. "I only stopped here for a minute on my way home."
Thank goodness she had a legitimate excuse.
She waved goodbye and hurriedly made her way to the door but he stopped her by looping his arm through hers and briskly walking in the opposite direction of the subway station. This reminded her forcefully of her second senior of high school.
"Aaron, I really don't have time for thi—"
"It won't take long and I'll drive you home afterward. You probably already missed your train anyway."
Keeley sighed. He was right; she did already miss her train. It would be much preferable waiting for the next one than it would be eating a meal with this domineering creep though.
Pushing and pulling in the past only made Aaron more interested. She would accept this one time and work on the outline on her laptop during the drive home.
He only wanted to catch up with an old classmate—this should be a one-time deal if she didn't do anything to pique his interest further. Keeley was going to be as boring as humanly possible while still in the realm of politeness.
Aaron ended up dragging her to a popular Japanese steakhouse that she had been to a couple of times in her previous life with her dad. She hadn't been since because it was way out of her budget.
"So," he began once they were seating at a table where the chef would grill things right in front of them. "Tell me what you've been up to the last five years."
"It's not that exciting," she demurred, wanting to give as few details as possible. "I got my bachelor's in bioengineering and am halfway through my PhD."
"Medical science isn't that exciting?" he asked dryly. "Seems like you've been busy."
"I still am busy." 'And yet you dragged me here anyway' was left unspoken but heavily implied.
He ignored the jab. "I've been pretty busy myself. I got my economics degree and am the vice president at my family's company now."
Keeley already knew this so she simply said, "Good for you."
"I suppose. Work gets rather tedious at times."
This from the king of the workaholics? Hard to believe. Aaron spent the majority of their married life either at work, thinking about work, or working at home. Even before things went south in their marriage he didn't have a good work-life balance. Business was his one true love.
"I can understand that," she lied, trying to remain calm. "Endless observations at the lab get pretty tedious too."
Interest sparked in his cold eyes. "Observations of what?"
"Rats. I can't tell specifics because of privacy laws but my faculty mentor is currently on rats for her animal trials and I spend hours a day recording everything about them."
"Sounds fascinating."
She couldn't tell if he was making fun of her or not. Even if he was, she didn't care. His opinions meant nothing to her. Keeley wasn't sure what to say to that but didn't have to because the night's entertainment was about to begin.
The chef began making their meal with a series of fancy spatula flips and a rather dramatic flame spurt.
It was quite an impressive feat, which was why Keeley took her dad here. He loved watching it. Too bad she wouldn't be able to afford to take him any time soon.
She applauded the chef after he finished and Aaron followed her lead with a few hesitant claps of his own. The food was delicious. She couldn't let unpleasant company detract from the value of a good meal.