Then she looked up at Marcus. I'm scared, she said. Just that clean and direct. No qualification. I know, he said.
Not of failing. I know how to handle failing. I'm scared of, she stopped. Tried again. I'm scared that I made this decision partly because of you.
And that if I'm wrong about us, about what this is, then I've given up a very significant professional opportunity for a feeling. The word hung in the air between them. Marcus did not move. He did not reach for anything comfortable or deflecting. He sat with the full weight of what she had just said and gave it the respect of a complete silence before he responded.
"That's the most honest thing you've said to me," he said finally. "I know, and I'm not going to tell you you're wrong to be scared. " He leaned forward slightly, his elbows on the table. But I want to say something and I need you to hear all of it before you respond. She nodded once. You didn't leave San Francisco because of me.
He said, "You left because something in you knew that what you were building there was hollow in a specific way that Maniku couldn't fix. That was before the beach. That was before any of this. " He held her gaze. And you didn't decline David Hart's offer because of me either. You declined it.
You spent a month watching what looks like to build something real in your own life. Fate in mine and you couldn't make yourself choose the hollow thing again. He paused. I'm not the reason you stayed. I'm the thing that made the staying feel like it was worth it.
Those are different. Clare stared at him. The refrigerator hummed. Jaylen's game made a triumphant sound. The coffee sat between them going slowly cool.
Marcus Hayes, she said softly. Yeah. How are you this clear about things? I'm not always, he said. But I've been practicing, she laughed.
Not the startled beach laugh. Not the careful, professional one. Something in the middle. Something that was just hers. Just the real one.