Archie
I stood outside her apartment building longer than I needed to, straightening my jacket twice, checking my watch even though I already knew I was exactly on time. It struck me, standing there on that ordinary sidewalk, how strange it was to feel this unsettled. I'd negotiated multi-billion dollar mergers without my pulse rising above its normal rhythm. I'd sat across from men who wanted to ruin me and felt nothing but calm calculation. And here I was, nervous over knocking on the door of a woman I'd already taken to dinner half a dozen times.
She opened the door before I even raised my hand to knock, like she'd been watching for me through the window, and something about that small detail settled a fraction of my nerves.
"You look nervous," she said, studying my face with open am
