Chapter 53 Waiting for Your Excuses
Caroline didn't relax until she watched Leopold's car disappear down the street.
About ten minutes later, his message popped up on her phone.
North: [Made it home.]
Caroline: [Take a hot shower and get some sleep.]
North: [Will do. I need to head back to the hotel first thing tomorrow. There's a business group coming specifically to meet with me, and I need to be there.]
Caroline: [Sounds good.]
Leopold mentally reviewed the schedule his secretary Lily had sent over for the coming week.
North: [I'll be traveling on January 3rd to inspect a few hotels. Not sure when I'll be back, but I'll let you know.]
Caroline: [Okay.]
If it were any other woman, she might have responded with something like "I'll miss you" or "What am I supposed to do without you?" But Caroline said nothing of the sort.
From the very beginning, Caroline had given Leopold the impression of being fiercely independent. She hadn't limited his freedom despite their changing relationship. He remained his own person, and this dynamic felt comfortable—no mysterious jealousy to suffocate him. Ironically, this made him need her more, his feelings growing steadier and deeper by the day.
What Leopold never expected was that he'd be the clingy one first.
He typed: [A whole week without seeing each other. Won't you miss me?]
Seeing his message, Caroline responded with calculated restraint.
On the other end, Leopold watched the "typing" indicator appear with surprising anticipation. Then it disappeared without any message coming through.
What's going on?
Leopold gripped his phone, his brow furrowing tightly. Whatever she wanted to say, she should just send it so he could see what was happening.
A few seconds later, the "typing" indicator appeared again. Leopold imagined she must be composing a lengthy message about how much she'd miss him. When the message finally appeared, he nearly passed out from frustration.
Caroline: [Can't be helped. We've both got jobs to do. I understand.]
Leopold fell silent.
He didn't want understanding. He wanted to be missed.
In that moment, he even questioned whether Caroline actually liked him at all.
But these weren't things a man could easily express without feeling awkward and needy. Leopold could only suffer in silence.
Caroline: [I'm actually going on a trip with Erica on January 3rd too. We'll be traveling for three or four days.]
After Caroline's standard response earlier, Leopold didn't bother asking for details. He sent a quick reminder to stay safe and went to bed.
The Celestial Waters Hotel chain had seventeen locations under Leopold's management, all requiring his inspection during the holiday season.
As soon as his plane touched down at Pinecrest Airport and he switched off airplane mode, a message from Maddox appeared instantly.
Maddox Harrison was Leopold's good friend from college. They'd been roommates though studying different majors—Maddox in architecture and Leopold in finance.
CupidPika: [I'm in Pinecrest for paragliding, but your hotel says they're fully booked. Hook me up?]
Leopold called him directly. Maddox answered immediately.
"Got me that room yet?" Maddox asked without preamble.
Leopold asked, "Where are you?"
"In Pinecrest, obviously," Maddox replied.
"No shit. I mean where exactly are you right now?"
"Grabbing food downtown. Hotel had no rooms, and I was starving, so I went out to eat." The slurping of noodles carried through the phone.
"Finish up quick and come get me at the airport," Leopold said, checking his watch. "You've got twenty minutes."
Maddox's eyes widened. "You're—"
Before he could finish, Leopold had already hung up.
Maddox always traveled with his own car. He arrived precisely when Leopold had calculated.
As he approached the terminal, he called Leopold. "I'm here. Which exit?"
Leopold said, "Exit 9."
Maddox drove in that direction, spotting Leopold in the distance with his luggage. He stopped the car and popped the trunk. Once the luggage was stowed, the passenger door swung open.
"The universe works in mysterious ways—our connection is more reliable than any of my relationships," Maddox mused.
Leopold frowned, glancing over. "Relationships? Didn't you just start dating someone like a week ago? Can you ever have a normal relationship?"
The nickname "Cupid" wasn't given without reason. Feeling his authority challenged, Maddox laughed.
"Excuse me? All my relationships are completely legitimate. I give one hundred percent every time. It's all true love, man."
Leopold propped his head on his hand, staring out the window. "If every relationship is 'true love,' you've got one hell of a big heart. If I were any of those girls, my first instinct after breaking up would be to slap you across the face."
"Now that's just shallow thinking. All my breakups are completely amicable. We all stayed friends afterward."
"I don't even want to discuss your disaster of a love life. Just drive." Leopold was exhausted. He leaned back against the headrest with a travel pillow, closing his eyes.
Maddox studied his friend in the passenger seat. "What's up? You look wiped out."
Without opening his eyes, Leopold said, "The Solstice Mountain hotel is now operational."
"Solstice Mountain?" Maddox recalled. "The one I designed, right?"
"Yep." Leopold continued, "That project has taken a ton of energy from start to finish. With the holidays, many employees went home to their families. I've had no choice but to handle everything myself."
"Why not hire more people?" Maddox suggested. "With your money, that shouldn't be a problem."
Leopold cracked one eye open. "Apart from designing buildings, you really don't understand anything else, do you?" After a pause, he added, "You womanizing jerk."
"Wow, we were having a nice conversation, and now you're attacking me personally?" Maddox said without a hint of shame. "It's not that I'm a player—my charm is just undeniable. Women fall for me wherever I go. How is that my fault? I'm only guilty of being handsome, tall, thoughtful, gentlemanly, and smart. Women who appreciate strength naturally gravitate toward guys like me."
Leopold grimaced. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
Maddox laughed loudly. "I know you're jealous. You've been jealous since college."
"Jealous of you?" Leopold was fully awake now, sitting upright to argue. "How exactly was I jealous?"
Maddox offered his evidence, "Freshman year, during student council elections, we both planned to run. I went on stage first, and after my speech, all the girls went absolutely wild. The whole place was electric. Then you saw how popular I was and decided not to go on stage at all."
"Sophomore year, when the school organized that trip, all the cheerleaders from the basketball team were fighting to ride in my car. When you saw me getting in with them, didn't you immediately turn around and go sit with the other guys instead?"
"And that time in the cafeteria, when I brought Brielle Lawson—the campus beauty queen—to sit across from you, why did you grab your tray and walk away? I know you had a thing for her too, but she liked me first."
"You can't deny that any of this happened."
After listening to Maddox's version of "jealousy," Leopold stared at him with an indescribable expression for a half-second before saying, "Some things I won't bother explaining because you clearly don't have a clue."
Before elaborating further, Leopold unscrewed his water bottle for a sip. He knew Maddox all too well—an inevitable war of words was coming.
After all, the hardest part of Maddox's entire body was his stubborn mouth.
"Go ahead, I'd love to hear what explanation you could have," Maddox smirked. "This should be good."