Page 36 of Once Upon a Beast

“Definitely. Are you ready?”

“Yes. Just let me grab my coat.”

When Layla came back with her purse and jacket, she let the door close behind her and walked away. I didn’t move with her. She took a couple of steps and then stopped and turned around to look at me. “Is something wrong?”

“You didn’t lock your door.” I pointed at the door.

Layla smiled and said, “It’s electronic. It will lock once I get about ten feet away from it. I have an app on my phone that works with the lock.”

“An app?” I asked.

“Yes. An app. I would think you would be all for modern technology and making things easier for everyone.”

We walked toward the elevator and I heard the door locking behind us. “I’m all for convenience but there are some things that technology shouldn’t replace. Do you not like having a key?” I asked as we waited for the elevator.

“I need to have a lot of different keys for work, it would be too much to have to carry them all the time, plus my key would get lost with theirs. It annoyed me to have to worry about it so I found a solution.”

“You installed it yourself?” I asked, trying not to sound impressed.

“Yes. It wasn’t that difficult. Some of us are more mechanically inclined than others,” she stated.

“What are you trying to say?” I teased as we got on the elevator.

“Nothing. I just remember you not being very good at fixing things.”

“Once, I tried to fix a remote-control car once and it didn’t go well. You’ve never let me live it down,” I said.

“It was my favorite toy and you ruined it. Dad had to buy me another one. He told me to never let you touch anything like that ever again.”

“That was probably for the best. I’m more of a planner and coordinator than a fixer,” I admitted as we got off the elevator.

“We all have our strengths and weaknesses. It’s good to know which ones you have.”

“And which ones are yours?” I asked as we went outside and I helped her into the waiting car.

“Are you implying that I don’t have any,” she said as we drove away.

“Not in the least. You have plenty of strengths, I’m sure you have some weaknesses, I just haven’t found any yet.”

“Wow, such the charmer. Is this what I can expect for the rest of the night?”

“Are you complaining?” I smiled at her.

Layla smiled back and shook her head. “No. I like this side of you. You were always a gentleman, I just never thought about you being chivalrous too.”

“You never gave me a chance to be,” I said.

“Oh, you’re going to blame that on me? You were the one who never said anything to me about this so-called crush.”

“So-called? Are you calling me a liar?” I teased.

“No. I just had no clue and you certainly didn’t make it known.”

“I thought I was being obvious. I guess not.”

“No, you weren’t. Or I just didn’t want to see it, or allow myself to see it. I felt the same way when we were younger but I never thought you would return the feelings.”

I turned in my chair and looked at Layla. “You did? Why didn’t you tell me?”