It really couldn't have gotten any worse. She was quite used to being the one to deal with the most difficult of their customers, but all the experience she had gathered from all those times weren't able to prepare her to face this man. She could work for pedantic, demanding people, who wanted everything to be perfect; for those, who were constantly finding the smallest of details, which was wrong and were practically impossible to be truly satisfied and those, who thought themselves geniuses even though they had absolutely no idea about gardening or arranging anything. But the moment he opened the door, she wished she could turn around, leave and send someone else instead.
Yes, she had the name of the customer, which she was supposed to meet with but according to Sarah's scribbles he was a Mr. Reland, the first name being completely unreadable. But even if she had read the name correctly, she would have never suspect to see him. After all, what was the chance, that almost twenty years after leaving Boston she would run into a person, who was the reason why she had come to DC? She would mark it as 'practically impossible to happen' without hesitation. And yet, here she was, standing right in front of him.
Despite all the years, which have passed since the last time they saw each other, she didn't have any problems recognizing him. He has matured, of course, it was absolutely inevitable; he had different hair-style and wasn't as slim as a rake anymore, but everything else was absolutely the same. The way he straightened himself upon meeting with someone for the first time, his clothing all so very impeccable, the way he looked down at her with this characteristic, slightly disdainful gaze in his blue eyes and this aura of self-importance surrounding him; it all shouted how much he really was the very same Myles Leland the third, which she knew back from Boston.
As her eyes fell on his tall figure, she found herself utterly speechless. She was completely shocked and also somewhat surprised. It wasn't like the thought of meeting him has never crossed her mind; yes, she did think about it as something, what had no chance of ever happening, but she has never been truly able to totally forget about him and her mind sometimes wandered into the sphere of 'what if'. If someone had asked her, what she thought that she would feel upon meeting him, she would have surely listed fury as the most certain feeling. Now, however, she could feel her heart beat a little quicker in her chest, she had this funny feeling inside her stomach, but there was no sign of even the smallest of anger. She winced slightly the moment she realised, that she actually seemed to find herself attracted to him, and it definitely wasn't helping. She was so focused on comparing the present Myles to the one she remembered, that she didn't notice the change in his features, when he recognised her as well.
He has always known that he would have to be blind in order not to recognise Toni Rodriguez, no matter how much time passed. Her black hair was much shorter than it used to be, barely reaching her shoulders, there were hints of wrinkles on her face, an obvious sign of the years that passed. Still, there were those unforgettable brown, almost black eyes, ice-cold when she was angry, and warm as a fire when she was with those, who she cared about; this perfect little nose, which she was creasing so cutely whenever she was displeased with something; not to mention this worth-dying-for body, with wonderful curves in all the right places.
The last time he had the chance to see her was eighteen years earlier, when he was leaving for college, but she seemed to still have this effect on him. It has never been a secret back in high school, that her glance was capable of making the ever-eloquent Myles Leland lose the ability to speak and it wasn't any different now. He was just making himself ready to voice his displeasure about the whole situation once again, and everything he was capable of now was staring as if he has just seen a ghost.
"Toni Rodriguez…" he murmured, looking at her in disbelief, breaking the silence. "Of all the possible people…"
"Quite unexpected, huh?" she asked, making a face which very clearly showed just how uncomfortable she felt.
"Quite is actually a very big understatement." stated Myles. "I didn't know that you live in DC..."
"Well, I do. For almost twenty years now."
"I see."
Uncomfortable silence fell between them once again, as neither of them knew what to say. The way their ways parted didn't really leave a chance for a very friendly reunion. He wasn't oblivious to the hostile tone of her voice, which made it clear that she wasn't happy to see him at all. He didn't really know how he felt about it, as he had lost hope that he would ever get to see her again a very long time ago. A part of him wanted to drown her in questions, know exactly why she disappeared the way she did, yet at the same time, he wasn't sure he truly wanted to know it.
"Perhaps you should show me your garden." she eventually suggested and Myles nodded his head.
"Of course. Straight to business as usual, I see." he said, moving to the side to let her in and led her through the house into the backyard. "You, owning and working in a gardening company… I have to admit that it's quite fitting."
"Yes, well… Some people actually need to work hard to make a living. Anyway, do you have any particular wishes as to what you want to see here?"
In fact, he had and she listened carefully as he explained everything in a very detailed way. It was clear that he gave it a lot of thinking and that he wasn't just a simple layman in the subject but a person, who knew what they were talking about. Of course, gardening has always been his passion and it was yet another thing, which hadn't changed a bit about him. She was making precise notes, at the same time observing the animated way he was speaking about it all, walking around. And, as much as she wanted to ignore it, it was impossible not to pay attention to his handsome features, the way his eyes sparkled with passion during his speech or how his muscles flexed as he was moving around.
She groaned, shaking her head and trying to push those thoughts away from her head. It was going to be one of the most challenging projects in her whole professional career.
