Top Floor (Rendezvous #1)

Chapter 11

Claire immediately nodded. “Yes.”

Heath blinked at her enthusiasm before smiling to himself and the two of them walked out of the lobby and into the halls of Layton Gardens together. They weren’t the only ones who had wandered off as well. Some of the guests had left the main lobby to give themselves space to talk or just relax from the crowd.

Claire looked around at the structure of the building. Everything looked very different from Bishop Lodgings, but it had the same welcoming, homey feel to it. She preferred Bishop Lodgings though. Of course she was biased, but it was also because her friends and family were there.

“Do you miss England?” Claire asked as they continued to look around the halls of Layton Gardens. Heath looked surprised by her sudden question. “I know it’s only been a few days since you left, but I was just wondering.” Did he have friends over there that he missed?

To her surprise, Heath shrugged. “Not really. It’s like moving to a different company.”

She glanced at him to see that he really didn’t look affected by the sudden move. “But…I’m sure that’s difficult too.”

Again, he shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. “I’ve often changed companies to my liking. It feels like the same thing.”

“And how many companies have you moved from?”

Heath thought about it for a second. “A few.”

Claire raised a brow, wondering why he was so vague with it. “Didn’t you have friends who you had to say goodbye to?”

“Friends?” he slowly said the word before shaking his head. “No. I had acquaintances, not friends. And I wasn’t really close to them either, so I had no problem with moving overseas.”

She couldn’t help but be blunt. “Wow. So you’re pretty much a loner?”

He didn’t look offended. “Yes. I liked being by myself most of the time.”

It went silent as Claire thought over his words. She never expected Heath to be that kind of guy. She thought that he was social and had plenty of friends due to his friendly nature. But it seemed there was more to Heath than she thought. Or maybe it was more like there wasn’t much to Heath. He was an independent guy.

“Are you disappointed?” Heath asked, seeing the blank look on Claire’s face. Most people expected him to have plenty of friends to talk about, but he didn’t have many. He mostly kept to himself.

Claire looked up into his eyes and shook her head. “No. But it’s nice to have some friends.” Then she patted his arm casually. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you make some.”

He got distracted by her warm hand on his arm, but mentally shook himself back to normal. “I don’t need friends.”

She simply raised an eyebrow, as if daring him to challenge her. “C’mon Heath. There’s still plenty to see around Layton Gardens.”