"Thank you, ma'am," he said before bolting to the elevator.
When he got up to the twelfth floor, his breathing had returned to normal. He stepped off to see a young woman sitting at a desk. Suddenly, it hit him that no way would Liz let him in to talk to her. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to give his name. "Could you tell me if Liz O'Leary is in?"
"I believe she just came up to get something from her office. Can I tell her who you are?"
Much to his advantage, she didn't recognize him. "Uh, I'm Brian Littrell," he lied.
"Okay." The woman pressed a button on the phone. "Miss O'Leary, Brian Littrell is here to see you."
"Send him in, Hannah," Liz replied.
"Third door on the right, sir."
Nick thanked her and walked down the hallway. He took a deep breath and opened the door. "Before you kick me out, let me talk," he said quickly.
She looked up from her desk. "You're not Brian. What the hell do you want?"
"I want to apologize yet again. I know that's all I ever seem to do to you is hurt you and then apologize for it, but I guess I'm an asshole."
"Why do you want to apologize?"
"Because I'm dumb and the idea that maybe you weren't lying to me never even entered my mind when it should have. You're a good person. I should have known that and trusted you. I'm sorry." He sat down on the chair across from her.
"You're damn right you should have trusted me. Do you know how much it hurt to know that the man I loved hated me?"
"I'm sure it hurt terribly, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
"I don't know that I can, Nick. I've taken so much crap from you, and if I had to take anymore, I don't think I could handle it," she said honestly.
He sighed. "Okay, I just took the initiative to run all the way from the studio to your office. I think after all that work, I would be careful not to hurt you again."
She had to smile. "You ran all the way here?"
"Yes, I did."
"That had to be tough. I guess I'd be an idiot not to forgive you after all that, huh?" she stated.
"Does that mean you don't hate me anymore?" he asked.
She walked around her desk and gave him a hug. "I could never hate you in the first place."
He smiled. "Do you want to join me for dinner tonight? We could catch up on everything."
"Is this like a date?"
"If you want it to be."
"Okay, I guess that sounds good to me."