The better part of her day was spent in Amanda’s office going over Claire’s completed analysis and final proposal. To her surprise, despite a few very pointed questions and critical feedback, Amanda finally gave her approval.
“I admit, this is a solid plan. You’ve thought of the most pressing possible issues and created viable contingencies.” Amanda looked directly into Claire’s eyes. “You have my support, and I hope this turns out to be every bit the success it should be.”
Claire almost flew out of her seat to hug her. But she instead stayed seated, her hands bundled excitedly in her lap. “Thank you, Amanda, that means so much to me.”
Amanda cleared her throat, “Well, I expect to see more of this from you moving forward.”
“Expect what moving forward?” Jason’s head popped through the slightly open door.
Amanda gave him a scathing look. “I know that door was closed, Jason, why do you keep bothering me?”
“What?” he responded playfully. “I saw you with Claire through your window and thought I’d drop in to see if I could help with anything. I am the project lead, after all,” he said that last part with mock distress.
Claire laughed, “Thank you for the concern, Jason, but Amanda and I have the planning part handled.”
Jason gave her an exaggerated frown, but before he could say anything more, he caught Amanda’s dagger-filled glare and hurriedly excused himself, chuckling as he shut the door.
Amanda sighed heavily. “I don’t know how I manage to keep my sanity around that man.”
Claire smiled sympathetically. “He can be a bit much, can’t he?”
“Oh, you’ve only seen a fraction of it. Hang around a little longer and you’ll get the full experience.”
Claire laughed, eliciting a small smile from Amanda—a rare sight, and Claire suddenly wanted to see that smile more often.
‘I want this professional relationship with Amanda to work,’ Claire thought. ‘She’s smart and insightful, I could learn so much from her if we weren’t at odds with each other.’
Amanda called Narumi into her office to iron out last-minute vendor issues, and then they wrapped up for the day.
The clock on the wall announced the time was a quarter to six when Claire returned to Alex’s office.
Tired but elated, Claire grabbed her makeup bag and headed down the hall to the restroom. She quickly freshened up her makeup and let down her hair, brushing it out and letting it fall around her shoulders.
As she stared at herself in the mirror, a sudden bout of nerves sent shivers through her body.
“Oh, my goodness,” she huffed at her reflection. “It’s just a casual dinner celebration, nothing more.”
She imagined her reflection talking back to her, ‘Yeah, a totally casual dinner that if Amanda or Jason ever found out about, you would be the hot topic of the office and a phone call away from HR.’
She stuck her tongue out at her reflection, packed up her things, and headed back to the office. And nearly froze in unreasonable panic when she saw Alex standing by the large windows near the conference table where they had spent the morning together.
He leaned against the window with a casual, almost regal, grace; his arms crossed across his broad chest, his white shirt hinting at the sinewy muscles of his shoulders and arms, his tie gone and top two buttons undone to highlight the powerful lines of his neck and collarbones. He stared out the window, lost in thought, his long lashes shading his deep brown eyes from the last golden rays of sunlight dipping below the skyline.
Claire didn’t realize she was holding her breath as she took on the sight before her. It wasn’t until he turned and noticed her standing at the door that she felt her chest heave out a quiet whoosh of air. His smile was as radiant as the sun.
“Ready to go?” he asked, pushing himself effortlessly from the window.
Claire snapped out of her reverie, hoping she didn’t have any drool on her face. “Um, yeah, ah, let me grab my bag.” She scurried back to her office, berating herself for thinking about how he might look with that shirt off.
‘Oh. My. God, Claire, do NOT think about your boss naked! Do you want to lose your job?’ She reached down next to her desk to grab her bag off the floor, placing it on the desk so she could put her makeup bag back in it. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. ‘You got this, it’s just a dinner. With your very hot boss.’
She opened her eyes and plastered a smile on her face before turning back to the doorway. Then promptly jumped back with a stifled yelp to find Alex standing just outside the door, his whole god-like frame taking up the space.
His eyes narrowed in concern. “Everything alright?”
Claire wanted to crawl under her desk. “Yes!” she said a little too loudly. “I’m sorry,” she stammered, “I guess I’m still thinking about the spider.” She glanced at the wall. ‘The fake spider I came up with because my heart nearly stopped when he touched me earlier.’
“O-kay,” Alex drawled, turning around to gather his own things.
He held open the door for her and she walked out of his office. She could feel his presence close behind her, which made her even more self-conscious. They got into the elevator and rode down the twenty-three floors in silence, causing Claire’s discomfort to grow. She pulled out her phone and pretended to check her email, but inwardly, she was panicked.
Whenever she met with Mia, she often teased her about not making moves on Alex. Claire always let it slide, knowing her best friend was just messing with her. But it was her unexpected meeting with Derek that started causing all sorts of weird thoughts and feelings in her head.
‘You were pretty much his idol in high school.’
Derek’s words replayed in her head constantly, and always when she least wanted to be reminded of them. Those damn words made her think about their lives in high school, all the subtle hints she only now noticed that gave away his feelings. The memory of his confession during graduation, and her rejection, taunted her thoughts. Replays of casual moments they had together as they worked entered her imagination when she had nothing else to think of—and turned into lurid ‘what if’ scenarios in her dreams.
She nearly flew out of the elevator when they finally reached the parking level. “So, where are we going?” she asked, wanting to sound curious but afraid the question came out worried.
With a twinkle in his eye, Alex responded, “Nowhere fancy. Wait here, I’ll get the car.”
Within five minutes, Alex pulled up to the curb. He got out and jogged to the other side so he could open the door for her. She could feel another blush sneaking up on her, so she ducked her head to let her hair fall around her face, inwardly yelling at herself to stop turning red every time Alex looked at her.
It was a twenty-minute drive to the edge of the city, where a row of strip malls lined a wide, up-hill street. Alex pulled into one of the parking lots.
“We’re here!” He announced as he sprung out of the car.
Claire waited for him to open her door and she carefully got out, looking around.
“Where are we going?” she asked him once more.
“Right here,” he pointed, smiling, at a single black door flanked by darkly tinted windows. A nondescript sign hung above the door, “Dante’s Grill and Bar.”
Claire shot Alex a curious look before walking through the door he now held open for her.
The interior was larger than it looked from the outside. To the right was a dining area that looked to be about the same size as Mia’s restaurant. To the left was the bar, nearly the same size as the dining room, with tables that dotted the space and bordered an open area that fronted a small stage. Opposite the stage, near the windows, were a row of booths that could seat six comfortably. The bar counter went along the entire length of the far wall, the wall itself lit up with soft white lights showcasing shelves upon shelves of different liquor bottles.
“We’re going this way,” Alex put his hand on her back, just below her shoulders, to guide her into the bar area. He waved to one of the bartenders and moved to the booth in the far corner near the bar.
There were a few people already seated at the bar or at the tables, but only one other booth was occupied and it was closer to the entrance.
“It will start picking up around seven, but not much since it’s a weekday. This place does get pretty crowded on Fridays and Saturdays,” Alex offered an explanation to her wandering gaze.
“I take it you come here often?” Claire asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alex laughed. “As a matter of fact, I do. I come here with my friends and my cousin when we need to unwind after a long day.”
“Not going to lie,” she added, looking around again, “I did not picture you as a bar patron.”
Alex laughed, and Claire relaxed.
A server stopped over to bring menus and asked if they wanted to get any drinks started. Alex ordered a beer while Claire ordered a mango mojito.
Claire looked over the menu. It was your basic run-of-the-mill bar fare, so she ordered a bacon cheeseburger with fries. Alex gave her a mischievous smile and ordered the same thing.
“What?” Claire looked at him suspiciously after the server left. “What’s with that look?”
“Nothing, I just pegged you for a fish and chips kind of girl,” he chuckled.
Claire blushed, irritated that turning colors was becoming a habit. She really would have preferred that, but she usually attacked battered fish with her hands instead of a fork, and she didn’t want to look unrefined in front of this man. Of course, she would be eating the burger with her hands, but that was more of a given.
When their drinks came, Alex lifted his glass and smiled brightly at Claire, raising his eyebrows to invite her to do the same. She returned his brilliant smile with a shy one of her own and lifted her mojito.
“To you, Claire, for being an amazing Communications Manager and a forward thinker.” He clinked his glass against hers. “I am excited to have you as my partner.”
Claire almost dropped her glass.
‘Partner.’
She kept her smile plastered on her face as she hurriedly brought the glass to her lips. ‘He means a business partner, you idiot, what were you thinking?!’ She took a huge gulp of the sweet alcohol.
