“Wh-What are you doing here?”
He stands and strides towards me. “I just want to talk.”
His eyes are large as they stare into my own. My head is telling me don’t give him the time of day, but my heart is saying another. I turn to Arianna who is trying to look innocent but failing miserably.
“Ari, can I uh, please speak to you out here for a moment?” I ask.
Arianna stands, following me out into the lobby and shuts the door to her office.
“What is he doing here?” I ask, pacing the floor, panic setting in.
“Just what he said, he wants to talk.”
“Why didn’t you send him away as soon as he got here?”
“I was curious about what he wanted,” she admits with a shrug.
“Can you please just go back in there and tell him I don’t want to talk to him, and he needs to leave?”
Arianna folds her arms across her chest. “No.”
“No? What do you mean, no?”
“I mean, no. Not until you talk to him. I really think you should give him a chance to at least explain himself.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Why are you suddenly Team Sebastian? This is the first time you’ve even met him.”
“Since he just talked to me like he was talking to a priest at the confessional. I have a good feeling about him, and my feelings are hardly ever wrong. Just talk to him. If you don’t want to see him after, fine. But at least give the man a chance.”
I sigh in frustration. “Fine! But you have to play secretary while we talk because I’m using your office. I need that big ass cherry wood desk of yours to put distance between him and me.”
“Fine,” she says, walking over and taking a seat at my desk. “You’re the boss today. I need a break anyway.”
I roll my eyes at her before taking a deep breath and walking back into her office, closing the doors behind me again. Walking around the desk, I take a seat in her chair, effectively putting space between Sebastian and me. “So, you want to talk, let’s talk.”
He leans forward matching my stance. “First, I want to apologize and ask for your forgiveness.”
I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “My forgiveness? For what?”
“For kissing you without you asking me to. That was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Okay. You’re forgiven, is that all?” I ask coldly.
“I hope I didn’t cause any issues between you and your boyfriend.”
A replay of last night quickly plays through my mind. I pick at my nails as a tear sneaks from my eye and rolls down my cheek. I try to quickly swipe it away, but he notices.
“Hey, tell me what happened?”
I glance up at him to find sincerity on his face. “We broke up and he kicked me out of our apartment." I sniffle as more tears unwillingly come. “Turns out he was cheating on me with a girl from work.”
Sebastian stands and comes around the desk. Grabbing my hands, he pulls me up to stand and wraps me up in his arms. “I’m so, so sorry,” he whispers into my hair.
“It isn’t your fault. He was leaving me anyway. Seeing you kissing me, just gave him an easy out,” I whisper against his chest.
As much as I want to hate him, tell him to leave and never come back, it feels so good in his arms. He makes me feel comforted, safe and loved. He holds me until the tears slow to a stop before releasing me. I stare at my hands, too embarrassed to look up at him.
He brings his hand up, lifting my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I really have no right to ask, but I’m going to anyway. Will you have dinner with me tonight? Strictly platonic, I promise. I just want to get to know you more.”
“Sebastian, I-”
“Please, just dinner and talking I swear. Tristan, I want the chance to get to know you,” he cuts me off in a pleading tone.
“Okay, I’ll go to dinner with you,” I agree. I shouldn’t, but I don’t know why I want to spend more time around this guy.
“Great. I’ll pick you up from here at six?”
I take a step back as if I just realized the close proximity of our bodies. “I, uh, I think it’s probably better if we drive separately. How about I meet you at the restaurant at seven?”
“Yea, sure. I’ll email you the address.”
“What? We aren’t going to Beck’s?”
He looks at me and frowns. “After the other night, do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“I see your point. I’ll wait for your email. See you at seven.”
He gives me a knowing look. “I look forward to it,” he says. Taking my hand, he kisses the back before releasing it and turns to leave, leaving the woodsy scent of his cologne behind. I hear some chattering before the ding of the lobby door just before Arianna comes bursting into her office.
“So, what happened?”
“We’re going to dinner.”
She wiggles her eyebrows and claps excitedly.
“Okay, that’s enough. You can go back to your desk in the lobby. I’m not done being the boss yet,” I say as I collapse into her comfy office chair.
Arianna practically threw me out of the office this afternoon, demanding I go home and get ready for my date tonight. Pfft date? I haven’t had a first date in six years and even then, with Lazaro, it wasn’t the same because we had been friends previously. I took my time selecting my outfit and now I’m heading to the restaurant. The pounding in my chest echoes in my ears the closer I get to the restaurant.
I pull up to the restaurant, some fancy place on the rich part of town that I’ve never even heard of and park. Scanning the parking lot, I look for Sebastian’s rental car and spot it immediately. My eyes zone in on him as he steps out of the car, looking dapper as ever.
His black tailored suit fits him like a glove, giving me much to appreciate as he stalks towards my car. He walks with a cocky confidence and I love it. I reach for the door to open it, but he beats me to it, pulling it open and reaching out his hand for me to take it.
“M’lady,” he says as I place my hand in his as I steady myself while climbing out of the car. “Wow, you look incredible.”
“Thank you. You look pretty dapper yourself.”
He fixes his tie and dusts his shoulders off with a smug smile on his face. “I guess I do clean up pretty well, huh?” I giggle, shaking my head at him. “Shall we?” He asks, hooking his arm with mine and we walk towards the restaurant entrance.
Walking in, we’re immediately greeted. “Hello. Good evening and welcome to Chateau’s.”
“Hi, yes we have a reservation for two, under Abbott.”
“Absolutely Mr Abbott, please follow me.” The host leads us through the dining room to a private room in the back and seats us. “Your waiter, Mario, will be with you in just a moment. Chef Roberto has prepared a special menu for you two since you are special guests of his.” Sebastian thanks the host and he leaves, closing the door behind him.
“Wow. This is beautiful. You know the Chef?” I ask.
“Yea, we went to college together. He is an impeccable chef.”
“Hmm…”
“What?” Sebastian asks, raising a brow at me.