“Okay.” Thank goodness I decided to wear my smart, black pencil dress today. At least I am dressed appropriately. I give Kim a little wave as she excitedly bounces up and down on her chair. God, she’s like a kid that’s just been told they are going to Disneyland to fulfil all their childhood dreams.
We leave the office and walk in silence to Alan’s as the tension radiates off of me. If Michael picks up on it, he doesn’t say anything, which I am grateful for. He exudes no such tension. He has always come across as confident which only threatens to intimidate me.
“After you,” Michael says as he opens the door to Alan’s for me. I thank him and then we make our way over to the bar. “Did you want to get some food or just a drink for now?” he asks me.
“Just a drink is fine.” I don’t think I could eat even if I wanted to.
“Wine?”
“White, please.”
I wait whilst Michael orders the drinks, my arms still folded across my chest. Alan’s is already busy with people coming here for drinks at the end of their working week. I don’t spot anyone from our office yet, which isn’t a bad thing. I would rather this date be kept hidden from the prying eyes of our colleagues, especially Miriam. She would be a fucking nightmare if she were to get wind of mine and Michael’s little outing.
When our drinks are ready, Michael picks them up and leads me over to a secluded table for two in the far corner of the room. I take a seat opposite him and cross my legs, pleased with his choice of table. Here in the corner, I can keep myself in my little bubble.
I keep my back straight as I pick up my wine and take a sip. The cool liquid glides down my throat and I hope that it does something to help calm me down.
“So, Lucy,” Michael begins as he places his beer bottle on the table. “I finally get the chance to speak to you on your own.”
“Uh, yeah. Sorry about Kim the other day. She gets a bit carried away.” I try to sound as casual as possible, but even I can hear the slight wobble in my voice.
“I can tell,” he replies with a chuckle. “You don’t need to be so nervous, I don’t bite.” His smile relaxes me slightly.
“I’m sorry, I just haven’t been out on a date for a while.”
“A date?” he questions.
Oh shit. Have I read this wrong? Is this not a date? Is it just a friendly drink between co-workers?
“Relax, I’m joking,” he says as he registers the panic on my face. I let out a nervous giggle as relief washes over me that I haven’t read this situation wrong. “I’ve actually been wanting to ask you out for a while now.”
“Really?” I ask, gobsmacked.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t sure how long to leave it after you and Tom split up.”
I feel the familiar emotion of sadness grip me on the inside and swallow down the lump that has formed in my throat. I wasn’t aware that he even knew about Tom.
“Um….” No words come to mind as I battle to quell the discomfort rising within me.
“I apologise. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” he says with his hands held up in front of him. “It’s just that, you know, the office grapevine likes to talk. News travels fast and half of the time you don’t know whether it’s true or not.” He has a genuine look of concern on his face and I instantly feel stupid for my reaction.
Tom is gone, Lucy, but Michael is sat right in front of you.
Michael isn’t Tom.
“It’s okay,” I say finding my voice again. “It’s been six months since we split up, so I shouldn’t let it affect me.”
“Hey,” he says reaching for my hand and placing his on top of mine. The simple gesture has me looking at him, straight into his dark chocolate eyes. “You don’t have to explain yourself. Break-ups are hard, no matter how they occurred.”
I smile softly at him. I never realised that he was this sweet.
I study his handsome face and I realise that, I can either let what happened with Tom eat away at me, or I can move on and see where this thing with Michael takes me.
I opt for the latter.
I owe myself the opportunity to be happy.
Michael wants to get to know me, and I would be a fool to throw that chance away.
Chapter Four
A budding relationship
“So,” Kim says as we sit at our desks and eat our lunch. “Things seem to be going well with you and Michael.”
“Mmm hmm,” I mumble through a mouthful of salad. I may have a mouthful of food, but it doesn’t stop the smile spreading across my face at the mention of Michael.
“Three dates in total,” Kim continues with a raise of her eyebrows. She is fishing for information. “And is date number four happening anytime soon?”
I may be staying at Kim’s place for now, but I don’t feel the need to tell her about every aspect of my life. Plus, she has had the last couple of days off of work and has been staying at Jeremy’s, so her snooping has been somewhat limited to the odd text message.
“It is,” I reply coyly. I can feel the impatience coming off of her in waves as I fight to control the laughter that is threatening to break free from me.
“Lucy Fields, will you stop being so bloody secretive.”
“I’m not,” I say, feigning ignorance.
“Bollocks. Are you going to keep me guessing or are you just going to tell me what the deal is between you and Michael?”
I chuckle and decide to put her out of her misery.
“Date four is tonight, and all is going well.”
“Well? Is that it?” she asks incredulously.
“Okay, it’s going brilliantly.”
“And have you… You know?” she says with a twinkle in her eye.
“Not yet,” I reply catching onto her implication straight away.
“Why not?” she says, her face pulling into a frown.
“Because we’re taking it slow.”
I don’t want to rush things. Although I vowed to let myself be happy, I can’t help myself from being a little bit cautious.
Kim opens her mouth to speak again, but the office doors open and Michael walks in. Butterflies rear up within me, and I wipe my mouth with a tissue to make sure that there is no salad dressing there.
“Ladies,” Michael says as he comes to a stop in front of my desk.
“Hi,” I reply, my heartbeat ratcheting up a few notches at his close proximity. My eyes appreciate his manly form in his navy-blue suit. His hair looks slightly ruffled, clearly from where he has just been outside in the wind.
“Michael,” Kim acknowledges him with a nod of her head. He nods back at her before turning his attention to me.
“We still on for tonight?” he asks me as he puts his hands in his trouser pockets. His stance is commanding, and I feel a little tingle between my legs.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
“Good. I thought that we could go to my place and I would cook for us.”
“Oh.” I am caught off guard at the mention of his place. I just thought that we would be going for a drink like we have done on the other three occasions that we have been out together.
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he says, clearly reading my surprise.