12. Daniel

12

DANIEL

I glanced at my watch. It was nearly quitting time and my day had been nothing but meetings and calls for hours. I was exhausted and hungry. I strolled past Jill’s new desk. She was happily typing away at her computer like always. “How’s the new job? I hear you hired a new assistant for Olivia.”

Her face lit up and she looked up at me. “Yes, sir. Jeffrey starts tomorrow with Olivia. He’ll be a great fit for our team.”

“Good, good. I’m glad things are working out for you.” I tapped my fingers on the corner of her desk and moved on. I was glad to have Emily to myself now and that the subsequent shifts in personnel had been positive for everyone.

After stopping off at the men’s room to relieve my bladder, I headed to my office. Emily was not at her desk as I expected her to be, but the door to my office was ajar. I always left it shut, so I knew Emily had to be in there working. It had become somewhat of a mutual workspace, shared because she did so much for me now that she needed more room to work.

As I walked in, I noticed the files and papers she had spread across the area rug. There were at least a dozen stacks of paper. She hovered there, placing copies of the sheets of paper in her hand onto the top of each pile.

“Collating? You know the copier will do that for you?”

“Yes, I know.” She was brusque, leaning over the stacks without looking up. It wasn’t like her to be abrupt with me, so I figured something was wrong.

I walked around her, careful not to step on any of her work, and pulled up a chair so I could sit and talk with her. She was busily sorting her paperwork, and I wondered why she hadn’t just used the copier, but I didn’t ask. I didn’t want to upset her.

“How has your day been?”

She glanced up at me as I asked but refocused on her work. “Fine.” I hadn't spoken to her much, but I didn't figure that was a reason for her to be this upset with me. We had a lot of days where communication was minimal and I found it challenging to carve out time during my workday to spend with her.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, you did nothing wrong. Okay?”

I sat and watched her collating all the files for at least twenty minutes. Her shoulders were tense, and her brow was furrowed. If I didn't know better, I would have thought she was upset with me, but she had told me that she wasn't upset with me, so that left me very confused. When she had all of her sheets distributed to the appropriate piles, she took each stack and stapled them. Then she stacked them all together.

As she pushed herself off the ground to stand, she gave me a great view of her ass. That skirt she wore fit her like a glove, and I couldn’t resist saying, “Wow, your ass is incredible in that skirt. How about you come over here and sit on my lap and let me help you relax?”

“Look, D, I don’t have time for this today.” She dropped the papers on my desk. “The documents for your four o’clock tomorrow are here. You can check them out, but I did exactly what you said to do.”

Emily turned to face me, and I noticed her sullen expression. It appeared there were tears in her eyes, though I didn’t want to pry. “Are you okay?”

“I said, yes, I’m okay.”

I stood and walked over to her. “You don’t look okay.” I reached for her, but she moved away, heading toward the couch. There was another stack of papers there that she picked up.

“Look, I just don’t want to talk about it.” She curled her hair around her ear and walked back to my desk, and this time, I didn’t let her avoid my grasp.

“I care about you, Em. Look, something is wrong. Talk to me.”

She looked down as if she was ashamed or afraid of talking to me, and I felt saddened that she would ever feel those emotions around me. Our relationship wasn’t conventional, though, and I had been very busy and distracted. Even our lunches together had been crowded out by meetings for the past week.

“Look, can we talk?” she asked. She wrung her hands, and I nodded.

“Of course we can talk. Let’s sit.” I gestured toward the couch, and she walked with me and sat down. Her shoulders drooped. I could tell she’d been crying too. As close as I was, I saw the streaks through her makeup, long ago dried but still visible up close. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Emily sighed and said, “Well, I think if we’re going to have a relationship, we need to make it official, you know?” She looked up at me with a hopeful expression. “I think just having lunch together when you’re not busy and sex over your desk—it’s not enough. I want more, D. I want to date you and have dinner. I want to see your house, and invite you to my apartment. I want to introduce you to my parents at some point, and I want to have sex in a bed. Not on a couch, or across a desk, or on a throw rug.”

I wagged my eyebrows, remembering the sex over my desk. “That was pretty hot sex, though. You have to admit it.”

My comment drew a smile to her lips, but it faded quickly and she looked down at her hands, still wringing together in her lap. I got the feeling there was something more bothering her, but I knew she’d open up in her good time.

“Yes, well, sex isn’t enough for me. Okay? I need a future.”

“Then let’s start right now.” I slapped my knees and stood up, and her eyes followed my motion.

“What do you mean, right now?”

“I mean, let’s go have dinner. You and me. I’m starving. You’ve been working hard all day. I want to take my lady out for a delicious treat and enjoy her without the pressure of work weighing on us.”

A smile curved her lips. “You mean that?” she asked, rising to stand with me.

“Yes, I mean that. Whatever you have going on with all this paperwork can wait until tomorrow. I’m taking you to Amelio’s. It’s this amazing pizza joint, but it’s super classy. Picture the Godfather’s bar, but not bar food. And they make the most amazing Moscow Mule ever.”

“Uh, what’s that?” Emily took my hand and followed me toward the door. I already had my phone in hand, sending a message to my driver to come around and pick me up.

“It’s a Russian drink—beer and vodka with lime and something else… I can’t remember. But you’ll love it.”

Emily blanched and shook her head. “No, thanks. I don’t think I’m drinking.”

The announcement surprised me. I hadn’t really interacted with Emily outside of work, but I never took her for the purist type who didn’t drink. I respected anyone who could get through life without a beer on occasion but preferred a drinking companion.

“You sure? My treat. I can get you a mojito, or a margarita. Whatever you want. It’s dinner out. We’re not on the clock. Might be fun to cut loose.”

The more I coaxed her, the paler she got, and her hand cradled her stomach. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I have to work in the morning, and what if I end up with a hangover or something? I think no drinking is best for me.”

“Suit yourself. I hope you don’t’ mind if I have a drink?”

“Of course not. You can do as you please.” Her smile returned as I placed my hand in the small of her back and guided her toward the elevator. Olivia watched us walk past, then Grace stopped to gawk. Jill looked up, eyes wide as I escorted my date to the elevator. Every staffer we strolled past got a good view of me and Emily walking far too close to be professional.

Emily tucked into my side, a timid mouse frightened by the beasts that devoured her with their eyes. “They’re staring.”

“Well, let them stare. In fact, we could give them something to talk about.” I snickered, thinking about kissing her right there as we waited for the elevator doors to open, but she stepped away, pressing the call button a dozen times at least.

“I’d rather not be talked about right now.”

As we passed Michael’s office, I saw his death glare. He warned me to keep my distance, but I refused to be bullied by him. He stood and watched us walking, but he didn’t follow us. For that I was thankful. While I would, at any cost, defend my choice to date Emily, I prayed it never came to an outright argument or disagreement in the office. And I didn’t want to have that discussion in front of Emily, either. I’d hear about it tomorrow, but for tonight it was out of sight, out of mind.

Discouraged but not defeated, I kept my distance until we were in the car, at which point I pulled her against my body and kissed her hard. She seemed to hesitate for a moment but relaxed and let me deepen the kiss and grope her breast too. She moaned, but it sounded more like pain than pleasure, so I didn’t do it again.

“This means a lot to me, that you are taking us seriously.” Emily pulled away from me slightly, looking up into my eyes. Her hand remained resting on my chest.

“I told you I want to get to know you. We have some sort of chemistry going on that I’ve never had with anyone else, and I want to explore that.”

As I was speaking, Emily’s face grew bright with happiness. She looked past me out the window, and I turned to see what she was looking at. Cloud Gate had captured her attention, the giant bean-shaped artwork in the park, a huge tourist attraction. She stared and gawked for the thirty seconds it was in view, then sat back.

“Wow, there are so many things I haven’t seen in this town.”

“City,” I corrected.

“Huh?”

“Chicago is a city, a very large one.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Anyway, you can take me to see all the sights someday. I know so little about it.” She curled back into my side and rested her head on my shoulder.

Emily was a small-town girl, completely ignorant of city life. She probably saw more farms and tractors growing up than skyscrapers and taxis. It was something I’d have to get used to for sure, because I had zero interest in gallivanting around the city, showing her any sights. Chicago had lost the luster for me years ago. It was just a boring city to me now.

I wasn’t about to give up on her, though. No matter how different we were, I was going to make it work.