That one summer

Aurora

I had practically run out of the pantry. I am not denying that Orion is not an attractive person but he has always been only a work colleague and since last week he has been acting extra nice and a little flirty. My trust issues antennas have been on high alert since then. After a brief walk outside, I came back to my desk to find the coffee along with a note on it. There was absolutely no doubt that it was Orion. I drank my still-warm coffee tried to finish off work before the weekend and hurried to the local bar to meet my friends.

Lina, Juniper, and my drink had already reached 'The Hangout' by the time I arrived. These two women are my pillars, we have been through all good and bad together. I had met Lina, at my university, and we had bonded over our mutual love for coffee and books. Lina used to model for various magazines before opening her own production company. She is beautiful, smart, tall, and has the perfect cheekbones which enhance her bob-cut hair. And Juniper came along at my previous workplace, and we bonded over our mutual hate towards our ex-manager. We both left the company together, I joined Maverick and she joined Oceans as a Junior Editor. I am so proud of both of my girls.

I settled into my chair while taking a gulp of my G&T. I clearly needed that after the afternoon I had. "Easy there, we still got to plan our whole trip," Lina said while chugging down her own beer. "I had quite an interesting day, I will come to that later. But first, Juniper where is this year's mini vacation?" We take 3 mini vacations of 3 days every year and we take turns to decide. Our lake district vacation in March was chosen by Lina. And mine is usually a winter vacation.

"Drum roll please both of you before I announce." Lina & I used the cutlery on the table and did a mock drum roll.

"Ladies, we deserve a break from this madness. We deserve Sunshine. We deserve to lie on the beach and do nothing but drink. We deserve to wear our bikinis left in the corner of our closet. That is why my beautiful day drinkers, we are going to Scarborough!"

Lina & I screamed excitedly and hugged Juniper squishing her in between us. Juniper is the tiniest of all, the cutest but a firecracker. "I love you; I need a beach vacation at this point," I said while sitting back.

"So, I have already looked into a beautiful guest house run by a couple which is a 10-minute walk to the beach. Pack light!" We laughed at the last bit because Juniper carries a big suitcase and a carry-on for a 3-day trip.

Lina was already on her phone looking at places we could visit. "I think I will have the itinerary ready by tonight and we are all set to leave on Thursday!" Excitement beamed through us. We ordered our food, and true to her word Lina had the plan ready and thankfully it had 80% lying on the beach. After dinner, we walked back to our building. All 3 of us had taken flats in the same building. Juniper lived on the 6th floor; I was on the 4th floor & Lina was on the ground floor. She had turned the courtyard into her own personal flower garden. While walking back, I was thinking how do I begin to explain things going on with Orion at work while not being sure how I felt about it?

"So, you guys remember Orion"

Lina grinned widely "Who can forget a snack in a suit"

Juniper almost choked on her ice cream on that statement.

"I will take it as you both remember him."

Juniper stepped in front of me and stopped on the tracks "Spill the beans, Rory, what did he do that you are out of words."

I told them the entire bit from Instagram to the note on the coffee. And I felt uneasy while talking about him. It feels weird when he is doing things out of nowhere.

"The man's got rizz"

Juniper nodded in agreement. "So, what do you want to do? Are you interested in him?

"Absolutely not! Only a blind person would be interested in that smug face. Also, I do not date people at work"

"Getting defensive, interesting."

"Lina, I am not getting defensive, I am just saying why will I be interested in someone who will be nothing without his expensive suits."

By the time I realised what I said, Juniper turned around and started walking "So, you want to see him without his suits? Interesting!" Lina and Juniper walked ahead to our building leaving me to groan in the back. We hugged Lina goodbye while making no promises to join us for the morning run. Before I got on to the lift, she pulled me back and I looked at her with eyebrows raised "If you are actually interested, what is the harm in getting to know each other first? Nobody is asking you to jump directly into a relationship." I hugged her once again and got inside the lift where Juniper was already waiting for me. I hugged her goodbye and got off the lift, before the doors closed Juniper called out "The vacation would be good for you to find out if you are genuinely interested in him or if he just looks good in suits." I smiled at her, waved goodbye, and got inside my apartment.

I changed and got onto my bed while thinking about what my two unpaid therapists said. I opened my phone, in the spur of the moment accepted his request, and shot him a text before I regretted making that decision.