Coming Back Home

Chapter 13

I took a deep breath and pushed my chair back from my desk. I walked the short way down the hall to Natalie's office and knocked on her closed door.

"Yeah, come in," she said.

I slowly opened the door and saw her smile when she saw me.

"Hey," she said as she waved me inside.

I shut the door behind me and looked at her suspiciously, wondering if this was going to be business or personal related.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"I just wanted some privacy to talk to you honestly," she said as she stood up from her desk and came over to me.

"You know the difference in how you're talking to me now versus how you were before is giving me a little bit of whiplash," I said with a grin.

"Sorry, I know," she responded as her fingertips traced over the top of my hand.

"I'm really glad we had the conversation that we did, but I just wish I would've been smart enough to try and have it sooner," she continued.

"Yeah...me too," I said in agreement.

She continued to inch closer to me and I felt my heart rate quicken. Her face was now only inches away, and her lips hovered over mine. I was convinced she could hear my heart about to beat out of my chest.

"Natalie..." I said quietly, "I didn't peg you for someone who would try this at work."

"Then you must not know me very well anymore," she said as she smirked at me.

Her lips were almost touching mine, but I panicked.

"We can't do this," I mumbled.

"I don't see why not," she responded.

"Because we're at work for one," I said.

She rested her hand on the small of my back, never moving her lips back from mine.

"And because - because..." Natalie was making it very hard for me to get my words out, and she knew it.

"Because?" She said teasingly.

"Because we both still have things - things to figure out...like what we want," I said.

"I don't have - " Natalie started to respond but she was abruptly cut off by a knock at her door.

"Shit," I said breathlessly as I jumped from the sound.

Natalie stepped back and cleared her throat.

"Coming, one second," she said as she let out a loud sigh.

I tried to casually lean against the desk when Natalie opened the door. Hopefully it just looked like we had been having a normal conversation.

"Hey Ella, did you need something?" Natalie asked as Ella stood in the doorway and looked between the two of us.

I tried to hide the embarrassment on my face and looked down to avoid eye contact with her.

"Oh - I was just going to ask you about a report but I can come back, I didn't realize you were busy," she said.

I glanced up and quickly met her questioning eyes before looking back down.

"No it's fine," I quickly chimed in, "I was actually just heading out."

"Are you sure?" Ella asked, "I don't mind coming back later."

"Yeah don't worry about it," I said as I walked towards the door, "and thanks for your help Natalie."

She gave me a mischievous smile before I turned away and walked out of her office.

***

That night when we left work, I walked out of the building shortly after Natalie. I looked around the parking lot and didn't see Eli in his car anywhere. She was walking towards a car that I hadn't seen before, and she went to the driver's side.

"No Eli tonight?" I asked her.

"No, I ended things with him this morning actually," she responded.

"Oh," I said in a surprised voice, "really?"

"Mhmm," she said with a nod, "I know what I want."

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