Chapter 31: Boxed In

387K 17.4K 2.4K
                                    

"Hey, we're heading out. Are you coming?"

David looked up from his keyboard at his boss, standing just outside the office doorway. He'd forgotten he had promised Leo to go out for drinks tonight. They'd made plans last week - something about a new cigar bar that just opened in Midtown.

Not that David even liked cigars. Leo didn't either, for that matter. It was just an excuse, and they both knew it. Leo had been trying for weeks to pry him away from the office and back to some semblance of his normal social life. It was almost humorous, the way the two of them had undergone a complete role reversal lately. David had always been the one trying to tempt Leo back out on the town. Now Leo seemed to feel the need to return the favor.

"Come on," Leo said, sensing David's hesitation. "A cigar. Some scotch. You'll feel like a new man."

"Sorry, boss. It totally slipped my mind," David replied. "I'll have to take a raincheck."

"Dave." Leo stepped further into the office and clicked the door shut behind him. "How long are you going to keep moping around-"

"I'm not moping around," David cut him off impatiently. "I have other plans."

Leo raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Right. Do your other plans involve spending the whole night here in front of that computer?"

"No. Really. I'm going home. I have a house guest."

Leo squinted at him suspiciously. "You have a one-bedroom apartment. Since when do you have house guests?"

"It just came up." David shrugged. "It was kind of... sudden."

"Sudden, huh?" Leo continued to study him. "So I'm guessing this house guest is female?"

David turned back to his computer and pulled up the spreadsheet he'd been working on. "Seriously, Leo. I can't talk. I'm just trying to finish this up so I can get home-"

He was interrupted by the sound of Leo's laughter. "Wow. David Powers has a house guest. I thought you had a rule against shacking up."

"I'm not shacking up. It's just a guest. She's sleeping on the couch."

"Who?"

David swiveled in his chair again. He rolled his eyes in irritation when he saw Leo had made himself comfortable in a chair on the other side of his desk. "Why do you care?"

"I don't know, David. Maybe because you haven't even looked at a woman in weeks?"

David groaned. "Don't get excited. It's not like that."

"Please. You've got a woman staying at your place for the first time in - I don't know - ever? And I know for fact you don't have any close female relatives-"

"It's Penny. OK? Are you happy now? It's just Penny!"

The grin on Leo's face was wiped away, replaced by a look of wide-eyed surprise. "The secretary?"

"It's not a big deal. She just needed a place to stay-"

"Well it's about damn time!"

David leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. He knew that look on his boss's face. No way was he getting out of this conversation now until he'd told the full story. "Leo, it's a non-starter. Trust me."

"Last I heard, you didn't even have her phone number, so-"

"Trust me, Leo."

"What's the problem?"

"She's moving to Minnesota. She needed a place to stay for a few nights. That's all. It's nothing. I'm just doing a favor for a friend-"

"A friend? Did you tell her how you feel?"

It's Only TemporaryWhere stories live. Discover now