Change of Heart

Chapter 7

"Yes, that's fine. Just make sure it's on my desk by Monday morning." Hanging up the phone, I close my laptop and let out a sigh of relief. The past week I have been doing assessments on all our interns. It's Friday afternoon and most of them have handed in their projects, but a few are struggling.

All my plans are set for this evening. Matt and Olivia are having sleepovers at friends' houses and I have a plan with Bianca's sister, Mandy. She's going to get Bianca to leave her place before midnight, ensuring she'll be home on time.

"Heading home before me, now this is unusual," Monique chimes, as I stop at her desk to say goodbye.

"Yeah, big night." There's an enormous grin on my face.

"Oh, that's right the anniversary! Good luck and have a wonderful evening," she tells me, beaming as much as I am.

"Thank you again, for everything lately, you've kept me sane." She laughs and encourages me to get out of here. As I stroll through the building, I realize that I'm still grinning from ear to ear. Even if I forced myself, my expression couldn't alter.

Things have been great with Bianca and I this past week. We've been talking more, and I see a light that things are changing. I know we have a lot to get through but I'm certain we can get back to who we used to be. I haven't bumped into Calvin at all since the wedding and he's the last thing on my mind. I know that there's something going on with him, but Bianca is important—I couldn't do anything to hurt her.

I wait patiently for the elevator doors to open. As they do, deja vu slams me in the face. Calvin's standing alone, right in the middle. He looks up from his phone, gives me a half smile and resumes what he's doing. That's strange, it's as though I'm a bystander you'd politely smile at, so you're not being rude. I walk in and press the button.

The doors close, and I look up at the numbers. I'm at a loss, did everything with him not happen? Was all of it in my head? The grinning, the elevator... my tie. I don't know what happened at the wedding in that restroom, but there's no way the last time we were in this elevator together he didn't touch me.

The elevator continues down and stops at different floors allowing people to get on and off. The whole time I'm glued onto the numbers, I can't seem to look anywhere else. It arrives on my floor and I get off. I turn to look back and he's still peering down at his phone. The doors close, leaving me standing in the carpark confused.

I don't know what I expected, but it was more than that. Heading to my car, I try to forget that I met him. Tonight, will be amazing and it's all that matters.

On the way home, I run over all the things I've got to do. Set up the decorations, prepare the food and drinks—I can't wait.

***

Time flew by while I prepared everything, and I kept my focus on tonight going smoothly. I've showered, changed and put on Bianca's favorite cologne. It's almost 11.30 now. I sit on the couch and flick through the channels; settling on a music one. There's a young female pop band jumping and dancing around. I look at my watch again... 11.35. Seriously, only 5 minutes passed? My stomach churns and the urge to grind my teeth grows stronger. Anyone would think I was about to go on stage. Tonight, has to be perfect, we need this.

After a few videos have droned on, I switch the telly off. It's almost 12 now, so, I head into the kitchen, take the egg rolls out of the fridge and put them in the oven. I set the timer and sit at the table waiting. To mindlessly pass more time, I grab my phone and play a random puzzle game.

The timer goes off and I jump up and pull the tray out. I check the time and it's almost 12.20am, that's strange, as Mandy doesn't live far, and she told me she would make sure Bianca leaves by midnight. I sit back down and continue my game.