Another Love Story

Eighteen

On Tuesday I got back from a management meeting to find a delivery on my desk. I dropped my tablet on my desk and reached for the package. There was an arrangement of roses and a box of chocolates. I reached for the note attached to the roses.

Hey Michelle,

I hope you're having a good work day.

Tiger

I sat down, clutching the handwritten note. After a few deep breaths, I reached for my phone and called him. He answered almost immediately.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I said.

We were silent on the phone for a few moments.

"I got your gifts," I said. "Thank you, Tiger."

"You are welcome," he said. "Would you come out with me to catch a late movie tomorrow?"

My hand tightened on the arm rest. This might be the shortest pursuit in history if he kept this up.

"Michelle?" he prompted after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes. Yes, I will go out to a movie with you," I replied.

"Awesome."

We rung off and I leaned back in my seat staring at the package. After a few moments, I reached for the chocolate, opened it and popped a piece in my mouth. It was sooo good. I moaned with delight. Amanda stood in the doorway with a smirk on her face.

"Should I come in?" she asked.

"If you leave your perverted brain outside, yes," I teased.

She entered my office and sat in the chair facing my desk with a heavy sigh.

"What a meeting!" she said as she leaned back. I nodded in agreement and turned the box of chocolate towards her. Her eyes widened with delight. She reached for a piece of chocolate and then moaned as she ate it.

"Where did these come from? I will love that person forever," she said. I smiled and tucked Tiger's note under my hip. I didn't need us becoming office gossip.

Amanda and I chatted while we ate chocolate after which she returned to her office.

*

The following evening, Tiger picked me up from work as he had been doing the whole week. He picked me from my apartment every morning and dropped me back every evening. I got in the car and greeted him. He picked up my hand and kissed my palm. The wounds in my palms were healing well and I no longer wore bandages. He had removed them the previous evening and kissed each finger delicately. He held my hand—which was a welcome change from holding my thigh—and we set off on our journey.

As the self-appointed DJ on our journeys, I found a radio station with a nice evening show and good music which would accompany us through the evening traffic. After a while, I noticed that we were not headed in the direction of the cinema.

"Where are we headed?" I asked.

He glanced at me and smiled. "You didn't think I would make you watch a movie without feeding you, did you?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "You're stretching this out," I said.

He drove us to a restaurant where we had good food and great wine. I was laughing throughout dinner as we chatted. When we finished eating, I felt like I had already had a complete date and yet, a movie awaited.

We left the restaurant and joined traffic to Kamwokya. At the cinema, Tiger produced tickets and we were ushered in just in time for the movie. We held hands and occasionally smiled across at each other as the movie went on. I didn't have the stomach for popcorn after a full meal but we made a concession and had ice cream.