Unbreakable Currents

Chapter 2

I sat up quickly from my bed, trying to break the trance this man had put me in.  The last thing I needed was to be flustered on the first day at my new job.

Trouble.

I stepped into the shower and let the hot water hit my body. I was hopeful it would release some of my tension. 

No such luck.

Rummaging through the closet, I tried to find something to wear, begrudging I only have a few outfits to choose from. My suitcases should arrive here this evening, thank goodness. I picked out a turquoise silk shirt, black pants, and slipped my heels on. I peeked in the mirror before heading out just to make sure I didn't look as frazzled as I felt but that was impossible. It would have to do. I pulled my hair in a ponytail and headed to my office.

My condo was closer to the back entrance of the complex, which had an impressive entry. Bright red and pink flowers aligned the path to the door. This morning, I decided to take the main entrance to inspect the grounds and to make sure the groundskeeper was up to snuff.

The front entrance to Gulf Breeze was gorgeous. Before even reaching the sliding glass doors, I was met with a water fountain that cascaded into a large round circle. Surrounding the fountain grew many different types of tropical flowers and palm trees. It was surreal, something you would never see back home in Ohio.

Once inside the entrance I was greeted by my whole staff. A young woman stood behind the large, black marble counter. Her straight blonde hair was in a bob that brushed up against her jaw line and her skin was pale. Looking at her, I wondered if she ever left her house to get a few rays. For living in Florida, she definitely didn't have the sun kissed skin of tourism ads. She walked toward me with a bouquet of pink and yellow roses.

"What is all this?" I asked trying not to sound nervous.

"I'm Natalie, the assistant manager. Welcome! We decided to get together so you could meet everyone and we all pitched in for this bouquet to say welcome."

She leaned over and whispered in my ear. "I hope you like the roses. I called your old manager and she remembered how much you loved flowers."

"They are beautiful. Thanks so much everyone, I really appreciate this."

After about a half an hour of formal introductions I had met my total staff of ten people. I was impressed with the amount of employees. The complex was a hi-rise with ten floors but only five condos on each floor. I wondered if perhaps the amount of staff was due to demanding residents but quickly shook the thought out of my head.

I didn't want to start my first day off passing judgments on residents I've never met. If there was one rule I was going to have with this new start to my life it was to not judge people. Everyone has a story, including me.

                            *************************************

By the end of the day, Natalie had showed me around the entire property and where everything was in the office. My private office, which was behind the main desk, was cramped but cozy. When I sat down at my desk for the first time, I felt accomplished.

My desk was already filled with budget papers, invoices, and owners reports, and by the time six o'clock came around everything was organized. I was ready for my managerial duties to start and to tackle each task head on. Tomorrow. My head was full of information that Natalie gave me and from work I read over myself. I needed to call it a day.

As I stood to grab my purse and a few work items, Natalie came in.

"Hey, do you want to grab a drink to celebrate your first day? I know a great little tiki bar on the harbor we can walk to and they have live music."

Although in my mind that didn't sound like a bad time, I knew my body would say otherwise.

"Sounds great but I need to look over a few of these reports and with all this new info to take in today, I'm done. Plus, my things will be arriving tonight and I have to be home."

She smiled her big grin at me. "I totally get it, I am pretty done too. Getting you up to speed today has my brain fried."

I smiled back at her and laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that but I appreciate your help. How about we rain check for another day and I'll buy you a few drinks to show my appreciation?"

"Sounds good. I'll catch you tomorrow morning."

Natalie walked out of my office and waved as she headed towards the elevator. I needed to make sure I stayed true to my word of buying her a drink and getting to know her better. The truth was I hadn't stepped into a bar in a long time. Alcohol gave me a bit too much liquid courage and made me loose among the opposite sex. I was her boss and I didn't want her to think any less of me.

I started toward the entrance of the building and stopped. I watched in awe as the same man I was daydreaming about this morning, walked towards me. Last night was dark but I stared long enough to know this was him. I watched him move with grace and was bewildered and hot. I was ready for my cheeks to burst into flames any minute. I gawked at him like a person on a diet would stare at cake. He moved closer to the sliding doors and I turned around, acting like I was reading my reports. 

When he entered the building, his scent of cologne and mint filled the lobby. I refrained from turning back and making eye contact. I was a chicken and worked up.Once I heard the elevators open and close I moved quickly to get out of there. 

I got back to my condo and immediately started stripping off my clothes. I told myself it was due to not being used to the warm temperatures but had to admit the hot mystery man didn't help. Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I wasn't impressed with my end of day look of frizzy hair and a wrinkled blouse.

My mind immediately went to him. There would be no way he would go for someone like me. I was average.  I had naturally wavy, dark brown hair but I always straightened it because I despised curls. As for my body, I didn't consider myself fat or thin - I was thick. Being 5'2 and a size 8, I wore my weight well, but I could always stand to lose a few pounds. He was sexy and definitely not in my league.

I spent a few minutes feeling bad that there was a huge chance he would never find someone like me attractive and snapped myself out of it. It was not the time to have a pity party of one. I had a lot going for me and coming to Florida was a good move. I didn't need to focus on anything other than my career.

Although every time I saw him I felt like I was melting, relationships and love was the farthest thing from my mind. With love comes secrets and pain, and I definitely had both of those.