Inevitable

liii: lunch plans

Ron isn't that bad. He has actually expressed his gratitude so much in the past few days because I helped him with the report. He has also turned a little politer, or maybe I judged him too quickly.

There's a knock on the door and I look up from the desk, seeing Frank standing on the other side. He enters the office with a small smile on his face as he puts a file on my desk. Did I mention I have my own office now? It's incredible.

"New hiring in accounts. You need to process it." He informs me.

"Thanks. Anything else?" I ask and he shakes his head but pauses. "What is it?"

"I hate giving reminders to Ron, but can you please put in a word that our monthly appraisal is due?" He asks, sounds a little hesitant.

"Yeah, no worries. I'll speak to him and get it started myself." I give him a small smile which earns me an appreciative one in return.

Frank is HR administrator, and we work a lot in sync here. He's one of the very few people I get to interact with on daily basis apart from Ron. Once he leaves, I check my phone and there's a text from Blake. He just finished his classes and we plan to get lunch together, so I have to leave in another ten minutes.

I put my work on hold and make my way to Ron's office. I knock on the door and he looks up, offering me a small nod for me to enter.

"Just wanted to remind you about the appraisal that's due," I speak up and he frowns a little until it dawns upon him.

"Shit, yes." He nods immediately. "Frank reminded you?"

"Yeah." I smile, finding it amusing how he knows.

"I have no idea why that man never approaches me directly." Ron shakes his head like he doesn't understand, a wondering look on his face. I want to tell him to try being less scary, but I don't want to offend him. "Anyway, are you headed out?"

"Yeah, grabbing lunch."

"Mind if I come along?" He asks, and I don't hold back my surprise. I fumble a little and he raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to respond.

Shit. What do I tell him? I can't say no to my boss especially now that he's starting to approve of me as an employee.

"My partner would be joining, you cool with that?" I ask, avoiding last minute awkward situations.

He grins, standing up as he shuts off his laptop. "Lovely. Let's go."

Fuck, I thought he'll back off once he hears that I'm not going alone. I mentally slap myself for being in this situation but I need to give Blake a heads up. In the elevator when we run into another employee, Ron starts talking with him so I pull out my phone to text.

"Heads up!!! My boss's accompanying to lunch."

I just hope he checks his phone before meeting me. We were supposed to check out this new Italian place which I found for both of us, but now my new boss is ruining that. Fucking great. I try to keep a smile on my face as Ron tells me about the new changes we're supposed to be bringing in the policies.

"So, what's this partner of yours like?" Ron asks when we reach the place which was just a block of walking distance from the office.

"Pretty great." I answer honestly, stepping inside the restaurant and Ron looks at me.

"Italian?" He asks and I nod, causing him to grin. "Amaze."

"Table for three, please." I request to the waitress who nods with a smile before leading us to the table. I turn to her when we're settled. "Another person will be joining us, they'll probably enquire for the name Emily."