NAOMI COLE—JUNE
"I DID IT!" I shouted as Dante and I sat in the conference room alone, Khalil having left after giving me the internship.
When we first walked into the conference room, my worries dissipated when I took notice of Khalil with a bright smile on his face. Immediately, he was very sweet and made the entire interview quite easy for me. He was about the same height as Dante, but with a more muscular build. He was quite attractive with a rich brown complexion, coily hair cropped low, and the perfect bone structure.
He and Dante let me know that they had already went through my resume and were impressed by it. They did however, express concern about me not knowing how to write proposals for a hedge fund if I didn't have background in this business. Being my prepared self, I pulled out the essay I had written about hedge funds for an economics class I had taken this year, which shocked Dante and impressed Khalil.
The next thing I knew, we were talking about a salary for me and when I could start, making me feel like I was on cloud nine. I told them that I could start as soon as possible, which meant I would have to quit at the restaurant because of how time consuming this internship would be. As much as I enjoyed working with the people there and Veronica, this internship was exactly what I needed to get the future that I wanted.
"You really did great," Dante told me, chuckling as I got up to do a happy dance with a grin on my face. "I'm not surprised you got it."
"Can we get lunch now? You know, to celebrate?"
"We can," he started, dragging out his words. "But we need to talk about something first. Can you sit?"
His somber tone made me a bit nervous and immediately pulled me down from the high I was feeling from getting this position. What if he wanted to end this relationship between us now that we were working together?
"When we're here...in the office, we can't let anyone know that we're—" he paused, not knowing what to say, but I nodded to let him know I understood. "It's too much of a risk and I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression. But I do still want to keep seeing you even though you're working here."
I let out a sigh of relief at his words, not bothered that we kind of had to hide what was going on between us. That made it hotter honestly. And when I was serious about something—like this internship—I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it.
"That's no problem. I completely understand," I smiled as his expression became quite bright once again, his hand resting on my thigh. He was making it really hard for me to not want to jump on him and kiss him just as we had the night before.
"Let's go get that celebratory lunch."
***
"I'M STARTING TO THINK you're a bit weird," Dante spoke with an amused expression on his face as he pointed at the pile of french fries in front of me.
"You're just starting to think that?"
He paused for a second, tapping his chin as if he were crafting some profound response. "Well, no. But it's been taken to a new level now that your whole lunch is just fries. That's supposed to be a side dish, Naomi."
I narrowed my eyes at him, popping a fry in my mouth as I replied with, "When you find the person who wrote that rule, let me know so I can give them a piece of my mind."
He laughed at my words, the joy reaching his eyes. He didn't know it, but I've been observing Dante quite closely since we met to try and piece together who he was—or who I thought he was. From what I could tell, he seemed to be quite stand-offish from those he didn't know or find joy in talking to. I also noticed that while he had a quite icy and stoic exterior, some of the words he used or the way he said them made me think that he was a bit softer on the inside. I also noticed that he had a knack for making witty jokes that really got me going. I really like intelligent, humorous men and that was what he seemed like.
But that didn't mean I wasn't still looking out for those red flags of his that I was sure had to be there.
"So are you or Khalil going to be my boss? I need to know if I'm going to have a devastatingly handsome boss or you."
He feigned hurt feelings at my words, placing a hand over his heart. "Ouch. But we both are, I guess. We'll both give you tasks to do and projects to work on, but we'll collaborate on everything so we don't overwork you."
"Perfect!"
The rest of our lunch was filled with us joking with one another and me asking him everything I needed to know about the people in the office. I was glad that he was able to tell me who to stay away from in the building.
When the hour was up however, he had to get back to work while I was left to do my own thing for the day.
"You know...I can start today," I said once we were outside in front of the restaurant, neither of us wanting to go our separate ways.
"I'll see you on Monday, Naomi. Get yourself prepared."
Just like the other night, he gently placed a hand on my waist as he leaned in towards me. Our lips clashed and it was a sweet kiss, nothing too passionate or sultry. It felt like his parting gift for me.
My cheeks were burning as his gaze bore into mine once he pulled away, holding an indecipherable expression. I just wished I could get in his mind to answer the multitude of questions I had about him. Was he worried about the age gap too? Was he starting to like me as much as I was starting to like him? Did he see this going anywhere? Was he just using me for fun?
"What're you thinking about, sweetheart?"
"Just how excited I am to start on Monday," I lied, forcing a smile as those terrible thoughts still lingered in my mind about him.
"I'll see you then."
He squeezed my waist where his hand was, giving me one final lingering gaze before he walked off down the street and back to his office.
As I walked down the street towards the subway, I chastised myself for getting so caught up in my head. We were just at the beginning of whatever was going on between us, yet here I was letting my feelings get ahead of me and questioning everything. He would probably think I was a childish little girl with how much I was starting like him while he was most likely just figuring out if he even wanted to talk to me or not.
Deciding I needed a way to escape, I did something quite stupid that I didn't even think through completely. Although I would like to think that I'm mature—because I am—I still acted on impulse sometimes like the twenty-three year old I am.
"Hey," I said cheerily as Gabe picked up on the other end. I bit my lip as I waited for him to respond.
"Long time, no speak," he replied in his deep voice, making me let out a little awkward chuckle.
Gabe was a guy I met on a dating app not too long ago and after going on a few dates, nothing really progressed much farther between us—outside of the bedroom at least.
"Are you free right now? Do you still not work on Fridays?"
"Yeah, I'm free. You wanna come over, cariña?"
I almost cringed as he used to the same nickname for me as Dante, even if it was in a different language. For a second, I felt bad for fleeing off to this other guy after just seeing Dante, but I also wasn't tied down to him. I could do what I wanted and make my own choices.
"Yeah, I'm on my way."
***
I THOUGHT I WOULD feel better about my intrusive thoughts once I got to Gabe's house, but I really didn't.
As he thrusted into me, groaning way too much, all I could think about was how much I wasn't enjoying this and how much I would rather be around Dante instead.
Gabe finished soon after, collapsing onto me and talking about how good it was even though I hadn't even reached a climax once. After a few minutes of just catching up, I was dressed again and looked as if nothing had ever happened, heading back down to the subway to go home.
I shouldn't have done that. I knew I didn't like Gabe, I knew I never enjoyed his company yet I went right back because I was so worried about Dante not liking me. I knew Gabe would always be there, but I was scared that Dante could just be gone one day. I didn't need to be thinking those thoughts this early into things. Now that I was thinking rationally, I realized just how stupid I really sounded. If he wasn't liking his time with me, he wouldn't be asking me on dates and offering me internship jobs at his own company.
I'm an idiot.