It took us about 20 minutes to get to the restaurant. Marcus wouldn't tell me where we were going and the conversation was close to non-existent in the car. I fiddled with my fingers nervously and was grateful for the silence. My phone continued to vibrate which I stubbornly refused to acknowledge.
I was still deep in thought when we neared our destination which included a row of buildings with small shops and businesses lining the sidewalk. Marcus parked his vehicle and we exited into the dimly lit street.
I looked over at Marcus and admired how well put together he was. He didn't have to try hard to look good and that was something I was envious of.
Guys had it so easy. He simply wore a dark pair of denim jeans with a white shirt loosely tucked in and looked like a model. Suddenly I felt extremely frumpy in his company. Marcus caught me staring and smirked in my direction "You like what you see?"
He kept his gaze on me and I felt myself getting flush. I tried to move closer to the door and get away from the awkward moment. The last thing I needed was to develop feelings for my boyfriend's boss.
I cleared my throat nervously and reached for the door breaking whatever trance he had me under. I needed to keep focused on the task at hand and reminded Myself that I had a whole mess at home that I needed to deal with first.
As we walked in we were greeted by what I assumed was the owner. He simply waved us in and we took the booth closest to the window. As he walked over, Marcus stood up and grabbed the man into a warm embrace.
They stood there exchanging pleasantries before the man, who was named Luka, introduced himself.
"Leave it to Marcus to avoid introducing me to a beautiful woman" He reached over and kissed my hand.
"It's because I actually like this one" Marcus swatted away my hand playfully.
"What have I ever done to deserve such treatment" Luka looked at Marcus with puppy dog eyes. He was definitely cute. Tall, dark handsome and screamed trouble.
"Well, there was Stacy, Amber, Samantha..."
"Ok ok, I will leave this one alone" Luka interrupted Marcus's rant. They continued like this for a bit before Luka went into the back to grab us our meals.
"I preordered. I hope you don't mind" Marcus said.
"No. It's ok" I wasn't picky with food and realized I was extremely hungry. Luka appeared 5 minutes later with a couple of plates of pasta, Caesar salad and bread sticks. I dug in like I haven't eaten in days.
My phone began vibrating again when Marcus looked at me expectantly. When I didn't react he quickly swiped my phone and answered it for me.
"Hello, Ana's assistant speaking" I tried grabbing it back but he got up and kept moving away from me.
There was nothing but silence on the other end. I finally grabbed my phone and whispered hello into the speaker. For some reason, I felt like I was doing something wrong and breaking some rule.
"Ana"
oh, so it's the best friend.
I composed myself as best as I could.
"Hi, Elise. What's up".
"What do you mean what's up? We've been trying to get a hold of you since last night. Cole is worried. I'm worried. Who was that" she asked.
"Who that was is not important. I'm fine. Maybe when you see Cole you can relay that for me" I sat back down and waited for an answer.
"Why would I see Cole?" Elise's voice seemed to go up a pitch level.
"You've been such a good friend. Always taking care of me and Cole. I just figured since I was away and he was lonely. You'd be a good friend and keep him company. You know, Make things easier for him" I tried to sound as sweet as possible.
There was a moment of silence and what I heard next was completely unexpected.