Quick Note: The pic on the right is another little collage of Evan and Sonja (Joe Manganiello and Olivia Wilde) that I made. Hope you like the chapter. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Don't get lost in a turkey coma!
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Every day I have woken up with a smile on my face, since Friday night. Since the Halloween party. Since that kiss…
The weekend flew by. Trick or treaters seemed pleased to come by my apartment last night considering how happy I am. I didn’t usually get a lot of them. Stacy and Kenneth could not figure out why I was in such a good mood and I didn’t tell them what happened. It was my little secret for now. We did Halloween at my apartment since they had been so busy lately with Kenneth’s work.
I didn’t care that I hadn’t spoken to Evan since he kissed my forehead good night after dropping me off at home. He didn’t come in and I didn’t invite him. The kiss was enough for the both of us. We had a lot to discuss, so why soil the moment with words. At least that is how I felt.
I hopped out of bed and picked up Boxer smothering him with hugs and kisses as I made our way to the kitchen. He snorgled at me startled by my giddiness. Usually I am a grump in the morning. On this Monday, I was ready to take on this new work week.
Carpe Diem.
“Here you go my little love puggle,” I cooed at Boxer feeding him his breakfast. I reached for my stereo remote and turned on some music as I started my coffee brew. Opening the blinds and sliding the door to my yard open for Boxer, I let the morning sunlight fill my living room.
The song that filled the silent room made me smile and I danced around making my way to the bathroom for a shower. I certainly felt like I am walking on sunshine. Singing along in the shower the smile on my face is going to make my cheeks sore before I even made it to work.
Being how I am as giddy as a young girl at her sweet sixteen birthday party I had no delusions about the complications to the matter. There was Eddie to face today though I doubted he would remember much. He is just lucky I didn’t report him or let Evan do so, which would cost him his job.
I worried someone might have seen us kiss. Caught up in the moment I didn’t think about how public we were when it happened. Even thought it was late at night and most everyone who attended the party was inside and getting drunk.
Then there was just the fact of therapy and the design business we had to continue with together. I assumed we hadn’t spoken because we both were letting what happened sink in and how we could proceed from here. I realized I didn’t think he had my phone number anyway, but Kyle did. He could get it from him or Stacy if he needed to.
For now I basked in the happiness his kiss gave me and pleasure to be intimate like that with him. I had therapy tomorrow; I would worry about it then.
I dressed in a simple blue feminine pants suit and let my hair down with a small clip holding part of it out of my face and light make-up. I never liked to do too much for work. Deciding on a bowl of cereal with my coffee for breakfast I checked my messages on my phone and turned off the music preparing for the work day.
I filled my thermos and said good bye to Boxer locking up my place and drove to work.
“Good morning,” I said with a smile on my face walking into the building. The lobby receptionist smiled back probably surprised by my jovial attitude. I was more like a zombie at this time of day as far as the office was concerned.
I giggled softly as I looked around at the minimal people who had already arrived to work and how the place looked like nothing had happened over the weekend. They must have had one hell of a cleaning crew ready on Saturday. Everything was back in order the way it was before. Except all the individual offices we were told to lock up were still shut and blinds drawn since only the people who they belonged to had the keys.
Opening my office the first thing I did was open all the blinds (again) on the window to the inner office and the outdoor window letting in all the natural light. I felt light as a feather. I never really closed the office blinds window in the first place.
Turning on my computer I leaned over my desk pulling out my work and going over what I needed to get done for the day on my Cooper and Terry accounts. The volunteers wouldn’t be here until ten am, it is only nine right now.
I settled into my routine checking the inter-office correspondence when a knock on my door pulled me out of my reverie.
“Come in,” I called not looking up from my work.
“Good morning.”
My jaw went rigid and I could hear myself grinding my teeth. We were going to do this now? The memory of a drunken Eddie danced in my mind as I looked up.
“Good morning Eddie. What can I do for you?” I said as generic as possible. There would be no more friendly, joking associations for a while if ever again, all business. He shut the door and sat down.
His appearance is flawless as usual. The slick back hair and pressed tailored suit. The smile he wore did not reach his eyes though. Eddie actually seemed nervous for once.
“Sonja, I don’t remember much of the party after we danced…most of it is a blur…”
“I bet you had quite a lot to drink,” I snapped stoically continuing with my work.
He nodded. “I know I hurt you and I want to tell you how terribly sorry I am.”
I looked him in the eye. His expression is almost pleading. Pathetic. I sighed knowing that he did mean the apology.
“I understand and accept your apology but it will take time for our friendship to be repaired.”
“I know I shouldn’t have tried to force you to kiss me.”
Force? More like attacked me like a drunken bear.
“I thought you didn’t remember?”
“Like I said it’s a blur, most of it.”
My lip twitched wanting to smile, but I refused to let him feel comfortable.
He continued before I could say more. “I like you Sonja…a lot. I meant it when I asked you out. I just hope you can trust me again someday. That new client of yours, the way he looks at you just made me realize time is running out…”
My heart flutters at the mention of that.
“Eddie we are not going to ever be dating not anytime soon even before you attacked me,” I said firmly and angrily, he winced at my choice of words. Good. I hope that sinks in.
“Let’s just move past this and salvage what’s left of this friendship.”
“Of course,” he reached out to take my hand and I flinched yanking it away. He frowned, but nodded in understanding.
“Let’s just stick to work for now.”
“Your right,” he fidgets and clears his throat standing up. “So how are the Cooper and Terry accounts looking?” He asks switching to boss/work mode. That’s much better. I didn’t know how much more of his awkward declaration I could stand.
“Let’s see,” I booted up my design program and typed in the file name to pull it up…
“Wait a second,” I mumbled. Every time I typed it in a ‘0’ popped up in the search. I typed in Terry’s account name and also got a ‘0’. “Oh my god,” I breathed. Eddie looked up from what he was looking at in my physical file I had out on my desk.
“What?”
“They’re gone. The files all the work, the testing, all gone…like someone deleted them.”
I searched again, and again. I searched on the desktop for it through the whole computer not just in my design program. Nothing.
“What? That’s impossible,” Eddie came around my desk and leaned over watching what I was doing as panic began to set in my chest.
“I’m telling you they are gone,” I showed him.
“How could they have been deleted only someone with access to your computer could have done that?”
“I know when I left Friday night Ev…even though I hadn’t drank much I came back and double checked my office to make sure it was locked,” whew almost blew that one. “No one could have gotten in over the weekend.”
My heart began to pound in panic and my hands sweated. I had almost completed both websites and would have had them ready for presentation to go live in a week…sooner than I had promised Eddie already.
Who would have done this? How could they have done this? From the time Evan and I left and he went back to check if my office was locked was not enough time for someone to slip and do the damage. I should have gone back with him.
“Okay calm down. We’ll fix this. I’ll get the volunteers here as soon as possible. You find anything you can from your final work. Maybe they can piece it together from the volunteer office.”
“What if someone got to the computers in there and deleted it from them. Oh who would do this,” my voice took on a higher octave with each word.
Eddie grabbed my hands holding both in one and turned my face to look at him. I was too stressed and freaking out to worry about my aversion to him touching me right now.
“Look at me,” I did. “We will fix this and I’ll find out who did this,” he had that confident and determined look back in his eyes. “Let me fix this for you.”
I nodded.
“I’m the only one with a key to the volunteer beta testing room for these very reasons Sonja. I don’t think the computers have been compromised in there.”
He let go of me when my breathing evened out.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
“Let’s get to work,” he left my office and I could hear him begin to bark out orders.
I took a moment to collect myself and began finding and gathering everything I had on the Cooper and Terry accounts that I could find, digital and physical. Soon as I had it all together I left my office making sure it was locked and hurried to the volunteer room. Eddie had already opened it up and was inside with some of the students that have arrived.
He began a speech about a glitch in the system and we needed their help to compile all the data they had been working on to piece together what we had completed on these websites already. Eddie even went as far as to add an incentive of a bonus if we could get it all done by the end of the week.
This must be his way of making up for what he did. While I wasn’t ready to forgive him completely this was a good start. We worked diligently through the morning and efficiently. Eddie never left as he helped the students and wouldn’t allow anyone else in the beta testing office.
“Go take a break,” he said to me around one-o-clock. I dragged my feet and found myself running into Stacy.
“Hey blue eyes what’s going on?” she asked looking behind me into the test room.
The whole office has been curious about what was going on since Eddie is usually always in his office, only making rounds twice a day unless there was a meeting of some sort.
“Hey, someone deleted all my finished work on the Cooper and Terry accounts,” I said depressingly.
Stacy’s eyes widened. “I hope Eddie plans on finding out who did that.”
“I’m sure he will.”
“Good I was looking for you because you have a visitor in the lobby,” she smiled at me.
“I do?”
“Yeah, sounds important.”
“Thanks.”
I went back to my office first to get my purse, figured I would grab something to eat after seeing who this visitor is. I took off my suit jacket and left it on my chair being overheated from working so hard on trying to recover all my work.
The volunteers help had put a dent in the work load, but my heart was still deflated at how someone would be so cruel to destroy it in the first place. Surely, I wasn’t disliked that much.
In the lobby I stopped surprised who my visitor is…and pleased. Immediately my mood improved.
“Hello,” I said and a smile curled on my face despite my otherwise saddened mood.
“Afternoon Ms. Winters, I was hoping we could catch lunch,” Evan said in that soft husky voice of his that melted my insides smiling warmly at me.
“Sure,” I breathed and we left the building without taking our eyes off each other. We didn’t say anything else yet just walked and stole glances at each other exchanging small smiles.
“There’s a little sandwich shop up the block a ways that is really good,” I suggested. It happened to be the same sandwich shop that had frustrated me that day when everything seemed to be going wrong.
“Lead the way.”
The silence returned as we walked and it didn’t feel awkward. Our hands brushed against each other and I felt a tingle as my fingers flexed wanting to take his hand in mine. At the same time I had that that thought he did the action I longed for.
“How is it you are a therapist and always so quiet?” I asked gazing at him. His thumb did that gentle rubbing on the back of my hand that sent a shiver rushing up my arm and spiraling out all over my body.
“Well we are trained to be very good listeners.”
“But don’t you need to talk sometimes?”
We waited in line arriving at the sandwich shop.
“Yes, when it’s appropriate,” he took a close position standing behind me and I could feel the heat pulsing off of him.
“And when is that?” I turned sideways slightly to gaze at him.
“Usually in a more private capacity.”
I got the feeling we weren’t talking about his profession anymore.
“I see,” I nodded and our turn to order came next. The conversation halted for now and we paid and waited for our food.
“You look a little sad today Sonja,” he observed as my mind wandered back to my work.
“Hmm…Oh just a slight emergency at work. Someone deleted all my work and we are trying to piece it back together.”
“We?”
“Eddie and I,” Evan’s face contorted in disgust. “Don’t worry he’s leaving me alone, he apologized this morning.”
“I wish you didn’t have to deal with him at all still,” Evan confessed.
“I can handle Eddie,” I said confidently, it is true.
Evan chuckled. “I don’t doubt that,” I smile at his odd compliment.
We ate together quietly in the outdoor patio. It is very pleasant. The way it felt so comfortable without saying anything, with him, is something I have never really experienced.
“So what is a more private capacity for a therapist?” I asked as we walked back to my office building.
“Horizon’s restaurant at seven pm on Thursday night?”
I stopped dead in my tracks for a moment and then quickly continued walking staring at him. He watched me as I studied his face.
“Are you asking me out on a date?” I flirted completely enjoying the moment.
“Something like that, maybe we both could listen to each other…”
We stopped just outside the entrance to the lobby. I felt myself excite from the idea. Horizon’s was a pretty exclusive restaurant. If he is willing to try and figure this out, what is going on between us, then I should return the favor.
“See you at seven then,” I smiled seductively at him and his grin spread.
“Have a good day Ms. Winters,” he squeezed my hand gently. I think he wanted to express his affection more, but could not, not in broad daylight in such obvious view of anyone coming and going at my work. Some worry that someone might have seen us kiss that night came back.
“Same to you Dr. Jacobs,” I said nodding and ducked inside the office taking a breath feeling my heart hammer in my chest. I made my way back to the volunteer room thinking about the possibilities and how Thursday just became my favorite day of the week, usually pay day was hahaha, and I laughed at the thought.
“Afternoon Sonja,” a light pleasant but irritating voice said behind me.
“Hi Suzanne,” I kept walking; I didn’t have time for her.
“What’s all the fuss with Eddie in the test room?” she asked falling into step next to me. Why did she care?
“A glitch with my work, it’s all gone.”
Suzanne stopped walking. “Aww that’s too bad,” her voice dripped with false concern and real disdain. I stopped walking turning to look at her.
Something crept up my spine with the tone of her voice. Her eyes glinted with malicious intent. I didn’t say anything further, just walked away heading back to the test room. White anger raged in me from my suspicions and what she implied. I would have to talk to Eddie about this.
Nothing could be done if I couldn’t find proof and proof is what I would find. The bitch wanted to play dirty…let’s play.