"What the hell? Put me down!" Bobby said as a very large man started to drag her along the street.
The doorman she'd been arguing with simply stared in shock as she was being carried off.
"Put me down! Help!!!" She called as she started trying to pry the man's hands from her waist. "Help!"
"Shut up already or I'll..." The man began but he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Or you'll what?"
Bobby looked up in despair to see what was going on.
"Matt- hey, why aren't you upstairs at the party?" The man said, letting go of Bobby and causing her to fall to the floor.
"Because I figured it was time to go home." Matt said, looking at Bobby who was staring up in confusion. "That's mine." Matt pointed at Bobby and the man now looked in her direction.
"Oh, sorry." He said, extending his hand out as if to help her stand. Bobby stared at it for moment, thinking it was absurd and so instead she just stood, dusting herself off.
"Ready?" Matt asked, making Bobby turn to him angrily.
She glared at him for a few seconds before turning on her heel and walking in the direction of her car.
"Sorry, gotta go." Matt said, going around the man and hurrying after Bobby, who looked almost comical as she moved away quickly.
"Hey." Matt said, trying to get her to slow down and calm down.
She did not turn, she only continued to move forward, uncaring that Matt had pretty much caught up to her.
"Bobby come on..." he said but she was fuming.
"Just get in the car, Matt... NOW." She said angrily as she turned the corner.
Matt stared after her for a moment before doing as she said.
Maybe it had been about 10 minutes when Bobby finally turned to speak to him.
"Do you have any idea what could have happened?" She gritted through her teeth.
"Nothing, nothing would have happened because I was there to save you." Matt said with a smile.
"Nothing would have happened if you had been outside like I told you! Better yet, nothing would have happened if you would just stop calling me." She said angrily.
"I can see you're upset." He said simply.
"Of course I'm upset. You woke me in the middle of the night to act like some cab driver. Matt- take a cab, get an uber... Hire a chofer but stop calling me for these things." She said.
"You're my friend, who else am I supposed to call?" He said, catching her off guard. "I could call Nick but he and Ryan would just give me some lecture. And a cab or an Uber? Did you forget who I am?"
"If you're so concerned about who you are then don't do these types of things. Seriously, just hire a designated driver." She said.
"A guy like that would cramp my style." Matt said. "look, I'm sorry. I really am but you're the first person I thought of calling- unless you think I should suck it up and drive."
"Don't be stupid, of course you shouldn't drive." Bobby said as she drove closer to Matt's apartment building.
"Anyway- don't worry." He said, looking like he might fall asleep in the car. "I would never let anything happen to you."
Bobby frowned- oh yeah, the man was definitely drunk.
"Come on Matt, wake up- we're here." She said, leaning over to shake him.
Matt sat up, grabbing Bobby's arms and pulling her close to him.
She gasped involuntarily as he did so. She looked at him in shock, her glasses slid down her nose and then she saw his lips curl into a smile.
"You know, you're kinda cute when you're mad." He said, his face just inches from hers. For a second she stared as he closed his half open eyes and leaned in like he might kiss her.
"Time to go." She said, pushing him away and unlocking the door as she leaned as far away from him as she could.
Matt frowned, his eyes moving over her for a second. Then he sighed before shrugging and stepping out of the car.
Bobby watched- watched him stumble on to the curb and then straighten himself up. Then, as if a switch in his brain had been turned on, he suddenly stood up straight and walked into his building as if nothing had happened, his hands gently adjusting his shirt as he moved.
Still, as she drove home, she could still smell his cologne.
----
"Good Morning." Bobby said, making people turn to look at her in surprise as she made it to the office over half an hour late.
She noticed how heads turned, staring at her as she moved along but she didn't react.
Yes, Yes- I get it, I'm late- she thought to herself, thinking it was bad enough she had to call in to warn them she'd overslept, now she was being stared at like some alien.
Of course she'd overslept. By the time she'd made it back to her house it was nearly 5AM. Now, usually she was pretty good at just closing her eyes and drifting off but for some reason, she couldn't calm down last night.
Her hands were clammy and her heart was beating quickly. Bobby made a mental note to schedule a doctor's appointment that week- those symptoms couldn't be normal.
Then she saw him- looking fresh as a peach- the reason she'd stayed out the night before. She frowned as she approached him, ready to give him a piece of her mind but she was caught off guard when he started laughing.
What in the world was he in such a good mood about today? How could he be so cheery after a night of drinking?
"Bobby, you're here!" Emma's voice distracted her when she would have approached Matt with a few choice words.
"Emma- Hi." She said, turning to walk towards her office.
"This is strange, you're never late." Emma said with a grin.
"I know, I overslept." Bobby said, shaking her head.
"It happens to the best of us- look who's here." Emma said, revealing the person sitting inside her office.
"Eddie." Bobby said with a smile.
"He'll be starting with us today." Emma said approvingly.
"Great- that's perfect." Bobby said. "The new marketing manager is starting today too."
"I know. How about you show Eddie around and then introduce him to Lisa?" Emma said, looking towards her desk.
"Lisa? Oh, she's here?" Bobby asked, looking back into the main floor.
"Yeah..." Emma said, moving to the door and peeking out. "That's her talking to Matt."
Bobby was still.
"Oh, I didn't see her." Bobby said. "Actually, I met her the day she came in for her interview."
"That's right. Well, Eddie- Lisa is the person you'll be working with." Emma said as Bobby continued to stare.
When she'd met Lisa, she'd become a bit worried- she was too pretty. Much too pretty. Tall, blonde and slim... she was just his type. Bobby had worried that Matt wouldn't be able to resist that one and then there would be more office drama than she could handle.
Still, Bobby sighed and moved forward resiliently- It could turn out that Matt wouldn't be interested in her at all.
"Come on Eddie, I'll show you to your desk." Bobby said, moving forward.
"Thanks Emma!" Eddie called as he hurried to catch up to Bobby who was walking faster than usual... as if on a mission.
"Good Morning." Bobby said, her chin up as she approached Matt and Lisa.
"Hey- look at you, late? Rough night, huh?" Matt said, turning to look at Bobby for a second before turning back to Lisa.
"Something like that. Lisa Werstak, I'm not sure if you remember meeting me..." Bobby began, extending her hand but Lisa turned with a bright smile.
"Of course- you're Bobby, right?" Lisa asked.
"Yes, I'm Matt's assistant." Bobby said.
"I've heard great things about you- really great things." Lisa replied.
"This is Eddie Suarez." Bobby said, turning and introducing Eddie. "He's going to be your assistant."
"It's good to meet you." Lisa said with a smile.
"Anyways, I'm going to get Eddie settled in and then I guess I'll come find you to go over a few things." Bobby said, turning to Matt.
"Sure." Matt said, but he wasn't look at her- his eyes were fixated on Lisa.
"She's very pretty." Eddie said as he followed Bobby across the room.
"You think so?" Bobby asked, knowing he was right.
"Of course, she's a bombshell and she looks smart too. "He said with a grin.
"I hope so- that's a big job she's getting." Bobby said, stopping in front of a desk that stood on the opposite side of her wall.
"This is you." She said, looking around to make sure he had everything he needed.
"Great- so then that must be Lisa's office?" Eddie asked, pointing to the door that was slightly open. Bobby nodded.
"Yes, that is." Bobby said, walking around the wall and dumping her things on her desk.
"They seem to be hitting it off, don't they?" Eddie asked as Lisa and Matt both walked back with a cup of coffee in their hands.
Bobby didn't look up, instead she just picked up her phone to check her voice mails.
"They look rather good together." Eddie said and Bobby rolled her eyes.
"You are always doing that." She said.
"What? I can't help it if beautiful people find each other." Eddie said.
"No, but you can certainly help the way you drool over it." She said, jotting down a few messages.
"Whatever." Eddie said, taking a look around the office as he waited for Bobby to finish. "Is this place always so busy?"
"Yes. Except on Fridays... it's a lot lazier...half day." She said, hanging up the phone and standing. "I'm just going to leave these with Matt. Why don't you go to the breakroom- straight that way- and get us some coffee? It's going to be a long day."
"Sure. I'll see you in a bit." Eddie said, walking away.
Bobby looked up and saw that Matt was now standing outside of Lisa's doorway- they were still laughing and talking.
"Mr. Carlton." She called out, getting his attention. "I have your messages, a few urgent ones too."
Matt looked at her for a second- it was strange for her to call him Mr. Carlton unless she was joking.
"Duty calls." He said, looking at Lisa.
"of course." She replied.
"But I'll be seeing you." He said, turning and walking towards Bobby who was now standing impatiently outside of his office.
"Mr. Carlton?" He repeated softly as he lifted his brow and let her in.
Bobby sighed.
"I was trying to be polite." She said, walking over to take a seat.
Matt shrugged and closed the door behind him.
"Listen... about last night." He said, making Bobby look at him wide eyed. God, she was hoping he wouldn't bring that up.
"Don't worry about it." She said, looking down at her notebook.
"No, it was extremely inconsiderate of me to wake you. You looked terrible- exhausted and that's my fault. Sorry." He said.
Bobby rolled her eyes- even in an apology he had to sneak in a jab.
"Apology accepted." She said, nonetheless, just hoping to avoid the awkward talk about what he tried to do.
"I just wish I remembered more about it. To be honest, I don't remember anything after I texted you the address." He said.
Bobby was still- he didn't remember. He didn't remember... this was good. This was best.
"Well you didn't miss anything interesting." She said, shaking it off as she began to go through his messages.
Still- if he didn't remember that awkward almost kiss, it meant he didn't remember calling her his friend, or telling her that he'd never let anything happen to her...
But of course, something like that wouldn't bother Bobby, would it?