"Dinner?" Bobby repeated as Tyler stared at her with a grin.
"Yes, Dinner." He said. Bobby shook her head.
"Sorry, I can't." Bobby replied, picking up her meeting materials and moving back towards the office she'd been sharing with Matt, who was currently standing in the hall on a call.
"Any reason why?" Tyler asked. Bobby looked at Tyler, he'd been hinting at her that he intended to ask her out since yesterday. Sure- he was good looking with baby blue eyes and blonde hair but there was no way she could go on a date with him. There was no way she could picture herself going on a date with anyone.
"I don't believe it's appropriate." She said, trying to maneuver the office door open. Tyler grinned as he turned the handle for her and pushed the door.
"Thank you." She said, moving towards the desk.
"Why wouldn't it be appropriate, after all- you and I don't work together?" He asked. Bobby turned to look at him for a second.
"There's a nice spot I really enjoy and I never get the chance to go. It's really a shame- you'd be doing me a favor." He said, making Bobby chuckle. This man always seemed to be smiling.
"Hey." Matt's voice made them both turn towards the door.
"Hey." Bobby said, noting how he was staring at Tyler.
"Think about it." Tyler said, "Excuse me."
When he walked out, Matt closed the door.
"What was that about?" Matt asked, approaching her.
"Nothing." Bobby said, shaking her head.
"Nothing?" Matt asked.
"The meeting went well." Bobby said, trying to distract him and it worked.
"I think so too. I'm going to give him my counter proposal after lunch- take it or leave it." Matt said with a smile.
"Take it or leave it?" Bobby asked, surprised. "And if he leaves it?"
"He won't." Matt said confidently as he moved around to sit down.
"You're too cocky." Bobby said, shaking her head.
"When am I wrong?" He asked. Bobby looked up at him- he was right. When it came to business, he was pretty much always right.
"Do you really think he'll go for it?" She asked, standing and walking over to him.
"Of course. You can bet on it." Matt said, putting his arms behind his head. Bobby smiled.
"Looks like all your hard work is paying off." She said.
"You're a big part of it, Bobby." He said. "Isn't it exciting, closing a big deal like this?"
"Yes, I have to admit it is." She said with a nod. Matt suddenly reached out to her, taking her hand and stroking it gently with his thumb.
Bobby frowned and looked up at him, but she was caught off guard by his intense stare.
"You see, Bobby? You and I make a great team." He said. Bobby stared at him for a moment but she pulled her hand away.
"Bobby?" He said, watching her walk back to her desk. "Won't you reconsider?"
Bobby looked up at him and sighed.
"You have your final meeting with him in ten. We should prep." Bobby said, looking towards her computer.
----
Bobby sat listening to a few hipsters arguing as she poured herself the last cup of coffee of the day. She was in all honestly, ready to go back to her own office. She'd had enough of recent graduate hipsters and their strong political opinions.
She was honestly ready to be surrounded by the slightly older, yet more dependable and less outwardly opinionated staff at Lida and Volstack.
Now she watched the door to Tyler Most's office, waiting in anticipation for Matt to appear. She knew he was going to take a big risk in his proposal but somehow, Matt's confidence was contagious and she was certain that Tyler would say yes.
As she moved back to the comfort of the small office, she tried not to watch the door but she couldn't help it. She was dying to know what was going on inside.
She tried to keep herself busy, making sure that they had everything they needed and getting a head start on the final report so that they would only need to print but it seemed that time was just dragging on.
Then, sometime around 4:40, the office doors opened and both men came out smiling and shaking hands.
Bobby jolted up from her seat and watched through the window as Tyler turned to speak to Annie for a second before disappearing again behind his office door, then she heard the click as their door opened.
Matt stared at her for a second as she wrung her wrists with her hands and stared back.
"So?" She asked with an excited smile.
"So..." He said.
"Well, how did it go?" Bobby asked, loosing her patience.
Matt sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Oh no." Bobby said. "Don't tell me he..."
But Matt suddenly looked up with a grin.
"He said yes." Matt said.
"He said yes?" Bobby asked and Matt nodded.
"A big yes." Matt said, loosening his tie.
"God, that's fantastic." She said, making Matt laugh as he turned to her.
"We did it." he said, moving towards her excitedly. Bobby opened her arms and hugged him, laughing as Matt lifted her up the ground for a second.
"You did it, Matt." She said as he set her down.
Matt stared at Bobby- her eyes were shining and she seamed to be beaming sunshine as her pretty lips curled into a smile.
"We- I already told you. We did it." He said.
"Okay. We." Bobby said with a nod. Bobby stared at Matt- the same way he was staring at her, each thinking how happy the other looked and both made so much happier just by that.
"Well, we need this typed up ASAP." He said, handing her the file, which Bobby took with a nod. "And then I was thinking we should..."
Matt's words were cut off by the sound of his phone ringing.
"Sorry- I have to take this." He said, recognizing Lisa's number.
"Sure. I'll be back." Bobby said, moving out of the office and walking to Annie who was prepping some papers at the printer nearby.
"Hey, Annie." Bobby asked, making her look up with a smile.
"What can I do for you, Bobby?" She asked.
"I need to access the printer." Bobby began, explaining to her about the paperwork she needed.
"Hmm, sure. Why don't you come find me when you're ready and I'll log you onto the Printer's system." She said with a smile.
"Thank you." Bobby said, turning back towards the office and stopping when she saw that Matt was still on the phone. She definitely wanted to give him some privacy. Slowly Bobby began to walk over, feeling awkward as she came within earshot and wishing she had closed the door behind her.
"Thanks." She heard Matt muttering with a smile. "I miss you too. Yes, me too. I can't wait to see you."
Bobby sighed- he was talking to Lisa. Great.
"What are you doing just wandering around out here?" Tyler said, interrupting her thoughts.
"I'm waiting for Matt to finish up his call." Bobby said.
"I know, me too." She could hear Matt on the phone. "I wish you were here too. Not as much fun without you."
"Well, I was just coming over to see if you'd made up your mind about dinner?" Tyler asked.
Bobby turned, prepared to turn him down once and for all but then she heard Matt talking again.
"We'll celebrate just the two of us when I get back." She heard him mutter.
Bobby tilted her head for a second. The real reason she wasn't going to dinner with Tyler was because of Matt- but Matt wasn't a valid reason and from the way things sounded he was pretty content with what he had with Lisa.
"Sure." Bobby said before she even knew what she was saying.
"Really?" Tyler said with a big smile. "That's great. Are you certain?"
"Yes." Bobby said with a little resignation. It was just dinner and at the end of the day, she could use the distraction.
"Perfect. I'll pick you up at 7:30." He said.
"For what?" Matt asked, suddenly appearing behind him.
"Bobby here finally agreed to have dinner with me." Tyler said. "7:30."
Bobby and Matt watched as Tyler walked away, both silent.
"Dinner with Tyler?" Matt said after a few minutes.
"Yep." Bobby said with a nod. Again, there was silence.
"Have fun."
----
Matt stood sat down by himself at an empty table, still unbelieving. What the hell was he doing here? Why?
He frowned- none of this would have happened if Bobby hadn't agreed to go out with Tyler- what the hell was she thinking? The man was 20 years older than her! Besides, Matt had hoped that they would be out, celebrating their win today and instead- she was out with the enemy.
Matt's frown grew- of course, Tyler Most was not the enemy, he was a business associate. They'd stuck a good deal today- he should be happy.
He should be having a great dinner and a few drinks to celebrate and instead, he was sitting in a booth alone, holding a menu up to his face and spying on Bobby.
He told himself he wasn't spying on her- he was keeping an eye on her. After all, they didn't know too much about Tyler Most and who knew what type of guy he was.
If it hadn't been for Lisa's inopportune call, he would have finished telling Bobby that he wanted to have dinner with her to celebrate and she'd be here, at his table, laughing with him.
Matt ordered but requested keeping the menu, after all, it wouldn't do for one of them to turn and spot him. He watched the way that Bobby smiled and moved, the way she tilted her head as she listened and the way she rolled her eyes. He had to admit, she looked pretty funny when she did that.
He only wished he could hear what they were saying, the only thing clear to him was that as the night seemed to progress, Tyler seemed to shift closer and closer to her and Bobby let him. She just let him.
Bobby hadn't said a word when Tyler scooted his chair over the first time, nor the second time... after all, this was technically a date and so far she was having a good time.
Still, she couldn't help thinking his suit didn't fit him as well as Matt's did, nor did she like his smile- it was too toothy. And he was clean shaven, perfectly shaven... Matt usually wore that light stubble that she liked.
It was no use- Maybe she did need to go out and meet other people but it was obvious that Tyler was not going to be the guy to get her mind off of Matt. Everything seemed to remind her of him... she looked around the restaurant and shook her head.
She was even starting to hallucinate him across the room.
Bobby frowned, noting the hallucination seemed to be drinking wine. She blinked, closed her eyes and opened them again.
No- it was not a hallucination, it was Matt. Did he come here by coincidence? Then she saw him look her way and quickly snap up the menu to cover his face...
NO, no way.
Did Matt Carlton really just follow her here? Was he spying on her?