Arabella's POV
"And then he introduced himself as Dominic Torres."
To that, Shay ends up in hysterics. Again
"Your face must have been priceless." She manages in-between laughs.
"This isn't funny Shay! I wanted to rip his head off! He looked so sure of himself and so cockily confident that ughh." I sigh frustrated.
"Well, on the bright side.." Natalia lingers on her sentence, "Okay there's no bright side really, but hey, at least you can now return the hoodie to it's rightful owner!"
"This is so embarrassing! What am I supposed to do?"
"Well, you can either pretend as if the hoodie incident didn't happen, or you can return it back and clarify that whatever happened was a mistake that won't intervene with your work." Shay supports in a much more sober tone compared to her previous teasing one.
But was it really a mistake? "Honestly, this is so messed up." I reply, releasing a deep breath while fiddling with my fingers. "Thanks for coming at such short notice by the way." I say to them guiltily.
"Sure girl, what are best friends for anyway?" Shay,
says, as she hugs me tightly.
"Okay ladies, even though I would love to stay a little longer with you, I promised Alec to meet him for coffee."
"So that's what you call it now? Coffee?" Natalia asks with a smirk.
"Yeah right, coffee." Shay adds with a wicked grin, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Just shut up the both of you." I say laughing.
- - -
Ten minutes later a text notification from Alec informs me that he's waiting for me outside.
As I step outside, I hold my coat tightly and securely to my body and enjoy the warmth that my big grey scarf provides in the frigid, moody weather.
As strong wind has my hair flying widely in all directions and my body shivering, I spot Alec, who gives me a smile as soon as our eyes lock. As I get closer, he engulfs me in a big, warm hug.
"Hey you. Ready to go?" He asks.
"Yeah, let's go before we both freeze to death."
Despite the cold, our walk wasn't as bad. It had been short and mostly filled with comfortable silence, where at some point Alec had held my trembling hand in his own, a gesture that was quite sweet.
Stepping into the familiar, small coffe shop, the all too eminent smell of hot chocolate hits my nostrils instantly, causing me to breath in deeply. Its homey and welcoming aura, as well as its vintage and timeless interior had grasped my attention from the very beginning. Big, wooden libraries occupy half of the space, with a few tables scattered around. When the weather is warmer, tables are put on the outside as well, the exterior being decorated just as beautifully as the interior.
As soon as we get ourselves comfortable in a table, Gretta, one of the two owners shows up smiling. Handing a menu to Alec, she looks at me curiously.
"Hey stranger. Glad you finally showed up again." She states sarcastically, one hand on her hip, but worry clearly present in her eyes, contrasting her overall calm and collected appearance.
Not able to hold back, I stand up and give her a big hug. "It's been long, I know G! I've missed you and this." I move my hands in the air, showing the coffee shop. "Work has been keeping me busy, but I couldn't last long without your delicious hot-chocolate." I finish with a smile, as I sit back down.
"Of course you couldn't Ar. Who could possibly resist it?" She smirks at me, her all too confident persona making an entrance. "One hot-chocolate coming right up for you. How about a sugar donut too? For old time sake's? It looks like you really need the sugar babe." She says with a hopeful look in her eyes. "How can I say no to that?" I say, my taste buds already gone wild, a triumphant smile taking over Gretta's face.
"And what will you have?" She asks, looking directly at Alec who is still looking at his menu.
"The hot-chocolate sounds great, thank you." Alec replies happily. A gentleman, as always. And with that, Gretta disappears into the kitchen, leaving us alone.
"Soooo...Miss CEO huh?" He smiles at me teasingly.
I let out a small laugh and blush, trying to hide my pink stained cheeks behind my long hair.
"Tell me everything!" Alec continues.
"Weeell" I let out a small laugh. "Its overwhelming. And kind of soul-sucking. But other than that, it's wonderful."
He bursts from laughter. "Is is that bad then?"
"Not necessarily bad. There's just so many things to do. But everyone is extremely kind to me, which has really helped me adapt. All jokes aside though, I'm super grateful to be where I am."
"Yeah, can't imagine how hard it must be. I'm really happy for you Ar. You deserve this." Alec says sincerely, which touches my heart.
"Thanks Alec, it means a lot to me. What about your new promotion?"
"It's going well. I'm just glad my hard work paid off after all." At twenty eight years of age, he has been working at the electronics company for 4 years now, while never being one to complain for having to stay extra hours, or having to work during his own vacation.
"I'm so glad to hear that."
Our drinks and my donut arrive shortly and as soon as I taste the mouth-watering treat, my eyes roll back to my skull, the immense pleasure being too much to handle. Alec seems to be enjoying his hot-chocolate too, since his own eyes closed on their own accord as soon as he tasted his drink.
After catching up with each other a bit more, silence falls upon us, in which I discreetly observe Alec under my lashes. His dark brown hair and chocolatey brown eyes match his pale complexion, while his two cute dimples are apparent even when he's not smiling. He's just as tall as me and quite muscular too. As I keep looking at him, his features seem to be crunched up in deep thought and he seems to be having an internal fight with himself, as if something is bothering him. Not wishing to disturb his thoughts though, I turn my attention elsewhere until his voice grabs my attention again.
"Sooo, Arabella, I was wondering whether we could grab a drink tomorrow night? If you want to, that is. We could go for dinner if you'd prefer that, or maybe we can even go to the movies, or we can simply meet up for a drink and th-"
I cut his blubbering mid-sentence.
"I'd love to go out for a drink with you. It can be a date if you want to."
As soon as the word "date" escapes my mouth however, I start having doubts whether the choosing of the word was wise. On one hand, no matter how much I like Alec as a friend and no matter how well we get along, I don't think I can ever see him as anything more than just a friend. On the other hand, the least I can do is give him a chance, right? This would mean getting his hopes up, but I can't deny him one date.
"A date! Yes it can be a date. I would love that." He says, all worry that was previously evident in his eyes now replaced with joy, as he's smiling brightly, with his two dimples on full display. "I've heard of this great bar. I'll text you the location later if you want to check it out."
"Sure, I'd like that." I reply as I glance down my phone and then up again at Alec. "My break will be over soon, so I should better get going." I say, starting to open up my wallet. Before I have the chance to get the money out, Alec stops me with a touch of his arm on my own.
"It's on me." He says.
"Fine, but tomorrow's drinks are on me." I reply.
"Deal."
And with that we leave the coffee shop, after saying goodbye to Gretta and Sasha - Gretta's sister and co-owner of the coffee shop. Alec walks me back to the company and as we say our goodbyes he leans forward, gives me a small kiss on the cheek and then shyly walks away.
Glancing at his figure slowly fading away, I start heading towards the elevator. As I'm patiently waiting for it to arrive, I scroll through my emails, an email from a certain someone bringing back to my stomach that same familiar anticipation.
"Miss Cutter, I believe we have some unfinished business to discuss. Could you meet me at my office on Monday, at 10am?
Dominic Torres.
Shit just got real.