After I finish lunch with Tyler we made sure to make plans to have lunch at least once a week at Panini's. I finished my submissions early at work, Mia told me she was going to stay late at the office and told me not to wait up. I smiled sweetly at her and made my way home.
I unlocked the door to the apartment and hung my jacket up. I put my keys in my purse and flung it onto the couch nearby, I looked at the clock and it read 4:00 pm. I yawned and soon became overwhelmed with exhaustion. I decided to take the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. I placed my phone on my bedside table and changed into a pair of joggers, a sports bra, a chunky white crewneck sweatshirt from college, and tossed my hair up into a ponytail. I sighed contently and buried my body underneath the copious amounts of unnecessary blankets and pillows that occupied my bed and drifted off to sleep.
I was awoken suddenly by the sound of someone calling my phone, with my eyes still shut I reached over to my phone, and answered lazily still half asleep,
"Hello?"
I was jolted awake instantly by the sound of his voice,
"Lena..did I wake you?"
I took the phone away from my ear and glanced at the time, it was 6 pm. I groaned while stretching my body and sat up. I put the phone back to my ear,
"Yes, but I needed to be up anyway"
Silence became apparent on the other line, until he asked with curiosity,
"Should I still expect to see you?"
I answered him back, remembering I told him we could talk at his place later,
"Yes"
His deep voice rang through my ear drum,
"I will send Harrison to pick you up. Is 6:30 too soon?"
I got out of bed, and made my way towards my closet. I looked down at my clothes and shrugged to myself,
"That's fine. See you later." and I hung up the phone.
I didn't bother to put anything different on and headed towards the kitchen to fix up something to eat before Harrison arrived. After eating I then grabbed my jacket, my purse, and put on a pair of slip on sneakers before heading downstairs towards the lobby.
Harrison was already waiting outside the car when I stepped outside the doors, he gave me a smile,
"Hello Ms. Darling"
I smiled in return,
"Hello Harrison"
He opened the backseat door for me and I slid right in as he closed it behind me. He jumped into the driver's seat and began to drive away. I leaned back into the black leather seats and closed my eyes letting out a large breath.
Harrison's voice brought me out of my thoughts,
"Something on your mind dear?"
Not wanting to further cause myself anymore unwanted stress I decided not to share details with him,
"Yes, a lot, but I'll be okay"
Harrison nodded at my response and gave me a warm smile, I could tell he knew what was on my mind by what he said next,
"Mr. Parker is very fond of you Ms. Darling. He's just not used to being this invested in someone, give him time."
I was taken back by his response, I thought to myself,
"Is he normally not invested in women for long?"
I shake the thought from my head as I notice the car was coming to a slow stop. I peer out my window and my breath catches. The building is so tall I have to crane my neck to see the very top, which looks so small from my view in the car. Harrison opens my door for me and I thank him.
"Mr. Parker is waiting in the lobby for you Ms. Darling"
I smile at Harrison and wrap my jacket around my frame, folding my arms across my chest as the cold wind whips through my clothing, chilling my exposed skin underneath my sweatshirt.
I step inside the lobby and my eyes are met with sleek looking furnishings with marble walls and floors, and leather furniture spaced out on either side of the front desk. I search for Cal but I don't see him. My attention was then drawn to the elevator as it dinged, alerting me someone was exiting. Cal steps out of the elevator and makes eye contact with me, instantly my heart beats a little faster. He's wearing grey jogger sweatpants, a plain white t-shirt, and his hair is tousled messily.
He walks over to me slowly and looks down at me, he whispers with a child like grin on his face,
"Hi"
I look up into his eyes as he stands towering over me, I can almost feel the heat radiating off of him,
"Hi"
He grabs a hold of my right hand and begins to lead me towards the elevator, my body absentmindedly following him without protest. We get into the elevator and he lets go of my hand to press the 10th floor button and types in a 4 digit code as I lean up against the back wall. He returns to my side, awfully close. He says through a smirk while staring straight ahead at the elevator door,
"I like your sweatpants Ms. Darling"
I laugh quietly to myself as he seems amused at the fact we are wearing similar styles of pants. The elevator dings and we arrive on the 10th floor, I step out and apparently look puzzled because Cal's voice answers my questioning thoughts,
"I own the entire 10th floor"
I nod saying under my breath,
"Of course you do"
He kindly takes my jacket off of my shoulders and places it in a nearby closet, make yourself comfortable he says as he gestures me towards the living room space.
I sit myself down on one of his couches and take in my surroundings as Cal grabs something from the kitchen. The entire far wall is made of glass, leaving a beautiful view to the Manhattan skyline at night. I stare out into the dark until I notice Cal is sitting next to me with a bottle of white wine, he's holding it out raising his eyebrows. His body language asking me if I want some,
"Yes please"
I say in response. He pours himself and I a glass and I take a small sip. I then place it back down onto the coffee table in front of me. I turn my body towards him. He sighs and gazes over at me,
"Let me start off by apologizing. I'm sorry Lena. I know you haven't actually expressed how uncomfortable this situation makes you feel, but I can see it does. I wish I didn't get you involved, but I can't help how I feel."
He reaches over towards me and rubs smooth circles with his fingers on my thigh, causing chills and me involuntarily squeezing my thighs together. I look down at his fingers, watching the little patterns he was tracing over my sweatpants.
I place my hand on top of his, stopping his movements,
"I can't either" I say barely above a whisper.
I look up into his eyes and continue,
"Prior to meeting you I had a very average normal life. Very low key. I kept to myself while focusing on my career. Now I have my face plastered on the front of magazines, random strangers whispering about me, and people wanting to take my photo. It's a rather big change, and I'm overwhelmed to say the least. I understand this is your life and you cannot change it, but I give you all the credit in the world for handling it the way you do, I just don't think I can. I think it would be a lot easier of a situation if you were to just share little things with me about you. Give me reassurance I am not making a mistake by having you in my life.."
Cal stares at me, waiting for the questions to start,
"Like how do you take your coffee in the morning? Are you a morning or night person? What's your favorite flavor of ice cream? "What do you like to do outside of work?"
As I am rattling off like an idiot about little things I'd like to know about Cal he continues to stare at me, just listening.
As he's about to open his mouth and say something, the elevator dings, stealing Cal's attention. He looks down at his watch and his eyes go wide, he looks up at me frantic and heads towards the elevator, not saying a word. I am curious and lean towards the opposite end of the couch to peer at who's in the elevator, and I catch a glimpse of blonde flowy hair.
Cal is walking her back to the elevator doors with his hand on her lower back, like he does with me. My heart drops and I stand up, crossing my arms at my chest and walking towards them slowly.
It seems they are disputing something, but I cannot hear over there hushed tones, but her hands are on his chest and in his hair. I know they must be close because you need to know the 4-digit code in the elevator to arrive at this floor.. Before anything else continues Cal pushes her into the elevator and the doors close. I stand in the hallway with confusion and hurt in my eyes as I stare at Cal. He turns around and he sees me, clearly noticing my hurt demeanor.
He starts to walk towards me, but I hold my hand up to stop him as I slowly shake my head back and forth with tears filling up in my eyes,
"Stop" I whisper to him,"Just stop."
With that I walk towards the elevator and straight passed him as my head is down.
He then grabs my forearm,
"Lena, wait. It's not what you think.."
I turn around and shout, some strength and anger coming to the surface, surprising me and clearly startling Cal.
"I don't want to hear it. I know what they say about you. So if I'm just another girl on your list of flings then please leave me alone."
I rip my arm from his grasp and get into the elevator, cursing to myself as I realize I left my jacket. Before the doors close Cal is standing there with my jacket in his hand.
I reach out for it, but before I can grab it he says,
"I like my coffee with cream and two sugars. I'm a morning person, but you'll find me sleeping in on the weekends occasionally. My favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip. And I like to travel outside of work."
I grab my jacket from him and the doors of the elevator close. I am on the verge of crying, not just from what I saw but from everything I've been feeling since meeting Cal. My head and heart are at a constant battle.
My head is pushing me to walk away, to protect my heart. While my heart is throwing caution to the wind and wanting to take a leap of faith. The elevator dings and I rush to put my jacket back on. I dig into my pants pocket for my phone to try to find a ride back to my apartment. I sit on one of the leather couches and go through my contacts, and then I sense someone near me. I look up and see Cal, he motions his head towards the door,
"Come on. I'll drive you home"
I get up having no choice in the matter and follow him outside and into the nearby parking garage specifically for the residents of the apartment complex. He leads me towards his car and opens the door for me and I let myself in. He goes around the front and slides into the driver's seat. I sit quietly as he drives me back to my apartment, not really knowing what to say.
We stop at a stop light and I turn to him,
"Cal, I..."
And before I can continue he reaches over and grabs the back of my neck with his left hand and brings his mouth to mine. He kisses me so desperately, like he never wants our lips to part..
He then pulls away and puts his forehead to mine. His velvet voice whispers to me,
"Lena. I know what they say about me, but please, I'm begging you to give me the chance to show you I am worth your time, and that I won't waste yours."
I whisper back to him, fighting against my head screaming NO at me,
"okay."