It was silly running away like that, but my anxiety just took over. It brought me all the way over to Nick's office. My brother wasn't present at the moment according to his polite assistant. He announced that with the most boring voice I had ever heard. He did bring me some tea which I appreciated it. He let me stay in Nick's office so I could wait for my brother in privacy. I was getting pretty comfortable in the armchair before Nick's desk when a soft knock made my heart race. I glanced over my shoulder, surprised to see my dad walking in. He closed the door behind him and took a seat in the armchair beside me. His eyes were kind, full of love. He was worried about me, but he didn't start questioning me. Just being here. I appreciated it.
"You feel better? Do I need to get you some chocolate?"
I smiled, "Yes, I'd love some chocolate right now!" I then stopped dad when he wanted to get up, "But I haven't had lunch yet. I don't think it's a good idea to fill up on chocolate."
Dad brushed it off, "You can eat whatever you want for lunch. If you want to eat chocolate then you should eat it. You're an adult, Nina. You don't have to answer to anyone but yourself."
"I wish my head would get that too."
Dad tapped my temple, "The mind is a tricky thing, we can't control it. We can do things to calm ourselves and drown out the negativity. We can surround ourselves with good things, positive things to feel less emotionally drained. So how about that chocolate?"
I grinned at him, "Were you trying to sell me on your chocolate again, dad? Trust me I love Merigold Chocolate. There is no need to oversell it."
He gave me a pat on the head as you'd do to a puppy. We were never quite like a warm family who said 'I love you' and hugged things over all the time. But we cared about each other, we were there for each other. Today I could really feel it. It made that whole scene in Mr. Blackwood's office look silly. Now I just wanted to go home, hide out in bed and call it a day. Tomorrow would be a new chance for me but I couldn't do that. I made plans with Lucas, I needed to meet him. He was a cheerful person, he radiated positivity. Right now it was best if I surrounded myself with people like him. Maybe that way I could get back my confidence. I finished my tea when dad came back with a box of delux Merigold Chocolate. He left me to it, he had meetings and other stuff. His words, not mine. I opened the box and popped one piece in my mouth. It was so good, sweet and melted in my mouth. Dad was right, this did help. I felt so much better.
"Did you come here to get free chocolate?"
Nick was trying to be funny since I was in a better mood already didn't mind. He closed the door behind him and dropped my bag in the armchair beside me. He flashed me a knowing look, shrugging his jacket off. He placed his jacket on the desk chair and then sat behind his desk.
"You want to talk about it?"
I stared at the bag he gave me back, "So you're close then." I concluded.
"What are you talking about?" He sounded confused.
He was totally oblivious and I was related to him.
"You and Fenna." I nodded to the bag on the chair beside me, "I assume you got that from her."
He still looked confused about what I said, "I did get that from Fenna. She called me to let me know you probably needed that back. I picked it up at the lobby. Then I came back here."
I raised an eyebrow at him, "She called you?"
Nick frowned, he was seriously not following me. I loved just how oblivious he was to romance, it wasn't fun for Fenna who decided she liked him but it was fun for me to watch. Nick at this point got annoyed with me for staying on the subject of Fenna. I couldn't let it go though. It was my opportunity to get to know a bit more about Nick and the kind of person that he is. I also might be able to help Fenna.
"Well, yes." He fired up his laptop and focused on his work instead, "Don't you need your bag to head home and get ready for your date?"
"We're meeting later tonight, but thanks." I closed the box of chocolates and placed it on his desk, "Could you text me Fenna's number, I also need to thank her."
"Yeah, sure." He grabbed his phone and did it immediately, "You want to talk about what happened in his office?"
I nodded, "Yeah, but I don't feel very proud of it. Now that I think about it my reaction to it was really silly. Kind of childish and no doubt I made a bad impression with Fenna and Korean drama actor."
"Who is that?"
I shrugged, "I don't know, he also works on the top floor. He desk is before the double doors leading to Mr. Blackwood's office. I'm assuming he is the gatekeeper or whatever."
"Funny." Nick muttered, he did say that to mock me, unlike Fenna who said it to me in the elevator, "I do know the guy though. His name is Dylan I believe or maybe Darren."
"Maybe it's Deke."
Nick snorted, "He doesn't look like a Deke to me."
I bit my lip, "Well, I don't look like a Nina but it's still my name."
Nick tore his gaze away from his laptop, looking quite intrigued with me now, "And what does a Nina look like then?"
"A warrior, a strong independent woman who knows what she wants in life." I shook my head, "That is definitely not me."
"Does anyone actually know what they want in life?" Nick asked, "And stop avoiding the subject. What happened with Mr. Blackwood?"
I settled in my chair, tearing my gaze away from my brother. The subject was awkward, I did need to talk about it but I needed to prepare myself. I did something unprofessional despite me being all confident about having a talk with Mr. Blackwood about professionalism. If that man hadn't been so smug about it not being a kiss none of this would have happened. I blamed him really. That stupid handsome face of his and that deep, smooth voice. It was all a dangerous combination. Pair that up with a confident personality it was just so bad. No wonder he soaked my panties every time I saw him. It was just all his fault.
"We talked about the kiss." I started, Nick nodded but kept quiet, "I told him I wanted things to stay professional between us and Mr. Blackwood agreed." I reached for the hem of my skirt and started to play with it, feeling awkward as I just thought about the kiss.
Nick didn't need the dirty details, I just needed to breeze through it.
"He brushed it off saying that it wasn't even a kiss, to begin with." I heard the sound of displeasure which Nick made. He knew where this was going, "It upset me for some reason so I wanted to prove him wrong."
"And so you kissed him."
I nodded, my eyes widened and actually stinging at how wide they were. The whole thing was just ridiculous and that thought now haunted me forever.
"It was like a full make-out session in his office. That was so professional of me." I muttered the last part and looked at Nick, "But you know what?" I didn't wait for him to respond, "That probably meant nothing to that man either. I mean was that even a kiss? No way, it doesn't come close to the make-out sessions he's used to. He'll brush this off too."
I was out of breath when I looked at Nick again. There were so many things about myself I needed to change. I probably should also add stop talking in one breath on my list of things I needed to work on.
"I don't think he can brush something like that off." Nick said quietly, "If he can do that then he's barely human. He must have some feelings toward a woman throwing herself on him."
He was in no position to have an opinion about that. He didn't see how Fenna took a liking toward him. I doubted Fenna was subtle about it, she wanted him to notice her. Yet Nick never did. If she threw herself on him I doubted he'd even notice it. It was the same for Mr. Blackwood I realized. He just didn't care about me so the kiss meant nothing to him.
"Oh, I get it." I felt a lot better, realizing why Mr. Blackwood behaved the way he did, "He just doesn't see me that way so I can kiss him all I want he'll never think anything of it. Not that I'm saying that I should keep kissing him. That should definitely not happen anymore."
"Definitely not." Nick agreed.
"So that's why he can brush it off."
Nick didn't seem convinced about my newfound theory but he didn't disagree with it either, "Maybe. Let's just forget about it. I'm sure he also wants to forget that it ever happened."
"Excuse me?" I asked, feeling a bit offended by that, "I'm not that bad of a kisser."
Nick's cheeks got a light pink tint to it. He was probably embarrassed, not wanting to know more about me and kissing guys who I wasn't supposed to kiss. I'd stop now and head home. I needed to eat a proper lunch and then get ready for my date with Lucas. Mr. Blackwood probably brushed the whole thing off already. I needed to do the same. Lucas would help me with it.
"I'm heading home, eat lunch and then get ready for my date." I got to my feet and smiled at my brother, "Thank you for allowing me to come running to you whenever my mind's a mess." I grabbed the bag he brought back for me and held it up, "Also thank you for this."
"You're my sister, there is no need for you to thank me for those things. I'm here for you, Nina."
I walked up to him and grabbed his hand, holding it tightly in mine, "I love you." I then let go and practically skipped to the door, "Talk to you later."
"Yeah, I do want to know how things go with Lucas."
I grinned, "Talk later."
I left Nick's office and took a cab home. I was in the mood for something light so I decided to make myself some spicy tomato soup. After lunch, I filled up the tub and soaked in citrus smelling water. It woke me up and my skin felt amazing afterward. I'm pretty sure I also smelled damn amazing. Lucas wanted to see me in jeans and a sweater so I picked those out for my outfit tonight. I chose a pair of dark jeans and a grey sweater. There was a print on it with little hamsters living the space life. It was cute and I totally bought that only because of those hamsters looking cute in space. Instead of going for the pink sneakers I chose white ones. I curled the ends of my hair, running my fingers through it to loosen the curls and making it look more natural. By the time I was done with hair and makeup Lucas arrived. He texted me to let me know he was waiting downstairs for me. I checked my appearance in the mirror, grabbed my things and headed outside to meet up with Lucas. He stood before a white sports car. It wasn't an upscale brand, it wasn't known for luxury but that white car never looked better. Might be because of the man leaning against it.
"You look great." He said and stepped forward, wrapping me up in his arms.
It made me giggle, he engulfed me in his arms. His sweater was warm and comfy, it felt great around me. He also smelled nice. Fresh like laundry which was a pretty damn good smell. I pressed my head against his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist holding on for dear life. He chuckled in response.
"Well, this date is starting out okay."
I giggled, pulling away from him to look in his green eyes, "I think so too."
He was about to kiss my cheek like he did when he came to see me the other day, I had other plans though. Before his lips pressed against my cheek I moved my head, his lips landing on mine. I grabbed the front of his sweater and pulled him closer, kissing him softly.
We pulled away from each other, Lucas cupped my face in his hands while looking at me with such warmth in his eyes it made me melt right in front of him. He chuckled, pulling me close to keep me on my feet.
"The best first official date I've had, I think."
This guy made me laugh without doing anything, it was just him. He was perfect yet I let Mr. Blackwood and his stupid reluctance get the better of me. That kiss wouldn't have even happened if it wasn't for that man. He made me want to prove myself and I think I did just that. I wasn't a bad kisser at all. Kissing the right guy made it seem like it was the best thing in the world. This might as well be the best first official date ever.