It's been two weeks and I've immersed myself into nothing but work. I begin to notice that Olivia is visiting the office more often than before. Usually, she wouldn't be at Xander's work at all. Around the time Xander has to take his lunch or at the end of the day, Olivia would be there. This gives me the thought that Olivia in some twisted way is changing. If this were true this would push Xander to rethink his plans to be with me. Just the thought of him taking back what he said before sickens me. The paranoia begins to chomp its way but I decide to force the idea down.
Around Friday afternoon, I'm typing away at my desk until my eyes drift to the time on the clock. It reads that it's 1:30 meaning it's time for my lunch. As I head downstairs I take note that Olivia is nowhere to be found. That's strange? Usually, she would either linger around for Xander but she appears to not to be around.
The rest of the day I have only a couple of tasks to take care of. One, I have a meeting that I have to sit through with Xander for a big company deal and the other is to get updates from the event planner for the gala. Before the meeting, I have enough time to reschedule my appointment for the gynecologist and I agree to see them next Monday after work. I then head towards the board room. Nearby I see Xander pacing up and down the hallway.
"Hey." Unsure what else to say to him. I've never seen him pace back and forth before any meeting.
"Hey, Natalia." He stops himself from pacing to acknowledge me.
"Is something wrong?" I ask not knowing if he wants to talk.
"No," but he changes his mind and says, " Yes."
"What is it?" I ask looking at him concerned.
"This meeting is going to be a multi-million dollar deal and I don't know if it will happen." He says while pushing his hair back.
"Of course it will and how I know it will happen it's because of you," I say reassuring him.
"You think so?" He asks trying to confirm my response.
"Yes, it will happen. Let's go in I think everyone in there is waiting for you." I say and make my way to the door. Xander nods and soon follows after me into the packed boardroom.
About an hour or so later, everyone emerges from the boardroom and I see Xander shaking hands with the contractor and executive that cut the big deal with his company. I decide to head back to my office knowing that I have one last task before I leave.
In my office, I get a hold of the event planner but instead of reaching out to the planner I only get a hold of the planner's assistant. The assistant tells me that the planner has been put into the hospital for an unexpected accident. I give her my wishes for fast recovery but with the planner in the hospital, I have nobody to take control of the event. Over the phone, the assistant suggests I take over for the time being. I respond by telling her I'll do it if my boss agrees to it. After my call with the assistant, I decide to drop by Xander to tell him the news of the planner and the possibility of running the gala.
When I get to Xander's office I see that he is at his desk looking over some paperwork. I lightly knock on his door to get his attention.
"Oh hey, Natalia." He says looking up from his work.
"Hey, I wanted to stop by and give you a status report on the event planner," I say while still standing by the doorway.
"Go ahead." He gestures for me to sit down and continue.
"The event planner is in the hospital but her assistant suggests I oversee the direction of the event. I said I would agree if you allowed it?" I asked unsure if he'll agree to what I asked.
"I will allow it and I promise to keep your workload light. I know you'll do a good job organizing the event." He says.
"Thanks, I'll let her assistant know my final answer," I say as I get up.
"Before you go, I wanted to ask if you join me for dinner after work?" He asks.
"Sure, but don't you have any plans with Olivia?" I ask.
"Not tonight and Olivia has left for New York." That's a surprise I thought she would still be here.
"Really?" I ask in disbelief.
"Yeah, she's going to be there for a dress fitting." He explains.
"Oh," I thought she would at least make it a full month with Xander but seeing that she decided to jet off to New York proves she isn't helping her marriage.
"Do you still want to join me tonight?" He asks again.
"Yes, I brought my car today would you like me to follow? " I ask.
"Sure that would be fine." He says.
"Okay, I'll see you later," I say and walk out of his office.
I take deep breathes trying to calm myself. I quickly text Trina to let her know my plans for tonight and she wishes me well. Soon after my call with Trina, I decide to call back the event planner's assistant to tell her I'll be taking over the event. The assistant is thankful and promises she'll have her team help with the set up for the event. I thank her and ask for what I need to prepare for that week. She says there isn't much other than the assembly of party favors and seating arrangements to be checked. I'm glad I didn't have to do a lot more work on top of my usual tasks here at the office. When I finished my call with the assistant I look at the clock and notice it's almost time for me to leave.
I quickly head to the bathroom to freshen up. I'm thankful I look presentable for dinner. This morning I dressed in a short white bishop sleeve dress with small ruffles at the collar. For my shoes, I wore Trina's black heels with laces on them. I promised that I would break them in for her. In other cases, I would have worn them for half a day but for tonight I continue to wear them. For my hair, I wore it half up half down with loose curls and the intention to keep my hair out of my face. As soon as I reapply my lipstick I feel more ready to go on this dinner with Xander.
When my day ends, I head downstairs to the lot and wait in my car for Xander. A moment later, Xander walks to his car and pulls out of the lot, I soon do the same and begin to follow. The drive to the restaurant is longer than I expected.
The restaurant is a large white building that overlooks the pacific, I park my car next to Xanders and get out to meet him. He smiles and I follow him inside towards the restaurant, the inside is much more modern than I expected it to look. A hostess appears behind a podium and Xander gives her his name for our table. She looks down at the list and soon seats us to a table closer to the large window that overlooks the ocean. I look at the menu and my eyes go wide overlooking the prices on everything. This restaurant Xander took me to is at least 4 stars. Of course, he would take me to a nice restaurant. Noticing my gaze at the menu, Xander smiles and says "Don't worry I'll cover dinner."
"Thanks," I say.
"Your welcome, I've been here before and their roasted chicken is the best option." He suggests and I nod an 'okay' to him. When our server arrives he takes our drink orders as well as our normal food orders since Xander and I decided on getting the same thing. As he leaves, I hear distant jazz music playing outside on the balcony.
"They have a live jazz band perform here every Friday." Answering my thoughts.
"You know you didn't have to take me anywhere fancy to eat, I'd be happy eating anywhere just as long as I know where we are going," I say to him.
"I'll keep that in mind if I take you out again." Again? Does he want to make this a regular thing? Is he implying that we could possibly make 'us' work? This is causing me to get another migraine. Feeling my mind swirl with questions I reach for my glass of water to chase the thoughts down.
"Look what I meant is-" Before he could explain I speak up.
"I want us to move forward, but I just don't know if it's possible since your a married man," I say the last part quietly since the restaurant is somewhat packed with people.
"I know I'm married but you know just as well as I do that my marriage is nothing but for publicity." He says equally quiet but earnest in his answer.
"Then why me? Why would you want to pursue me?" I ask desperately.
"The day that you walked in my office I didn't know at the time but I'm damn sure that you felt something as I came to realize my feelings for you. One, I fell for you because you're the complete opposite of Olivia. Second, boss or not you speak your mind out which is something I admire. Finally your the only person that has kept me sane these past 3 years you've worked for me." His answer leaves me speechless. If I speak up I'll probably not say the right things to say to him. While trying to take in his answer, our server returns with our food. Suddenly, my appetite grows distant because all I want to do with Xander is makeout with him right here but being that's it public I refrain from my wild thoughts. Noticing my silence Xander speaks up,
"Did I say something wrong?" How could he be so clueless about my thoughts? Oh, that's right it's because I didn't say anything.
"No, you said the right things I'm just speechless," I say but still noticing the nervous expression on his face I quickly add, "in a good way. What I mean is..." I sigh trying to gather my thoughts. "What I mean is that I do feel the same way for you and knowing that I'm terrible at saying how I feel about you is hard compared to what you just did," I confess.
"Then answer me this. What's holding you back?" He asks. I think for a moment and process his question. A few seconds later and while I'm cutting my chicken which smells pleasant I come up with my response.
"If this worked out, and Olivia or the public find out about us I don't want to be your kept secret. I know it's selfish of me to say this but I hate knowing you're with someone else when I know I want it to be just you and me." I confess while looking at my food. After what feels like a minute I look up at Xander and read his expression. He seems to find an understanding of what I had to say.
"I don't give a damn what everyone thinks about me and neither should you. I do understand where you're coming from. If I can find a way to not be tied to Olivia will you trust that I will do everything I can to be with you?" He asks.
"How much time?" I ask.
"I don't know but can you trust that I will keep my promise?" Xander asks while staring straight at me.
I sigh in frustration. In the time that I've known Xander, I've learned that he has kept his promises in the past. If I say yes, I don't want to find a reason to regret it. After weighing my options my mind has been made up.
"Yes, I do want to move forward but I trust that you follow through," I answer. I see that Xander's shoulders relax from my response.
"I will do everything I can," He vows and a second later he says, "Another thing, Can we enjoy this meal together before it gets cold?" He asks and I laugh at his silly question.