Bobby read the documents in front of her over and over. She shook her head, closed her eyes and started again. She couldn't focus.
She lay out the papers into neat stacks by type and then reordered them. She put the stacks together, then she sat down and picked up the stack- she needed to focus.
"Okay... Dear Valued partner..." She began to read, going over the release one more time. She'd printed it out to double check it, but not a single note or correction had been made. The highlighter in her hand was purely decorative, she couldn't get past the first words.
All day she'd worked on this, trying to focus but something always came up and when it didn't she couldn't help her mind from wandering. When she walked in that morning, she had a scarf wrapped around her neck up to her chin and hid behind it. She couldn't help it, she felt like all eyes had to be on her.
Could it be that they could tell what she had done? Maybe they could see that something was completely different. She'd stared at herself for hours on Sunday, wondering if she looked different, wondering if something had changed.
She knew she looked exactly the same but she also knew that she was completely different now.
Anytime someone tried talked to her, she jumped up or flinched... or worse. She'd just stand there like a moron staring out into space.
Then that morning, she saw Matt walk in... looking cool as a cucumber, same long, confident strides. she could swear the floor fell beneath her. It was hard to believe she had just seen him just the day before.
"Good Morning, Roberta." He said as he adjust the lapels of his jacket. She looked at him, not knowing what to expect. For some reason, after he'd left on Sunday, she had found it was impossible not to stare at her phone... wondering if he would text or call. Was that normal?
She tried to act normal. They'd spent the whole weekend together so, why did she miss him so desperately?
"Good Morning." She replied, trying to act like her normal calm self. She extended her hands, "Your messages."
Matt nodded, taking them from her.
"Good Morning, Eddie." he said, and looked back to Bobby.
"You have a very packed schedule today." She said, trying to focus on business.
"I know. Hold my calls." He said, disappearing into his office.
"Yes, sir." She replied, looking back at her desk and having a seat.
After that, she'd spent all morning running back and forth, taking calls, typing memos and going in and out of meetings. She'd sat in with Lisa, Nick and twice with Brian and Nora- the announcement on Friday had caused more work than any of them had ever imagined. But she found it hard to focus. Anytime she saw Matt it was "send this, get that, call them" and they didn't get a moment alone at all.
Bobby shook her head, she needed to focus. it was late in the afternoon and she still had half a dozen things to finish if she didn't want to fall way behind the next day. She hadn't stopped all day, not even for lunch and neither had Matt. She'd only caught glimpses of him across the office and he was acting like nothing had happened.
She suddenly had the fleeting thought that maybe now he'd be done with her. Then she shook her head- that couldn't be right. She wasn't any regular flame... she was Bobby and he was Matt. She shuddered when she remembered the way he'd kissed her.
Matt lay he down gently on the bed, his eyes on hers as her head landed on the pillows. She had her hands on his shoulders but she'd stopped trembling and now she only watched him in fascinating, her lips slightly parted.
He pulled away from her, slowly removing his shirt but his gaze still on her the entire time. It briefly crossed his mind, as she lay against his pillows, that this was Bobby- he was about to make love to Bobby. Shouldn't this be weird? isn't it normally weird or strange when two friends sleep together? But no, it wasn't. It was none of those things, it only felt like the most natural thing in the world.
Bobby couldn't keep her eyes off of him. She'd always known he was handsome but as she watched him undress she saw a slew of muscles she'd never imagined. Underneath the elegant fit of his suit, Matt was lean and strong and every bit of him seemed to rippled as he moved. She moved, sitting up to appreciate the sight of him and Matt frowned.
"Where do you think you're going?" He teased. Bobby didn't move, she only ran her eyes along the length of him.
"Nowhere." Was all she could say, after all, how could she explain that she wouldn't let anything stop he now.
He sat on the bed, looking straight at her as he did so.
"We can stop." He said gently, although he wasn't sure that he really could. She looked much too tempting with her hair down around her, her lips pink from being kissed, her pretty curves and beautiful skin. She didn't say anything, instead she only moved towards him slightly, leaning over and placing a hand on his shoulder. He watched as she moved her fingers along gently, tracing the lines that led to his back and then back towards his chest.
Their faces were mere inches from each other but neither did anything to close the gap for a kiss, instead she continued to caress him. His skin was so hot, he was burning up... or was that her.
She looked up at him and their eyes met. He felt her grab his hand and she brought it to her lips, kissing it softly, her eyes still on his, before she brought the hand to her skin and placed it on her breast. She gasped then as he squeezed and toyed with it playfully, and he enjoyed the way she closed her eyes.
"I'm burning up." She finally managed to say as if it confused her and he chuckled and gave her breast another squeeze. This time she moaned, this time he lunged at her, kissing her passionately.
Bobby was flushed. Anytime she remembered it, she felt the heat rise in her. She was almost ashamed at herself, craving all of it, the touching, the kissing... the way he felt when he moved over her. She put her hands on her face, wondering if she was really as hot as she thought.
"Bobby." She heard the voice from behind her and looked up, noticing Lisa standing over her. Bobby felt guilty. All day, she'd been idly fantasizing about Matt and Lisa had been heartbroken over him.
"What can I do for you?" Bobby said, hoping her voice sounded normal.
"Matt in his office?" Lisa asked.
"Yes but he's with..." Bobby began but Matt's doors opened and Nick walked out with Matt, both still talking as they did.
"Matt." Bobby said before she could stop herself. She felt almost desperate for his attention. Matt turned and looked at Bobby but then noticed Lisa.
"Lisa- you have the draft for me?" He asked and she nodded.
"Yeah, got a sec to go over it?" She asked casually. Everyone seemed pretty impressed. Sure, it was only her second day back but everyone pretty much knew about the break up at this point and she was nothing but professional and courteous. This made Bobby feel even more guilty because now she was sure that Lisa was a good woman, an admirable one.
"Definitely. Bobby..." He said, without even looking at her.
"Yes, I'll hold your calls." she said, watching as he held the door open for Lisa and then closed the door behind him.
She sat there, feeling incredibly deflated but instead she just returned to her task. The difference in Matt's attitude was night and day from before, just last week he was coming up with any excuse to kiss her and now... was that how men were?
Sometime later, Lisa walked out of the office and looked at her for a second.
"You okay?" She asked, as if noticing that Bobby was especially quiet. Bobby looked at her and nodded.
"Yes, it's been a long day for all of us." Bobby said. Lisa nodded.
"And I think it's going to be this way for a while. Brace yourself, Bobby. You're this company's backbone and I have a feeling they'll be asking you to step up for several projects." Lisa said sweetly.
"I don't mind." Bobby said and she smiled.
"I know. Just don't forget to take time for yourself, okay?" Lisa replied with a sigh. "Matt wants to see you."
Bobby raised a brow and nodded, standing as Lisa walked away. She took a sip of water and ran her hands along the skirt of her dress before turning towards his office. Okay, she told herself. There. You see? He's just been busy, not ignoring you. She glanced at the clock, it was after five. Maybe he was done and ready to go home?
"You wanted to see me?" she asked, knocking on his open door. Matt put down his phone, he'd been typing away rapidly.
"Just a sec..." He said as he turned to the computer and finished typing. She was still, nodding.
"It's been a hectic day." he said, looking at her.
"Yeah, and tomorrow looks the same." She said, thinking about his schedule. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Tomorrow morning, I need you to run these down personally to Everette, Everette and Prince. first thing, before you come here." He said, holding out a thick stack of folders. She nodded and moved forward to take them from him.
"Okay, it's on my way. Are you expecting anything from them?" She asked.
"No, just drop them off, get the receipt signed and meet me back here. We have a lot of meetings." He said, looking at her.
"Of course. I'm going to take off in a bit. Need anything else?" She asked.
"No, I'm going to be stuck here a couple of more hours and then I'm off to dinner with my parents and a partner." He said simply.
"Okay. Well, see you tomorrow." She said just as his phone rang and he groaned, reaching to answer it.
Bobby walked out of the room slowly, moving towards her desk. She stared at the computer blankly for a second before reaching out and beginning to shut it down for the day. She walked out of the building, folders in her arms, completely oblivious as people wished her a good night.
"You're being ridiculous." She told herself over and over as she got home and prepped her things for the next day.
"He's busy, you know it's going to be busy. Besides, it's work and it has to get done. He'll text you as soon as he's free." She said over and over, flipping through the channels.
"Stop it, Roberta. Just stop." She said, shaking her head and putting her phone in the bedroom. She walked back over to watch TV, deciding she would stop looking at it. Then, just as she had finally eased into some state of comfort on the sofa and begun to enjoy the show. She heard it, the sound of the phone.
"A text." She announced out loud as if someone else was listening for it. She got up and quickly moved out of the living room, past her kitchen and into the bedroom. She picked up the phone excitedly, feeling slightly relieved but then her heart dropped again.
It was just Eddie. She quickly replied and tossed the phone back on the bed. What in the world was going on with her? Why was she being so crazy?
"Calm down, Bobby. He told you he was working late, told you he was going to dinner... Just stop it." She said to herself. "I'll take a shower."
She glanced at the clock. Almost 9. He would finish with dinner soon and then he'd text her once he was free. A shower was perfect to kill time.
Bobby toweled off her hair and walked into the bedroom again, it was 9:15 and she was sure he must have texted her by now.
"ha." She said, staring at her phone in disappointment. Nothing. It was nearly 9:30 and nothing. Bobby felt tired, maybe it was because the day was long, maybe it was because she had put herself through unnecessary emotional turmoil. She was being crazy and paranoid. Matt was NOT blowing her off. He was busy. She knew this. She looked at her phone and decided to text him goodnight and be done with it. Besides, why did she have to wait for him to text first?
But she couldn't help but feel miserable when she climbed into bed almost an hour later and got no response.