I smiled as I read the note. The coffee was still warm and she had even gotten me a blueberry muffin which I had told her was my favorite in passing. She was already busy at work and I didn't want to disturb her so I sent an email before getting on with my own work.
Normani Hamilton <nhamilton@lasienne.com>
To: dhansen@lasienne.com
Subject: Coffee
Hey, thank you for the coffee and the muffin. You get extra points for getting my favorite. There's no need to thank me though, I had fun spending the night with you. We definitely need to finish discussing the night at the club when you started flirting with me and ogling me though. And maybe even have a repeat? Of the dancing and getting drunk part I mean?
Avery knocked once and came into my office with coffee. "Good morning boss, how was your weekend?"
"Good and yours?"
"Amazing, I see you already got coffee, and a muffin? I thought you said no breakfast?"
I looked at my muffin and smiled. "I did, and more coffee's never a bad thing."
"I can't dispute that. So, care to tell me what you got up to after I left the gala? I noticed you on a certain pretty brunette's snap chat. I have to say, leggings and hoodies are a fashion faux pas for employees of such a reputable magazine, but you were rocking it."
"We hung out for a while then I went home. It wasn't that interesting."
"Normani Hamilton we've been together for a short time but I can already say with certainty that you are a workaholic. I also know you well enough that you don't hangout with people that you don't find interesting."
I rolled my eyes, "you sound just like my mother."
"Speaking of your mother, you have a pitch meeting in an hour, Zendaya's coming in after and your mother is taking you out to lunch. She also told me that you'd be out for the rest of the afternoon. I checked your schedule and you have nothing going on in the afternoon."
"Fuck, I'm about to get lectured for an entire afternoon. You couldn't make something up?"
Avery scoffed, "Normani how do you expect me to just be cool saying what I want to your mother when you stutter as soon as she starts asking you questions."
"I don't stutter," I mumbled defensively. "Can you please schedule a meeting for tomorrow afternoon with Alex from SM? We need to discuss ideas to generate more traffic for digital among other things. Make sure Gen is there, even if she can only attend for a few minutes. And Drew from marketing as well. Also please send out thank you gift baskets to everyone who attended the gala as guests of La Sienne. And if I have anything on Friday, clear it out. I'm spending the day at Vita Nova. Oh and on Thursday we're having lunch, out of the office. So don't make plans."
"Anything else?" Avery asked without looking up from his tablet.
"No, if I think of anything else I'll let you know."
I ended up being the last to arrive in the conference room. "Good morning people, we don't have a lot of time so we'll get right to it. Style, what have you got for me."
"Why the 90s belly button ring should make a comeback?"
I smiled, "reason number one, I have one and I love it. I need someone else to write about the fine line between self-expression and professionalism. Max, you're perfect. Make it sound better and give it a catchy title. You're good at that. Let's talk multiple piercings, tattoos, a fashion sense that's out there."
"Sounds good."
"Amazing, what have we got for video content."
"Nafessa Williams and Chantal Thuy make a three course meal for your next date night with yours truly while discussing their show and the importance of lgbtq+ representation in mainstream TV shows."
"I like that, let's also have them take over the Instagram and snapchat accounts for the day. And if whatever dessert they make is good, I want some." I smiled when everyone laughed. "I'm not kidding, but let's pretend I was. Uh can someone from entertainment compile a list of the shows with the best lgbtq characters and ships."
As I walked out of the pitch meeting, I checked my emails and noticed that Dinah had emailed me back.
Dinah Jane Hansen <dhansen@lasienne.com>
To: nhamilton@lasienne.com
Re: Coffee
Firstly, I'm down to get drunk and dance with you anytime. Secondly, you were the one that started flirting with me, asking me how many fingers I wanted. Also out of curiosity, what do these points get me? And how many do I need to get said prize?
Normani Hamilton
To: Dinah Jane Hansen
Re: Coffee
I was talking about fingers of whiskey. And I don't know yet. But I will know when you have enough.
How's the article going?
Dinah Jane Hansen
To: Normani Hamilton
Re: Coffee
If you say so...
About the article, do you think we could maybe hang out again tonight? This time I'm buying dinner though. I can come over and you can maybe let me pick your brain about work stuff?
Normani Hamilton
To: Derek Hamilton
It's a date. See you tonight.
I almost tripped when I realized that I had replied to my dad. It was too late to undo my mistake, so I quickly sent a response to Dinah and apologized to my dad for the email. It was too late though, the family group chat came alive with messages from my family about the date that I had. I almost cancelled lunch with mom. Almost. Avery was right, she could strike the fear of God into anyone that she met without even frowning.
Gen was already waiting for me in her office. "You have a date today?"
"No I don't, it's a work thing."
"Dating for a story," Gen said wistfully. "I miss the good old days when I'd have to try half the stuff I was writing about in order to write a good story."
I rolled my eyes. "I will fight you Aunt G."
We met with Zendaya and her manager and convinced her to be on the cover of the magazine's issue after which Zendaya and I caught up while I waited for my mother to come and pick me out for the forced lunch. Three of us walked out together, using a different entrance to avoid the paparazzi who were gathered outside the office building to catch a glimpse of her.
"Oh stop sulking Normani. An afternoon off won't kill you. You're a workaholic, see someone about that."
"Just like my parents," I mumbled with a grin. "Mom you know I don't have a date tonight. I'm meeting a friend from work to discuss work stuff."
"Is it Dinah Jane?"
I groaned, "She was not my date to the charity gala. She made a commitment to attend the gala a while back and I figured why not give her a ride since I was picking Avery up as well."
"Fine, Dinah's just a friend. But I'm glad you're making time for other things. Your idea of a social life is going out every now and then and getting letting the paparazzi take pictures of you."
"I have to keep them talking somehow right?"
She laughed, "I'm serious though Mani, work can't be your whole life. At some point you'll achieve everything you want to achieve and what happens then? You need something to come home to."
"Is this your way of telling me to settle down? Because I can literally just get a dog or something."
"That depends on whether it's working or not."
I smiled, "I hear you Mom, but I don't exactly have the best track record with relationships. And I'm at a point in my life where I don't know if I can just keep putting myself through all that."
"Save the cynicism for after you turn thirty five." The waiter brought our wine and we both ordered before Mom resumed her lecture. "Baby we all get hurt, only really lucky people meet the one on the first try."
"I just want that easy and perfect kind of love that you and dad have, and I don't think I can keep falling in love with people and repairing whatever wounds they leave behind."
"Mani nothing about our relationship was easy. First time I went out with your dad, I didn't even try. I was so busy with the magazine that I thought he'd be just another guy and it wouldn't work out. So I asked him to meet me at this little place, I went straight from work to the date and I was starving and craving hot wings which is exactly what I ordered. Turns out he liked that. But for us to actually get to the altar was an uphill battle. After we got married, I kept working ridiculous hours, and he stood by my side. He'd run me baths and make sure that our tiny apartment in Nola was a safe space. Those miscarriages before we had you almost broke us up." She took my hand and squeezed it.
"But we fought, for the future that we both still believed in and for the promises we'd made to each other. And when you were born, I almost gave up on La Sienne. He told me I could do it, and I had to do it so I could show you that it was possible. Even now, we choose to keep loving each other every day because that's part of what makes a marriage work, besides really great sex."
I groaned, "Mother please, I do not want the mental image of you and my father engaging in sexual activity."
"It's okay we'll pay for therapy," she replied without missing a beat. "All I'm saying is that you can't expect perfection at the start. It'll come with time. As for your fear of commitment and relationships in general, I understand what you're going through. Eli was your first love and you two shared a lot of firsts. It was intense and euphoric I understand the regret you feel, and why you think you should have tried harder to make things work. But you can't keep doing what you're doing, it's not healthy and you're cheating yourself of the chance to actually be happy. Maybe with Dinah, maybe with someone else."
"Mom..."
"Hey you never know. I know it's complicated with work and HR but if you want to date her, you have my full blessing. I like that girl, she's not scared of you or awestruck by the fact that you're a Hamilton."
I rolled my eyes, "speaking of which, how are many of my assistants going to fear me if you come into my office whenever you want and tell them to reschedule my meetings and engagements."
"Please, I saw how you and Avery were at the gala. That boy's basically your new best friend."
"He's so cool and I can't even get mad at some of the stuff he does and says because he's really good at his job and he knows when to be serious. I'm going to be sad when he eventually moves on."
"Where in the company do you see him?"
"I don't know yet, I don't even think he knows yet. And I don't think he knows whether he wants to stay at the company forever or not. But we'll see when we review his performance in a year's time."
We moved on to lighter topics, but my mother's words replayed themselves in my head for the rest of the afternoon. Since I was already out, after our long lunch, I went to the store to pick up a few things that I was starting to run low on, like Ben and Jerry's and I also got a bunch of snacks for tonight.
Dinah came over to my place straight from work, though judging by the take out bag that she was carrying, she had made a quick detour. I took the bag as well as her laptop bag from her so she could get a little more comfortable.
We ate in the living room while I looked over her article and helped her make it better. Editing it didn't take too long, and when I was done, she put her laptop back in the bag and leaned back against the couch.
"What's with your shoulder?"
"It's been giving me trouble since yesterday, but I'm sure it'll pass eventually though. I probably just slept the wrong way last night."
"Or it could just keep getting worse," I answered as I stood. "I'll be right back." I went upstairs and found a bottle of massage oil in one of the cabinets in my bathroom and I grabbed a towel before I left. "I can massage it for you if you want?"
"Oh, uh okay?"
She took off her t shirt and I made it a point to focus on what I was doing to push away the inappropriate thoughts. I warmed the oil a little between my hands before I got to work massaging it into Dinah's skin. I could have sword I heard her moan, then again, despite all my efforts, the inappropriate thoughts still seemed to flood my mind. So maybe it was all in my head.
"Does that feel okay?" I asked softly as I worked on a particularly tight knot in her shoulder.
Dinah nodded. I turned on some music to distract myself as I worked. Despite the obvious sexual tension between us, my intent had been to help her with her shoulder pain, so I focused on that as I hummed to myself while thinking about unsexy things.
When I was done, I wiped off the excess oil on her skin with the towel and sat next to her on the couch as I wiped the oil of my hands. "How does it feel now?"
"Thank you, it feels a lot better," she murmured. We both fell silent for a while. "How was your day?"
"Long, mom took me out to lunch today."
Dinah turned to face me and my eyes involuntarily flicked down to her bra clad chest before I quickly looked away. "Yeah I saw you two leave. How did that go?"
"She lectured me about settling down and my commitment issues."
"About that, we were talking about what happened after your breakup with Eli on Saturday and we got interrupted."
Dinah
"Oh yeah, um I got really really wild," Normani said quietly. "That's one of the reasons why a lot of people didn't think I was good enough to be digital editor."
"Is that why you worked at a different publication?"
Normani laughed, "No I just wanted to be away from the family business for a while. And my parents have always been really supportive of everything I do so I had their blessing. But then Mom decided to step back and Gigi was promoted to Editor in Chief which left the digital editor position open and they told me to apply but I didn't get it the first or the second time around."
"I remember you applying the second time. That must have been tough?"
"It was but Mom always hires the best person for the job. That's something I admire and respect her for. But anyway, that wasn't what I was telling you. So after the wild phase, I mellowed out and I dated but there was never anything that was really serious. And before you ask, I'm over what happened but I guess I don't want to go through that again. I loved him so much and it took me two years to fully get over a year long relationship. I mean granted, I didn't deal with stuff in the most constructive way to begin with. But now I know that it's possible to love someone that much and even more and I'm scared."
"The next person that you fall in love with could very well break your heart, but they could also be the one. And as long as you don't allow yourself to fully be with a person, you'll never know."
She shrugged, "that's a fair point. Can we talk about you? Don't tell me Nutcracker was your first love?"
"No he wasn't," I rolled my eyes and laughed. "My first love was the guy I dated after Nela. But he wasn't meant to be my only love."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because I know that Kai came into my life specifically to show me that I deserved to mean everything to someone and be treated like a queen for however long the relationship lasts."
Normani smiled, "you do deserve that. You deserve to be the love of someone's life."
I hadn't realized how close we were sitting until we jumped apart at the sound of the loud knock on her door. Normani narrowed her eyes as she looked at it briefly before smiling apologetically as she went to open it. Of the people that walked in, I only recognized Choie because she appeared on her Instagram every now and then.
"Oh you've got company," one of them said quietly. "Hi, I'm Blair."
"Oh shit yeah. Guys this is Dinah Jane, she's a writer for the magazine. Hansen this is my best friend Choie, that's Blair, Miche, Jazz and Josh. They're my annoying ass friends."
"It's nice to meet you all."
"A writer from the magazine you say?" Josh asked.
. "Yeah, we were doing work stuff."
Choie quirked an eyebrow. "Right that's why Dinah's topless."
"Oh shit yeah," I mumbled as I quickly put my t-shirt on. "My shoulder hurt and Mani gave me a massage. To help with the pain."
"Yeah, were we supposed to hang out? I don't think we were, Avery would have told me."
"No it was Josh's very bad idea to be spontaneous. Come on guys, let's leave Dinah and Normani to their... work."
I quickly stood. "No I should get going anyway."
"There's no need to leave on our account. We weren't going to do anything that serious anyway."
"Oh no, I need to get home and finish my article. My boss is sort of a stickler for deadlines."
"Funny," Normani muttered sarcastically. "I'll walk you out. Jackson's still here so he can take you home."
As soon as we were out of the apartment and in the elevator, Normani began apologizing for our evening being cut short and her friends being weird as well as anything else that she thought I might have been offended by. "Don't apologize," I laughed. "I like your friends, well what I've seen of them. They suit you."
"How so?"
"I don't know, it probably won't make as much sense if I say it out loud but they just do. Especially Choie." We walked into the underground parking where Jackson was waiting. "Thank you for tonight, and for the massage, and letting me pick your brain about work and opening up to me..."
Normani smiled, "I think tonight sort of encompasses everything. But you're welcome, for everything. And thank you for dinner and keeping me company. But next time I'm cooking."
"Next time," I murmured, I looked away to hide the smile on my face at hearing those words. "I already said thank you for helping me with my article right?"
"You did," Normani laughed. "It was already really good anyway. You really are a talented writer with a unique voice Hansen."
"Thank you, I didn't exactly say everything I wanted to say about that night though." What are you doing Dinah Jane?
She frowned as she tilted her head and studied me. "What didn't you say?"
"I didn't say how amazing you were with the kids. You are thoughtful, honest, so open. Not with everyone, I don't even think you've opened up fully with me but you did with those kids. And that's courageous. And you're probably the only person I know that completely throws me off my game."
I looked down at my hands and then back up at her face. The frown had deepened, and almost seemed as though it were permanently etched into her brow. Just say it Hansen, there's no going back now.
"So," I began awkwardly. "About that night in the club..."
What is wrong with you!
The frown turned into confusion with maybe a hint of amusement? I couldn't exactly be sure. "What about it?"
"I don't know what came over me, but I was flirting with you, and if I had been more sober and you had come on to me, the temptation to go home with you would have been strong and I definitely would have thought about going home with you. However, that being said, you started flirting first."
Normani grinned, "maybe a little."
"I think I might really like you," I said without thinking. Normani's expression changed from amusement to something unfathomable. I should have been used to her looking at me like that but I wasn't. My eyes widened and I immediately started trying to back track, "shit I did not mean to say that out loud. I'm not even drunk, I don't know what the fuck came over me."
"No, uhm... it's okay," Normani murmured with a laugh. "I like you too, you're actually pretty cool and I'm glad we became friends, even though it began under strange circumstances."
Right, friends. I don't actually stand a chance with someone like you.
"I'm kind of tired, I should head home, finish up that article and get it to you as soon as possible."
"Oh of course," Normani said quietly as she opened the car door for me. "Jackson can you make sure Miss Hansen gets home safely?"
"I will, do I need to come back?"
Normani shook her head, "no, take the rest of the night off. I've kept you too long already."
"Miss Normani you don't keep me nearly long enough. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow Jax. Goodnight Hansen."