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A childish chuckle escaped Connor before he proudly said, “Because it saw the salad dressing.”
I couldn’t hold in my laughter. It was clever and corny, two of my favorite things.
“Oh please don’t encourage him with your laughter. It only pushes him to find worse jokes,” Damian said in a monotone voice.
Connor gestured toward me. “No, she just knows good humor. You have to admit, Damian, that’s a good one.”
“It was a good one, but it kind of makes me sad seeing that you are using the same jokes as before,” I said. “I didn’t take you as a guy who recycled jokes.”
Connor cocked an eyebrow. “I used that joke on you before?”
“About two years ago, yup.”
“No way…” He blew out a cloud of smoke. “I need to do better. Though, it is remarkable that you remembered the exact joke that I told you two years back.”
“What can I say? You left an impression on me,” I said with a shrug.
“You two know each other?” Damian asked, confused.
“We met once on a random Halloween night two years ago,” I explained.
Damian seemed a bit intrigued, which surprised me. I didn’t know he could look anything more than monotone. “That’s Red?”
Connor grew a bit flustered as I smirked. “So, you talked about me to people, huh?”
“Just here and there,” he calmly stated.
“Are you joking? You met me a few months after that situation. You went on and on about how that woman changed your life. You couldn’t shut up about how perfect and wonderful and life-changing—”
“Okayyy, Damian, now is not the time for you to adopt a chatty personality. You can go get back to work,” Connor said, hurriedly ushering Damian out of the room. He was quick to close the door behind him, and when he returned to the front of his desk, he looked like a boy who’d got caught in the act.
“I swear, the guy never talks, and this is when he decides to blurt out all his thoughts,” he said, shaking his head.
“Sounds like I left an impression on you, too.”
He smiled. “Without a doubt.” The mirth that radiated from Connor’s face stayed as he shook his head but then a somberness fell over him. “I was kind of surprised to hear you wanted to meet.” He narrowed his eyes, and the jollity he’d possessed seconds ago transformed into concern. “How are you doing?”
Why was that question almost enough to send me into a tailspin of emotions?
I shook my head and shrugged. “As well as one could imagine, but that’s not why I’m here.” I looked down at the gifts in my hand and shoved them out in front of me. “These are for you.”
He raised an intrigued brow. “Uh, thank you?”
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know if guys like getting flowers, but if it were me, I’d love getting flowers. I went with roses because, basic safe route, even though I’m more of a sunflower girl myself. Anyway, here you go.”
I shoved them toward him a bit too aggressively until he took them from my hold.
He leaned in and smelled the roses. “I gotta say, I’ve never had someone give me flowers. I’m not sure I have a vase for them.”
“I didn’t think of that. I should’ve gotten a vase. If you want, I can run down to—” I started to get up, but he held up a hand.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll have one of my assistants pick it up. Thank you for the gesture, though I’m not sure I know why you’re bringing this stuff.”
“Well, you did put up with me on Saturday. The least I can do is bring you a gift after wasting your time. I know how important time is, and I make it a habit to try not to waste it, and well, once time is gone, you can’t get it back, so I was thinking, well—”
“Aaliyah.”
“Yes?”
