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A dapper man like Sam could have come to the office naked and it wouldn’t have been as strange as him coming in with a tie all askew with an ungraceful knot. The man wore suits and ties every day. You’d think by now he had mastered the Windsor knot with eyes closed.
“Here, hold this.” I jabbed my coffee cup at his chest for him to hold. Then I went ahead to loosen his tie, adjusted its height around his neck and began tying it properly.
With his head tilted upward as I worked his tie, Sam looked down at me with his usual smile. “Collecting plus point again, are we?”
“I can’t let your handsome self be ridiculed at your own office, could I? That’s my own exclusive privilege.”
“Alright, go-ahead and enjoying mocking me and my semi-hangover. But let’s be honest, it was a fun night.”
“Mhm.” I mumbled as a yawn hit me. Okay, maybe cocktails and late nights weren’t my forte either. “But next time we meet on a school night, I’ll try not to sleep half the night on your sofa. I hate driving home at two in the morning and disrupt my sleep.”
“Blame your stubborn head for refusing to pack an overnight bag like I told you to do. You know that our little casino nights are getting longer every time we host them. Next time, take my spare bedroom, have a good night’s sleep and get dressed for work at my place too. And maybe fix my tie before leaving.”
“Next time we host a casino night, it’s with plastic money. No more swindling money off me.”
The elevator binged its arrival on our office floor.
Sam set a hand at the door to fool the sensors and allow time for me to finish the tie. “I promise no cheating next time.”
“Ah-ha. You finally admit. Cheater.” I smoothed his perfect tie down his torso, then slapped his chest as my mediocre attempt at payback for his cheating before stealing my coffee cup from his grip and exited the elevator.
Sam followed me down the corridor towards our offices. “Hey, you know what? Late nights might not be so bad for you after all. Look at the time.” He flashed his wristwatch at me. “It’s not even seven-thirty and surprise, surprise, Ms Monroe is already in. Wouldn’t have believed it if I wasn’t witnessing this with my own eyes.”
“You and your damn timing.” I couldn’t contain my chuckle.
“If it was up to my timing, we’d be scheduling the morning meetings at 08:00 instead of 08:10 just so it’s more convenient for you to have a ten-minute leeway to be punctual. Thanks to my scheduling pattern created specifically for you, you now come in late to meetings by just two minutes instead of twelve.”
I stopped at my office door while Sam continued on towards his office. “Or maybe you could avoid scheduling meetings at 08:00 altogether as I’ve been suggesting forever. Just like you need your morning run, I don’t function properly before at least two coffees.”
Sam paused at his door. “I’ll include a double espresso with the meeting requirements just for you.” He concluded with a wink before stepping into his office and shutting the door behind him.
As I proceeded into my own office, I didn’t just walk to my desk. I floated. On cotton candy clouds in seventh heaven. That was how giddily happy I’ve felt. My smile was brighter than the first rays of sunlight seeping through the window. And for the first time in such a long time, when I plumped down on my chair, I realized the automatic sigh that released from between my lips wasn’t of tire or boredom or desperation. It was true happiness and contentment and serenity. All thanks to Sam. For his silly banter that perked up my morning. For yesterday’s fun evening. For every other night I spent with him.
Since our first friendly meet at his place, Sam and I had been meeting almost every day after work. Always at his apartment, of course because I still lived with Joe. We’ve been having work meetings in his living room instead of the conference room or his office. Then Sam would cooked for us and we ate and chatted for a while. Then when the clock would start ticking that it was time to get to sleep, instead of bidding good night, I’d open the bar for after-hour drinks and Sam would bring out the playing cards or an old board game or remember about that great movie we both had been wanting to watch.
Sam and I didn’t exactly agree on everything though. Surely not in our cooking skills or in our fondness for coffee. And the colours in our wardrobes? Total opposites. Mine was a rainbow. His was grayscale. Sure suited him though. His mesmerizing eyes were more than enough pop of colour on him. Still, we did agree on lots of things. Our favourite movie genres were a match and we both loved the same Bordeaux wine. Also, Sam didn’t scrunch up his nose to the smell of my beloved vanilla candles and luckily, he didn’t have any pesky allergies either. We were the perfect balance. We complemented each other. Best of all, we understood each other’s loneliness. Days weren’t boringly empty anymore.
As soon as I switched on my work laptop, I ignored the new emails received since last I checked my inbox before leaving for work and simply focused on the very latest one.
From: Samuel Webb
Subject: Who dis?
Attachment: Image of a playing card. A king of hearts.
On instant, I snorted a laugh. Then another email from Sam popped in.
Don’t feel like working today.
I crossed my legs, relaxing back in my chair and began typing my reply.
Me neither. Thinking of an excuse to throw at my boss and ditch.
A second later, I got my reply.
Cheating on your boss is in really bad taste, you know.
No way was he going to pin his new title back at me.
