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"I don't think getting married could be all that bad," I found myself defending. "Not if you find the right person."
Nicholas eyed me suspiciously. "Are you serious?"
"Do I have any reason not to be?" I countered, taking another sip. I had almost reached the bottom of my glass and decided to go for a refill.
"I’m surprised that you’re speaking in favor of marriage," he replied. "I always thought you weren’t interested in any form of long-term commitment."
"Two things can be true at the same time," I shrugged, as I filled my glass to the brim once again.
From the corner of my eye, I could feel Nicholas studying me intently.
"Are you seeing anyone? Anyone on your mind when you say that?" Nicholas probed. "I don't think I have ever heard you talk like this."
As soon as he made the comment, Kathy was the first to pop up in my head. But I wasn’t ready to admit anything yet.
"No, there's no one," I replied in a flat tone.
"Are you sure?" Nicholas asked, seeming unconvinced.
"Nope," I tried to sound confident, but Kathy was still lingering in my mind.
"You look like you are in denial, my friend," Nicholas chuckled and then leaned back into the sofa.
"Excuse me?" I asked, turning my upper body towards him. "What denial are you talking about?"
"Your feelings," Nicholas smirked. "Listen, Dylan. I have known you forever and I can read you like the back of my hand. Trust me when I say, I can tell that you have it bad. You’re struggling. Thereissomeone, isn’t there?"
"I don't know what you are talking about, man," I muttered sheepishly.
All the signs were clearly pointing to one person and that was Kathy. I knew there had been no other who made me feel desire someone as strongly as she managed to do. But it wasn't a reality I was prepared to accept just yet. I had doubts about my ability to commit to a long-term relationship and it downright felt scary to think about failing at it miserably.
So I just gulped down the remainder of the glass in front of me.
"Let's not talk about this anymore," I announced as I put down the emptied glass on the table in front of me.
Nicholas laughed. "Cheers to that."
Chapter 20
Kathy
“So much for that date,” I found myself mumbling under my breath as I checked into a hotel forty minutes away from New York City.
I hadn’t expected Dylan to come up with a mandatory office retreat on the one weekend that I decided to go out on a first date with Kevin. But since it was all paid for, I knew I couldn’t complain too much.After all, he said it was for our ‘wellness and development’.
“I hope we can skip the motivational speaker sessions,” Caitlyn said, as she came up behind me. Both of us had gotten our room keys and were now walking up to our rooms. “One thing I will give to Dylan is that he doesn’t skimp out when it comes to treating his employees. Because this is n-i-c-e, and I want to take advantage of all the services it has to offer.”
“Is it not unusual for him to send his employees on a mandatory session like this?” I asked, the curiosity getting the better of me.
“Well, in the last four years I worked for Dylan, I don’t remember a single instance of something like this happening. Especially on such short notice,” Caitlyn shrugged.
My mind started to wonder what Dylan was trying to accomplish. After all, he’s not the type to care about his employees’ mental wellness with sincerity. He would not plan something so extravagant unless there was a clear purpose. Was there a possibility that somehow it had anything to do with me? That maybe, he had somehow found out about the fact that I was trying to move on. Word travels fast in our office, after all.
But I knew that sounded ridiculous. I just had to accept the fact that this was merely a coincidence. There was no way that Dylan was paying enough attention to me to be pulling off something as elaborate as this.
I bid good night to Caitlyn at the door and entered my room. It was a spacious room. I immediately plopped myself down on the bed, kicking my shoes off and finally having a moment torelax.
Just then, my phone dinged to indicate a new text message. It was Kevin.
