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It became obvious as soon as I realized it. For the last few weeks, I hadn’t thought about them at all. I would say hi to Marina when I saw her, and I would chat with Daphne about the company, but beyond that…I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it. We weren’t exactly friends, and I doubted we’d ever truly cross that line, but that was okay. We were colleagues and we were on good terms with each other, and that was more than enough.
My mind felt lighter than it had in more than a month. I turned from Richard and smiled at them, really smiled. “Have a good lunch?” It was a simple, boring question that colleagues asked each other, and it had never felt so good.
Marina nodded. “Yep. I’m telling you guys, the buffalo wraps in the cafeteria here are amazing.”
I chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Daphne unlocked her office door and nodded at me to follow her. “Ready for our meeting?”
“Of course.” I pushed away from the desk and followed after her. I looked back at Richard but he had already turned to his computer.
I followed after Daphne and took a seat across from her. This was going to be a short meeting, just a quick catch-up to cover the most recent information from the client. We jumped in right away and the time flew by.
It would probably have been a lie to say I was completely over what had happened between the three of us. Just because there were no hard feelings didn’t mean I could forget the feelings I’d had. It was never something as serious as love, but I had come to care for Daphne, and for Marina. Now that care had shifted into a friendly feeling between work colleagues, and I was glad for it, but it would take a little while for the memory to fully fade.
Still, I was happy. We made a good team and I looked forward to the future. Daphne had found her happy ending, maybe now I could find mine.
Once Daphne and I were finished I returned to the waiting room, leaving Daphne to her work. I went straight to Richard’s desk with a smile. I was about to ask what he wanted to do about this weekend, but he pushed himself away from the desk before I had a chance.
He kept his eyes down as he gathered some papers. “Sorry, can’t talk right now,” was all he said before disappearing into Oliver’s office.
I stood there in shock for a moment before trying to brush it off. I put on my best what-can-you-do smile and said goodbye to Marina. Maybe he didn’t want to talk in front of her, or maybe he really was busy. It was fine, I’d see him later.
It was new and still hazy, but I was excited at the prospect of spending more time with him. I didn’t have a name or a label for what we were doing, but it felt like it could become special. He was special, and I couldn’t wait to see him again.
Chapter Eight
“What did you do to Rich?”
Marina had cornered me on my way out of the office. I frowned as I pulled her away from the flow of people leaving for the day.
“I have no idea.” It had been a week since my revelation and since then I hadn’t said more than two words to him. We hadn’t ended up meeting over the weekend since he said he was busy and had been brushing off my messages. He was ignoring me and I didn’t know why.
She studied my face, trying to decide if I was telling the truth or not. Evidently, she decided I was. “He’s been quiet lately, quieter than usual, I mean. And he’s obviously avoiding you.”
At least if Marina had noticed it too I knew it wasn’t in all in my head. I sighed. She probably already had her suspicions, so I might as well come clean. “Richard and I,” I struggled to come up with the words. “We’ve been seeing each other, sort of.”
Her brow shot up. “Damn Donovan, you’re making your way through the office.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “It just happened, I don’t know what to say.”
She laughed and lightly slapped my arm. “I’m just kidding. I don’t have a problem with it as long as you’re good to him. Are you good to him?” Her voice turned serious.
“I…I thought I was. Honestly, I’m not sure what happened. We were supposed to see each other last weekend, but he’s not returning my messages.”
Something flickered over her features as she turned quiet. After a moment she turned up the corner of her lips. “If you’re game, I might have an idea.”
***
“This is crazy,” I insisted, whispering into my phone despite being alone. “Almost stalker level.”
“Relax,” Marina chirped on the other end. “It’s fine. It worked for me.”
“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” I rubbed at my face, regretting my choices.
“Well, you did, and it’s too late to change it now. If it doesn’t work out I’ll buy you lunch. If it does, you buy lunch.”
I shook my head. “Fine.”
