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He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her so badly that he almost bent his head and sealed his mouth to hers. But before he could, she stepped out of his arms.
She opened her car door. “Bye, Barry!”
He couldn’t even open his mouth for fear that he’d make an unmanly sound instead of speaking. So, he just waved to her. He watched as she started her car and backed out of the parking lot. Then she was gone, leaving him hot, hard, and aching for her.
Later than night, he realized Xolani had yet to reveal why she wouldn’t date him.
9
XOLANI WASN’T MADE OF STONE. Those hugs with Barry and their time together threw her off-kilter and left her ruing the day she agreed to be his friend. Once they parted, she decided that it was better to limit their physical interactions. Their friendship was bad for her psyche.
On Tuesday, Barry called and asked her if she was free for drinks that evening. Even though she had nothing going on, she made up a cockamamie story about having to catch up with work. He asked if Wednesday was free, but fortunately, she’d be out of the city that day. Thursday, he was going to the factory, and Friday, she was going to her parents’ to spend the weekend. She ended the week without seeing him.
The next week went just as perfectly. From Monday to Friday, she was out of the office visiting car dealerships within and outside the city, so there was no need to create an excuse. They spoke on the phone a few times over the week, but that was all.
The third week was trickier because she was spending it at the office. She spent her Sunday formulating excuses that she could use to avoid him throughout the week.
But as it turned out, even the best excuses cannot beat fate. The universe conspired with their employer to force them together.
On Monday morning, Xolani’s immediate superior, Leslie Price, summoned her to her office, then dropped a surprise assignment on her.
“But I just got back.” Xolani stared at Leslie in horror. “How can you put me on such a big project?”
Leslie, a platinum blonde, heavyset, bespectacled, white woman in her forties, had just informed Xolani that she’d be working with the EV Division to launch their latest electric SUV. As far as Xolani knew, that SUV had been built by the team Barry was on. That meant that she’d be working with him for its launch.
“Because I know you can handle it, and McGowan specifically asked for you to be put on this one,” Leslie said. “He liked what you did in France. Their sales for the quarter have tripled what they did last quarter.”
Xolani wanted to protest and refuse. However, McGowan, Rayburn’s CEO, has asked for her by name. What the CEO wants, the CEO gets.
With a sigh, she asked, “Okay, when is the release?”
Leslie went on to give her the details of their assignment.
On Thursday, Xolani was a nervous mess. Still, she kept her composure as she led her team headed to the conference room where they were meeting the EV team.
There were several people waiting in the room, including the car’s chief designer. But the only person Xolani saw was Barry. He was watching her too, and with an intensity that made her insides quiver and tense.
Her entrance drew the attention of everyone else too. It was partly because she was leading the marketing team, but also because she was the only one wearing a disposable surgical mask.
“Don’t mind the mask,” she apologized after greeting them. “I have a cold and didn’t want to spread it around.”
“We appreciate that,” Gerwin Fiske, the chief designer, said. “But if you’d like to postpone the meeting until you feel better_”
“No.” Xolani waved off his concern. “Don’t worry. It’s not that bad.”
They proceeded with the meeting.
Fiske did most of the talking since he was the chief designer. Barry was more of an observer, and he really observed. He watched Xolani keenly whenever she spoke. When she wasn’t speaking, he kept stealing glances at her like he was having a hard time keep his eyes off her.
He only spoke when they needed him to explain the elements of the car’s exterior and what made it better than other cars currently on the road. Then he went right back to watching Xolani like she was the most fascinating reality show on his TV.
Xolani, on her part, tried to ignore his glances, with minimal success. It was like his body was a magnet and her eyes were metal. Her eyes kept getting pulled toward him even when she tried hard to resist. Worse, his lips would twitch sometimes as if he was trying not to smile at her, and it would stoke her already agitated senses.
Xolani hadn’t had this feeling in a while, at least not since high-school, but she recognized it. This is what it felt like to have a crush on a boy. She had a crush on Barry, her supposed friend.
Ugh! She was screwed.
The meeting ended a few hours later. By then, Xolani and her team had most of what they needed to start creating a marketing plan. Xolani said goodbye to everyone, making sure not to focus on Barry, then headed to her office. But he followed her there too.
