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I got up and dumped the pizza box in the kitchen and turned on the tap to wash my hands. Still feeling a little hot, I rubbed the cold water on my neck and then ran my hand over my shoulders and my throat. As much as I had gotten used to being around William, being in his home felt like a new intimacy. I discreetly looked around. He cooked for himself in this kitchen – which was definitely bigger than mine – and spent time on the couch where Stan and Trisha were working. He probably…
‘Charlie.’
I jumped, splashing water everywhere. ‘You scared the shit out of me,’ I hissed, holding my hand over my heart as I turned to look at him. ‘What?’ I asked when he just stared at me from the table.
There was something in his eyes I couldn’t pinpoint. His gaze bore into mine.
‘What are you doing?’
‘William, the CEO isn’t sure about informing their users before they figure out what happened or exactly how it happened,’ Trisha called out, breaking our eye contact.
William went to her side, and I followed suit. Pepp woke up and lifted his head. I stopped at his side, leaned down and ran my still wet hands over his face. ‘Hi,’ I whispered. ‘Hi, handsome boy. Are you sleeping?’ I leaned down further and pressed a kiss on his nose and got one back myself. ‘I love you, too,’ I whispered, as he put his head back down and stretched his arms and legs.
I straightened up and got caught in William’s gaze again. He was talking into his phone, but all his attention was on me. I don’t know what came over me, but all of a sudden all I could think was walking straight towards him and kissing him. Everybody in the room could’ve just disappeared for all I cared. My breathing quickened, and I felt slightly lightheaded, lost in his gaze. I had no idea what he was thinking looking at me like that, but I felt that strong pull towards him.
Then he looked away and I could breathe normally again. I sat my ass down on the chair, next to Pepp again, and reached for my laptop and phone.
Charlie: Distract me.
Valerie: From what?
Charlie: The whole team is working in William’s apartment. We keep making eye contact and I’m struggling just a little.
Valerie: Are you insane? Keep the eye contact! Don’t look away. This is good news.
Charlie: This isn’t distracting me.
Valerie: Shhh. Go look at him a little, I’m busy.
I looked at him. Every now and then. We worked non-stop for three hours.
It was around 11 p.m. when both Trisha and William were standing over my shoulder pointing out what else I needed to add to the initial statement for the CEO. Before a journalist could hear about the story and create panic among the users, we had advised that it was important to keep their customers updated every step of the way.
‘I think this is good,’ Trisha said from my right. ‘It’s not a generic response, it expresses concern, it’s sincere, and it shows they’re working on the problem. It also lets them know their credit card information has not been stolen since it’s on a different system. I think we’ve done all we can do for tonight.’
‘I think you’re right. Okay.’ William took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, then put them back on again. And I just kept staring at the new object that looked absolutely perfect on him. ‘Okay, I’m calling it a night. We’ll meet at the office tomorrow and go through the rest of the list.’
Trisha walked away, but William was still standing on my right and was absent-mindedly petting Pepp as his tail thumped against the table’s leg. Then Rick called Pepp to his side to say goodbye – they had become fast friends in under an hour – and he ran over with an excited butt wiggle.
I was still smiling when I noticed William looking at me. ‘Something wrong?’ I asked. His eyes dipped to my lips then back up to my eyes then back to my laptop.
‘Would you mind staying another twenty or so? I think we need to add to this.’
‘Ahh…’ I checked the time on my laptop before half-turning to him again. ‘Sure,’ I mumbled. I pulled back a little as our eyes met. I cleared my throat. ‘Of course.’
I focused back on my laptop, shifted in place and tried not to fidget too much.
‘This one, Charlie,’ he said quietly right next to my ear, tapping the screen with a finger. ‘Something is missing. Try first person maybe. Then I want to add something else.’
This was the fourth time he’d leaned down to point something out to me. The first time it had happened I hadn’t reacted at all. It was good. We were all good. Rick had done the same after all, and I’d been just fine. The second time it’d happened his warm breath had hit my neck and my eyes had slightly fluttered. The third time I’d lost my voice for at least a few minutes and had just nodded and hummed my answer to whatever he was telling me.
