Nice To Meet You

Really Feeling Your Style

Jae

Lunch? I was supposed to message her?

As much as all those things sound great, what the hell is she talking about?

Sunny tilts her head to one side and narrows her eyes at me. She puts a hand on my arm and gives it a gentle squeeze. Play along, her eyes instruct.

“Oh, yeah! Yeah! I’m sorry. It’s just that Emma here said hi and we were just catching up because she said she hasn’t seen me since my first day. By the way, do you know Emma?” I ask her.

Sunny turns to Emma, the smile never leaving her face. “Of course! Emma’s been here for awhile now. Hey, Ems! How are you?” I take note that Sunny is still, somehow, holding on to my sleeve. She’s no longer squeezing my arm but I can still feel the heat in her hand seep right through my shirt and burn me.

Emma turns to Sunny and returns her smile. I’m taken aback by how Emma looks genuinely happy to see Sunny but I try my best not to let it show. “I’m good! You guys are off to lunch?” she asks. You can read on her face how she’s figuring out what Sunny and I going out for lunch together could imply.

Sunny nods her head. “Uh-huh.” There’s a split second of hesitation on her face. “Uhm, I would invite you for lunch but I promised Jae that we’ll discuss some contact center stuff so my apologies if I can’t extend the invite to you,” she adds.

I see. So it’s a working lunch.

Noted.

Emma quickly nods. “No, no. I get it. Maybe next time then?” she offers.

Sunny is quick to nod. “Sure. Sounds good. Anyway, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna take Jae with me now ‘cause you know how it is around here. If we don’t leave in the next five minutes, we’re never gonna find a decent place that’s quiet enough to have a conversation. Am I right?”

Again, Emma just nods. “I agree. Ok, get outta here, you two.” Then she turns to me and touches me on my other arm. But unlike when Sunny did it, I don’t feel anything. “I’ll see you later, Jae. Stop hiding, will you?” She looks back at us one more time, waves, then finally walks away.

And just like that, the quiet returns.

But not the peace. No. How can I have peace when Sunny’s hand is still holding on to my shirt?

Sunny must have heard my thoughts. She looks like she just realized what she’s doing and takes a step away from me. I instantly miss the feeling of having her next to me, her sweet scent surrounding me. I’m shocked by how fast I got used to enjoying that feeling.

“I was on my way back from the ladies’ when I saw you. You should’ve seen your face! So I thought I’d do my one good deed for the day and come to your rescue,” she explains.

I laugh, feeling self-conscious. “Really? Why? What was my face like?”

“I don’t know if I’m just imagining it but you looked like you were about to cry but also terrified and just a little bit… offended?”

My eyes widen and my mouth falls open. I can’t believe she just said that! Even she looks startled.

“Oh, my god? Was I wrong? Did I misread the situation? s**t. I’m so sorry! Really! I am! Lemme fix it. I’m sure I can fix it. I know Emma. She’s my friend, actually. We get along well. I’m sure there’s something that I can do to rectify the situation.” She starts pacing back and forth, already deep in thought, going through several possible options to fix what she thought she ruined, I’m sure.

I’m flattered that she’s this invested in helping me fix the problem.

But it’s also turning me on, seeing her take-charge personality in action right in front of me. Nothing is hotter than a woman who is absolutely fully capable and is not afraid to show it.

I walk in front of her to stop her pacing and worrying. “Hey, Sunny, stop,” I say in as gentle a voice as I can muster so she doesn’t think I’m giving her orders.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Was I bothering you?”

I chuckle. “No, not at all. I meant stop thinking about fixing things. You didn’t misread anything. You actually read my expression perfectly. Get out of my head, will you?” I joke.

But there’s some truth in that too. She’s been living inside my head rent-free these days. I can’t get enough of her.

“Oh. Phew! I’m so glad. I was almost panicking there for a second. I thought I ruined your moment.”

I almost snort. “You most certainly did not. There was no moment and there will not be any moments happening in the future, just to make it clear,” I say vehemently.

This makes Sunny giggle. “Ok. Understood.”

I smile at her like she just said the most impressive thing.

But then…

“Right. Well, I better get going. Now that my work here is done and you’re all good, I’m gonna leave you alone now. See you later!”

What? I thought we were having a moment!

“Wait! Sunny, wait! But I thought we were having lunch together?”

Sunny stops and stares at me like I just lost my mind. “What? I just said that to help you get out of your bind. I don’t expect you to actually have lunch with me!”

I pout. “Well, too bad. I thought your invitation was real. Are you saying you’re now taking it back?” I give her my best puppy eyes.

She stares up at me, looking as if reading me and I try to tell her through my stare how I’m dying to spend some non-work-related time with her.

She sighs. Sunny has a good heart. I can tell that she doesn’t want me to feel bad. Looks like my sad puppy eyes worked. “No, I’m not taking it back. In that case, if we’re going to have lunch, we better get going. We wanna beat the crowd.”

I grin to myself. Yes! This is my lucky day! I let her get a little ahead of me and fire a short message to Johnny.

Can’t eat with you today, dude. Going out for lunch with Sunny. ?

I’m trying to school my features so I don’t get caught with a smile from ear to ear when I hear my phone ping. I quickly check the message, knowing it’s Johnny texting me back.

You go, girl!

This time around, I fail at holding in my laughter. Sunny quickly turns towards me, a curious look on her face. “You alright?”

I quickly catch up to her and clasp my hands behind my back. The compulsion to pinch her cheeks or put my arm around her shoulders or just touch her in any way is strong. But we’re in the office and I really need to behave.

“I’m golden. I’m just so happy I get to have lunch with you,” I say. We both stop and stare at each other.

I definitely didn’t plan to say that.

We both get red in the face and I can’t tell which one between the two of us is more embarrassed.

“Stop it, Jeffrey Peters. We’re already leaving the office. I promise I’m not taking the invite back so no need to suck up to me. Goodness!”

I smile but don’t bother to respond. How can I? I didn’t lie when I said I’m happy I get to spend time with her outside of the office.

But something tells me she’s not ready to hear that yet.