CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Finn and I set up the large dishes of various pasta noodles and sauce containers for those employees who will eat in the building for today’s buffet style lunch. Finn places the final custom ordered dish on an empty desk and leaves them with extra napkins.
“You’ll learn everyone’s needs once you start placing the lunch orders.” His words sound innocent, but he stresses the word needs a bit longer, and it leaves me worried there’s more to his casual comment.
I crumple up the now empty bag and walk it to the large trash can on the side wall. Above the table a clock like you find in every high school classroom ticks away the seconds past 12:15. We didn’t deliver a meal to Trey’s office although Finn pointed it out as we walked by. The wooden door was sealed shut and the blinds tightly closed over the big window beside it. Grant never walked out my way this morning and Mari hasn’t either. I check his still closed door again and tell my brain I don’t care who’s in there with him.
“Are you planning to eat with us today?” Finn startles me with his question.
I should stay and eat with everyone else so I get to know people, but Trey and I were supposed to go somewhere fifteen minutes ago. The fact he hasn’t left his office or looked for me bruises my ego more than I want to admit to anyone this afternoon, let alone his best friend. I’d rather run and hide somewhere I’m not faced with Trey’s closed door three feet away.
“Um.” My eyes drift to Trey’s door one last time. “I plan to run down the street and grab a sandwich. I’ll eat here tomorrow for sure,” I promise Finn and walk back to the lobby where I stored my purse earlier.
Two blocks down is a cute bakery with cupcakes and cookies in the window. I’ve stepped to the side and found a spot at the end of the line on the street before my mind registers the choice. I could use some chocolate right about now.
The line isn’t long and most people have huddled near the door to try and get closer to the warmth inside. I left my light jacket at the desk and don’t notice the slight chill until the fifth person with gloves on walks by me on the street. I guess Aspen isn't alone in her hatred of the cold. What will happen if it ever snows?
Ten minutes later I’m sitting at an unoccupied chair in the back of the café with my back to the window. Because you never know when you’ll need music, I pull a pair of headphones from my purse, plug them into my phone and open the player. The last song I'd listened to finishes and Daughtry’s song “Over You” blasts into my ears.
The semi gloomy song makes me smile as I sing along with the lyrics in my head and think of Trey for each and every one. When the song ends, I play it again and then one more time as I finish my second red velvet cupcake.
I allow the song to switch as I walk back to the large cobalt blue building I now call work. One of my newest song additions, “Here’s to the Zeros” from Marianas Trench plays to help lighten my mood. Aspen walked around the apartment singing the catchy lyrics for hours Sunday. Three repeats later and I decided I needed to download it too. It’s quirky.
Michael, the intern Finn asked to watch the front desk while I was gone, stands as soon as my toes cross over the threshold.
“Thank God you’re back. He’s crazy,” he sputters and then shoots out the door without any accompanying details.
I’m halfway across the lobby ready to throw my purse back in the lockable desk drawer when I’m stopped in my tracks with one simple word.
“Simone.”
I spin on my short heels to find the voice but don’t see anyone with my roaming glance.
“Over here, Simone.” The second time I peg it for Trey without hesitation. It came from my left. I slowly turn not ready for this confrontation and see him leaning against the lobby closet where people leave their coats. When Finn gave me the tour it was empty. Now it seems to have acquired half of Trey’s body. The other is half perched on this side of the door and it doesn’t look happy.
I pick up my advance to the desk and try to pretend I’m uninterested. “Trey, did you have a good lunch?” I use my shoe to open the bottom desk drawer and drop my purse in before using my foot to close it again.
Trey doesn’t answer and I look up to see him in the same spot, but his eyes narrow to become more menacing. “Come here.”
“In the closet?” A hand flies to my mouth and I stick my index finger between my teeth biting on the end of the nail. It’s a nervous habit I thought I'd broken myself of years ago. “No.”
His eyebrows raise up at my refusal. “Simone. Closet. Now.”
This time I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him in defiance. The silent struggle goes on between us for two years, or maybe twenty seconds, it’s hard to know when you’re in the moment and Trey Good is staring you down. When I realize he won't budge and one of us needs to be the adult here, I uncross my arms and huff but start the walk to the closet.
My steps are slow and Trey decides I’ve taken enough time. When his long arms can reach me, he pulls me into the small room and closes the door behind him. I’m pushed and my back lands against the wall before Trey takes both hands and cups my face.
“What are you do—” my question’s cut off when his lips land on mine in a passionate kiss. My breath catches between his lips and I grab on to both his shoulders keeping him where he is.
His knee comes between my legs and he leans in closer so our bodies touch. A chest thumps and I have trouble deciding if it’s mine or his. A moment later the small detail doesn’t matter as his tongue coaxes my mouth open with a soft push and he teases the inside until I join him in exploration. It’s a kiss or a claiming, but either way I’m helpless to stop him.
My head’s still spinning at this change of direction when his hands slip under my pink blouse and begin to travel upward. He lifts his mouth from mine and his first few breaths are ragged. My swollen lips and mind battle each other. One wants him to get back to the kissing and the other demands an explanation.
My brain wins the struggle. “What the fuck, Trey?”
His eyes meet mine and his lip lifts up in a half grin. “God, I love it when you swear.” His head lowers the few inches that separate us and he places two small, quick kisses to my tingling lips. As quickly as he was on me, he pushes away from our place by the wall. "Don’t distract me, Simone. We have topics to discuss. Where were you?”
“Where was I? Where were you?” My arms cross against my chest. The pleasure of the previous moment dwindles but isn’t lost as my heart rate slows. "Oh right you were with Mari in your office…with the door closed.” I don’t know where this sudden ability to be sassy comes from, but I plan to keep it.
