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𝘞𝘙𝘌𝘕 𝘑𝘈𝘔𝘌𝘚
BEING HELD BY RHYS MOORE IS the warmest place on the Earth.
With his big arms wrapped around my torso, and his cheek pressed on top of my head, while my face is smooshed against his hard chest, my arms around his neck. It’s the best place i’ve ever been. Even if we’re in an elevator.
After the meeting had finished, both Rhys and I exited the room and walked to the elevator in silence. Then when we stepped into the elevator and the door closed, his arms were around me.
I was so happy that I could’ve jumped onto him. But I kept myself calm and decided to hug him back like a sane human being.
“You did amazing, Miss James.” He whispers into my hair. I squeeze him a little more.
“You didn’t do so bad yourself, Mr. Moore.” I pull away from his chest so that I can look at his face. But when I do, all my air is stolen from my lungs.
He’s looking at me with a certain look. One that I know, one that i’ve never felt before. It’s scary. So scary. But I can’t stop looking at him, too.
My eyes drop down to his lips. His plump, smiling lips. My heart stutters a bit. I’m leaning in when I feel the strain on my cheeks. I’m smiling. I’m smiling at Rhys.
The elevator door opens.
We pull apart and fix our suits. Lucky there’s no one there. But I can feel Rhys looking at me like he’s never stopped. Like he didn’t care that the door opened.
I clear my throat and walk out of the elevator. My heels make my walk more enhanced. Rhys behind me makes me feel bigger.
When we’re outside, Rhys grabs my wrist. His thumb automatically rubbing against my pulse.
“We still on for dinner?” He asks.
“Could we do lunch?” I tilt my head and Rhys nods.
I remind myself this is not awkward. This is not awkward. This is not awkward. Yes, we maybe out, yes it was fantastic, yes I want to do it again, but no I won’t. We’re keeping it professional.
__________
I flop onto my bed after I get home. First the presentation took up more of my energy then i’d like to admit. Second, the whole elevator thing. And third, the lunch.
Lunch was nice. I don’t really know how else to explain it. We talked about the presentation. He threw out more compliments. We ate our food. He dropped me off. Now i’m home.
Things feel…normal with Rhys now. He’s still cocky and i’m still mad that he gets paid more then me, but I can deal with him. I like dealing with him.
And by the way he looks at me, the things he says and does to me- i’d say he likes dealing with me too. So we like dealing with each other-big deal. It’s not like i’m going to fall in love with him.
I call Lex.
__________
It’s felt like years since the presentation, and there’s still no word on the final decision. It’s like i’m a ticking-time bomb. Every second I don’t know what they decided, I lose a little more of my sanity.
“Stop thinking about work and eat your noodles.” Lex snaps her fingers in front of my face.
I grab my chopsticks from the table and twirl my noodles around them. Then I maneuver the noodles in between my lips. Lex forced me to do a face mask with her-but I can’t open my mouth all the way with it on.
“Ah shit. I got a flake of charcoal in my soup.” I say looking down at my soup, a small piece of my face mask floating around in it.
“You can eat it. Charcoal’s good for you.” Lex slurps her own soup from beside me.
I roll my eyes and continue to eat my noodles like i’m made out of plastic. As i’m chewing them, my phone rings. I’m not going to answer it until Lex looks over at it and claps her hands.
“Your boyfriends calling.” She picks up my phone and throws it at me.
When I look down at the contact name it says ‘Moose’. I choke on my noodles and Lex hits my back. I cough some more before Lex shouts at me.
“Answer it! It’s gonna go to voicemail!”
I answer the phone with a raspy, creaky, “Hello?”
“Hey. You okay?” Rhys’s voice travels through my phone.
“Yeah. All good.” I look over at Lex to see her biting her nails.
“Alright. Well I just got a call from Fernando.” My heartbeat speeds up. “He has the presentation results. He wants to see us right now.” I just now register how heavy he’s breathing.
“Right now? It’s like eight at night.” I put my noodles down and get up from the couch.
“Right now.” It sounds like Rhys is leaving somewhere because there’s a lot of commotion coming from his end.
“Okay. I’ll be there in thirty minutes tops.” I’m all the way at Lex’s apartment, and i’m wearing pajamas -so i’ll have to stop by my house to change.
“He wants us there like now. I mean I told him I was at the gym and I needed to go home to change but he said he didn’t care.” The gym, that’s why he’s breathing heavy.
“Oh okay, then i’ll be there soon.” I tell him.
“Alright, see you soon.” Then I hang up.
Lex is looking at me with wide eyes. “What’d he say?”
“The presentation results are in and I need to go now.” I look down at my clothes and cringe.
Lex picks up clothes from her chair and throws them at me. “These are my gym clothes. They’re clean. Quickly change.”
I change quickly, scrub the face mask off and slip on my shoes as Lex squeals.
“Okay. You got this. It’s gonna be great. You’ll do great, love you.” She waves to me as I close her door.
__________
Walking into my place of employment in leggings and sneakers would have been something i’d laugh at a year ago, but now i’m just a bag of nerves.
Fernando wanted us here, now, and he didn’t even have time for Rhys to change. So this can’t be good.
I grip my steering wheel extra tight as I stare at the building. This is it. This is the moment i’ve been waiting for since I was assigned the project. The contract could be passed, or it couldn’t. Did I want to know?
A quiet knock on my car window had me reaching for my pocket knife until I looked up to see Rhys. He had on a black sweatshirt, and his cheeks were flushed.
I get out of my car and lock my car after me. Then I look up at Rhys. He’s also wearing grey sweatpants and sneakers. Yup, he did come from the gym.
He’s looking over my outfit just like I did his. Then his throat bobs a bit. We’re both nervous.
“Let’s head inside.” He starts walking toward the building while I follow.
I breathe in and out. You got this. It’s gonna be great. You’ll do great. I tell myself. Just like Lex had.
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