Vicki threw scowls at me as she stood by my bed. She had her arms tucked around her chest, her lips pursed. That dirty look was pretty menacing, but I really wasn’t ready to listen to her. I didn’t believe she wanted me to go with Ryan. She fully knew how mean and crazy he was.
“No.” I tossed the blanket off my body, stood up from my bed, then walked to the standing mirror which was placed by the wall on the left side of my room.
She grunted a little, and walked behind me. “You’re so annoying! I wish I could open your brain box, and add some senses in your head.”
“Yawn!” I sat on the stool in front of the mirror, adding a skin lotion to my face. “See, you’re young. You don’t know certain things. Like, this is ridiculous. I shouldn’t let a man control me. What am I? A toy?”
“Ugh!” She groaned. She grabbed the wooden stool behind her, sat on it, and faced me. “Please, stop. This isn’t a joke. I mean, you need to start from somewhere. First, you might lose your job. Second, this is a new step for you. Make use of this opportunity. Take this as a date between you both.”
I rolled my eyes, turned to her. “First, without me, Ryan can do nothing at the office. Therefore, he can’t fire me. Second, pi-lease, he can’t be the man for me. We’re so different.”
“Fine. But follow him there, please. Or wait, do you want me to ask Mom for a suggestion? That can—”
“Ask mom?” I scoffed. “You can’t do that, silly. She’ll be worried, knowing that a man’s forcing me to go out with him.”
She sighed, took my hand, and leaned close. “Serene, to be honest, I’ve been extremely worried about you. We all know that you aren’t so good with men. I mean, who in the world had her first boyfriend at twenty-four? No one but you!”
“Is this an insult or what?” I shot her a glare.
She chuckled. “No. That’s the reason I need you to relate with people more often. Please, go with him. I need to see you progress. Start from here.”
I took my time to think about this craziness. Being frank, she had a point. I wouldn’t find a man if I kept being stagnant. I had to make a move first. But woah, she had better know that the man I needed couldn’t be Ryan. That was far-fetched. He wasn’t my type.
I shut my eyes, and exhaled hard. “Fine, I’ll go with him. Happy now?”
“Great!” She exclaimed. “Now, you have sense.”
“Pardon?”
She hopped from her seat. “Nothing. So, first, I’ll have to get you something good to wear. And, we have to ensure you get ready in a short while. You’ve got about an hour only, you know? We have to hurry up.”
“This is stupid,” I mumbled at myself, stood up, then walked to my wardrobe with her.
I guessed I had no choice. After all, I would save my job, and might even find a lover tonight. Crazy, right? Absolutely.
***
I felt so uncomfortable standing in front of this store. In particular, it was because of the make up I was wearing. It seemed too much for me. I wasn’t this makeup type of girl. I preferred being natural. Well, all thanks to Vicki for making me wear it. Besides that, this wine colored, evening gown seemed too fitted.
Could this man just get his ass here? People were staring at me!
“Hey.” Definitely, his voice startled me.
I flipped my wavy hair past my shoulder, looked at him with terror hovering in my eyes. Those gunmetal blue eyes felt like a torture. He was torture himself.
Undeniably, he was very cute tonight. He was in blank chinos pants, a dark blue shirt, and brown lace up shoes. His hair was styled in classic taper cut, and I really couldn’t help but admire him.
Noticing I had stared at him for too long, I blinked like an idiot. “Oh. Mr. Arthur. You’re here.”
“Obviously.” He waved his hand in the air. “Were you sleeping while staring at me?”
I laughed weirdly. “No. I was only staring at the block behind you.”
He shook his head at me. “You’re always weird.”
“Donno.” I shrugged.
We were silent for a while. I knew he was scrutinizing me, which was surely uncomfortable. Fine, I wasn’t so curvy, but I knew I looked like a pretty model. So, why the heck were his eyes examining my hips? What was he looking at? I hoped he wasn’t going to ask for something else? He had better know that I wasn’t ill mannered.
“You look…” He moved his eyes to my face, twitched his lips sideways, stepped close. “… okay. Who did your makeup? Wait, did you really hire a makeup artist, only because you’ll be my date tonight? Tell me, do you have some interest in me?”
“No!” I choked out. I squeezed my face like I was irritated, wondering what the heck was going on with him. I narrowed my eyes at him, linked my arms on my chest. “Or tell me, do you have some interest in me instead? It always seems like you need my attention.”
He didn’t reply.
After a short while of being silent, he threw his head back, burst out laughing, laughing like a lunatic. His hands tugged against his belly, and I just stood like a frozen bird, my eyebrows raised at him. Of course, I was surprised to see my boss act like an idiot.
“I don’t get what’s going on,” I marked out.
“My gosh.” He stopped laughing. He tapped my shoulder, smiling like a crazy person. “Woman, you’re not even close to being my type. You think I have some interest in you? Such dumb thoughts.”
I scoffed. I found his words really offensive. Did he have to come out that straight? How rude of him.
“Yeah, whatever. You’re also not my type, Ryan.” I tried to be oblivious to his words, though it hurt.
He huffed, his eyebrows raised at me. “Wait, did you just call me by my first name? I’m still your boss, okay?”
“Um…” I took a step closer, stared directly into his eyes. “For the night, I’ll call you Ryan. After all, I’m your date.”
He stared blankly at me. Why the heck was he acting confused?
“Really?” A weird smile plastered on his lips. “Does this—”
“Let’s go now, Ryan. You don’t wanna make us late, Ryan.” I had always wanted to call him by his first name, so this was an opportunity. He didn’t deserve to be called “Mister”. He was such an ass.
“Okay.” He nodded.
We hopped into his car. As soon as he started it, I tapped his arm. I really felt like lashing out my frustration. I would never have imagined that I would be my boss’ date at a business dinner. So annoying.
“You need something?” He glanced at me.
I nodded swiftly. “I need you to drive me there as soon as possible, Ryan. You don’t want me to pee in your car, right? Ryan.”
“You’re crazy.” He ignored me, and only began driving.
“You’re crazy too,” I muttered.
“Heard that,” he said.
I bulged my eyes open, and just turned to the view out the window. I had to remember that he was my boss. My job was in his hands.
I sighed out loud, hoping that everything would go well.
***