Page 84 of Some Things Never Change

“My husband’s picking me up and got caught in traffic on the way here,” she said. “There was an accident on the freeway, so he had to take a detour on the small roads. Anyway, about your bruises.” She glanced around as if our coworkers were still there and then eyed my knee curiously as I sat on my swivel chair.

While everyone at work seemed to have thought that Andy was always my boyfriend, our family still didn’t know we were together. Although both Shoua and Cindy followed each other on social media and often chatted with one another, I was a little glad that they weren’t super close. I would have been worried about Cindy slipping and telling Shoua the truth before we could go back home to tell our families in person. We planned to tell them when we went back home for Mother’s Day, which was in a few weeks.

I admitted to Cindy that Andy had been the best partner I have ever been with, both emotionally and physically, without going into too many specifics. I mentioned I had never been this emotionally secure or as sexually bold as I have with Andy in any relationship before and, as my good friend, she was over the moon for me. Now, I regret it a bit.

She walked to my side and leaned in. “When are you two going to take up my tip about the ninth floor VIP bathroom?” she whispered slyly. “I’m waiting for my free lunch, you know?”

Heat immediately crept up my face, and Cindy giggled. “You two could consider it tonight.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. “There’s practically no one here now, anyway. It’d be perfect.”

“No,” I managed to say firmly.

She shrugged. “Whatever you say. But even I could sense there’s a strong sexual tension between the two of you, despite being at work. Maybe you two could blow it off one of these days.”

I was never one to really talk about the details of my sex life to anyone, even to Cindy, who’s not as shy as me to disclose that stuff. Those are intimate moments shared between my partner and I and I would like to keep it that way.

My bruises definitely came from whatever we were doing the other night on the floor of the living room. Not from the gym. Our hunger for each other was insatiable. We were always pulling each other’s clothes off whenever appropriate. I probably lost a few good pounds since we got together more than a month ago because of our strenuous activities together.

It was no surprise Cindy caught onto the desire Andy and I felt for each other, knowing the type of observant person she is. But I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of knowing how correct she was.

“Not today,” I said, covering my ears and shaking my head. “Go away, little devil. Stop whispering these things into my ear.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Fine. Are you almost done with work? I wouldn’t want you staying here this late by yourself.”

“I was actually about to head out as well.” I straightened the file I was looking for on my desk.

“I’ll wait for you. We can head out together.”

I gave Andy a quick call that I was done and quickly finished up some other things before calling it a night. He arrived on our floor just as I was locking up the office. He gave me a beaming, wide grin. But he threw a curious glance toward Cindy as we stood in front of our company doors.

“What, Cindy?” he asked with a small laugh. “You look like you have something to say.”

She raised her eyebrows and leaned in conspiratorially. "Just telling Julie here that the two of you should consider testing out that ninth floor bathroom since no one’s here now.”

Andy's eyebrows raised in amusement as he tipped his head toward me. "Oh," he said, grinning. “Is that right?”

I rolled my eyes and punched him lightly in the arm. "Ignore her," I said, but couldn't help the blush that bloomed on my cheeks.

"Well, thanks for the offer, Cindy. But it’s probably for the best if we don’t. We wouldn't want to get caught in the act, now would we?" He turned to wink at me with a playful twinkle in his eyes.

“Yup, that’s my cue to leave,” said Cindy, pivoting toward the elevators. “See you both tomorrow!”

Andy chuckled and wrapped his arm around my waist. "Come on, let's get out of here, too," he said, steering me toward the elevator after Cindy.

As we stepped into our own elevator while she took another, I couldn't help but feel a pang of desire as Andy's hand squeezed my hip. We were alone in the elevator, and I was suddenly very aware of the sexual tension that always seemed to simmer between us.

I wanted to kiss him and knew it was best to just hold his hand instead. Hand holding was such a mundane thing, but I still couldn’t help but feel giddy about it. Once we were out of the elevator, we walked toward his car and he opened the door for me. His eyes still had that mischievous gleam from earlier when he turned to me. I laughed and leaned across to give him a quick kiss.

Throughout dinner, my eyes naturally zeroed in on Andy’s as we sat in a rooftop restaurant overlooking the amazing city view. The sun set gloriously in the west and framed Andy in golden light like a mystical god. I smiled. The dimming soft sun rays kissed the pretty boy, whose middle name literally means gold one last time before dipping below the horizon.

“Kou,” I called out his Hmong middle name gently.

Andy was already watching me with his gold and green flecked hazel green eyes. They twinkled brightly as he smiled back before he playfully arched an eyebrow at me.

“Why are you middle naming me? Did I do something wrong?” he asked.

The only one who ever really called him and his brother by their middle names was their maternal grandmother. She was the one who gave the twins their Hmong names—Kou and Nhia—which is gold and silver in our mother tongue.

“Well, that is what you are, a sparkling pretty boy with golden emeralds as eyes.” I laughed, playing with his fingers intertwined in mine.

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