Page 10 of Office Mistakes

Chapter 5

Audra handed Charlie a large mug filled with steaming hot chocolate and topped with a small mountain of whipped cream.

He sipped, and his eyes lit up. “This is the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.”

“It’s my grandmother’s recipe,” Audra told him, taking a drink from her own mug. “Leonidas chocolate, whole milk, a dash of cinnamon, and always whip your own cream.”

Charlie grinned, gently running his thumb across the tip of her nose. “Whipped cream.”

“Oh. Ha. Thanks.” She moved out of touching range, mainly because she found herself wanting to touch him.

Sensing her sudden skittishness, Charlie made a lighthearted comment about the law firm. Audra replied in kind and talking became easier. They joked and laughed as they sat on the sofa and took their time draining their mugs.

Until Charlie made the mistake of mentioning the upcoming meetings they both had with the partners.

Audra stiffened again, and Charlie could almost see her defenses going up.

He sighed. “Audra, this is silly. So what if we’re up for the same promotion? It doesn’t bother me.”

“It’s not silly,” she snapped. “It doesn’t bother me.”

“The hell it doesn’t.” Torn between bafflement and amusement, Charlie tunneled his fingers through his hair. “Is it because we work together? You know there’s no actual policy against that.”

“No,” Audra agreed. “But people will still talk, still pass judgement. Especially if one of us has authority over the other. We both know that you or I will get the promotion.”

“That’s just an excuse.” Edging towards anger, Charlie stood, shoving his hands into his pockets. “What about our chemistry? Our feelings? What about Friday night?”

Defensive now, and struggling not to show her true feelings, Audra slammed her mug onto the table and stood. “Friday night was just us scratching a mutual itch. Just us finally getting it out of our systems, out of the way.”

“Bullshit,” Charlie tossed back. “It’s still here; we’re just back to dancing around it instead of talking through it like adults.”

“You said it yourself,” Audra said flatly. “It was an office mistake.”

Stung, Charlie took a step back. “I know you feel something. What I don’t know is why you want to put on this ice maiden act whenever the subject comes up. I’ll see myself out.”

“Thank you again for the teacup,” Audra replied in a carefully controlled voice. “Merry Christmas.”

Charlie’s response was to close the door with a little more force than necessary.

Alone and suddenly cold, Audra rested he forehead against a windowpane and watched the snow drift down.

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