Page 6 of Havoc and Humor
“Delivery should be here in about twenty minutes,” Mark said. “John will bring it up for us.”
“Great.”
Mark lived on the twenty-fifth floor. His apartment had a fantastic view of the city and also a view of the office building across the street where we worked. I often wondered if it was even worth it for him to have an apartment with how much time he spent in the office. He really ought to just have a skywalk built between the two buildings. It would save on his commute time.
I was comfortable enough in Mark’s space that when we entered his apartment, I hung my coat up next to his. I kicked off my shoes and placed them on the shoe rack.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, I better not. Although… if you have some of that flavoured water that I had the last time I was here…”
“Ah yes, the strawberry-watermelon flavoured one? I do indeed.”
“Perfect.” It must also be his favorite since he always seemed to have it on hand when I was here.
He filled a glass of plain water for himself and the flavoured water for me.
“You aren’t going to have some?”
He wrinkled his nose. “No, I don’t like the stuff.”
“Then why keep it?”
He shrugged.
He didn’t keep that on handfor me, did he? I mean, it was possible. I kept my thoughts to myself, deciding it was best not to even ask. There was too much going on in my head to start wondering about Mark.
I went to the window and stared out at the night skyline. The stars were just a faint glow, barely visible unless you squinted. It was pretty, but not nearly as pretty as what it looked like when outside the city limits. One of the last trips I had taken was to a mountaintop resort where we had a work retreat. Watching the sunset over the mountains while the snow fell around me ruined me for all other sunsets. It wasn’t because had been sitting next to me the entire evening.
“Maybe I need a vacation,” I said.
Mark came and stood beside me. “Not sure that your boss will grant you that.”
I snorted. “Not sure that he has a choice. I have earned some time off, I think. More than earned it.”
“But that doesn’t mean your boss can get along without you.”
“You would be just fine if I moved to a different position.” I didn’t even know why I said it. It wasn’t like I was considering moving jobs. The temptation was there, because if Mark wasn’t my boss…
The air grew thick with tension. I didn’t want to move positions, but the thought had crossed my mind. Of course, working with Mark was a temptation that I did not have an easy time with. And now that I was single, there was nothing stopping me from going after what I wanted.
I knew Mark well enough to know that he wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. The sexual tension between us wasn’t one-sided. Evan had pointed it out to me once, and since then, I’d kept track and noticed the ways in which Mark watched me. The interest went both ways. The only thing in our way now was the fact that we worked together.
A knock at the door had me jumping away from him as if we were caught doing something wrong.
“That was quick,” Mark said. “Must be a slow night.”
He went and got our food while I went to the kitchen and grabbed plates. Together, we sat down at his table and ate. It was comfortable. Almost normal, like we were here living in domestic bliss. Not that I knew much about domestic bliss.
I should’ve cared more about the fact that I had just ended a year-long relationship and I had to find a new place to live. I should’ve cared more that I had been cheated on. But I couldn’t.I didn’t care much at all. I hadn’t cared for Jeremiah in a long time. It wasn’t fair to either of us that we’d stayed together as long as we had.
Hell, I hadn’t even had a meal like this with my own boyfriend in months. The two of us had been like ships passing in the night for quite a while.
“With the Simps report done, what’s next on the docket?”
Mark leaned back in his chair. “You don’t really want to talk about work, do you?”
“Of course not,” I said, “but I figured it was a safe topic.”
