Another day at the office, another day spent dreaming of something better. I look out at the darkening Seattle skyline and wish I could be washed away with the torrential rain, away to somewhere less alone.
I guess that's not going to happen.
I mean I've been alone for the 21 years I've been on this earth.
Don't get me wrong I've had the chance to experience mediocre lust, definitely not love, not on my part anyway. But, when you grow up in the fantasy of romance novels; Mediocre just doesn't fit the bill. And anything less than butterfly-inducing, palm-sweating, overwhelming love isn't something I want in my life.
So here I am, stuck in my cubicle at work watching the rain drops sliding intricate trails down the window panes, just wishing that today would be the day that he comes into my life.
I've been wishing and hoping for my entire life that he'd make an appearance and give me a reason as to why I've waited so long. I'm not unhappy and I'm not looking for someone to take me out of my life but someone to be the better half of me. For me to love so deeply and vice versa, that's what I long for.
"Bella? Hello?... Is anyone home?" Mike, my co-worker stands beside me waving his hand in front of my face.
"Yeah, sorry I guess I was kind of out of it there" I say smiling tightly at him.
Mike, although a sweet guy, acts much like a lapdog constantly wanting attention and more often than not, has his nose stuck in the biscuit bin. Over the past few months that I have worked here, Mike has taken to attempting conversation at least 5 times a day.
Although this has been quite nice to break up the monotonous work day, I haven't entertained the attention. After a major falling out last year with my best friend of 20 years, Jacob Black, concerning him believing I was leading him on and it turning out to be unrequited love. This incident has made me highly aware of my actions and has put me off pursuing any kind of friendship concerning a male since.
Mike chuckles "It's ok Bella, I can't blame you for dreaming of faraway lands. I mean this isn't exactly riveting work!"
I force a laugh "Yh you could say that again" I turn back to my computer screen pretending to go through 'highly important' emails in hopes that Mike would get the message and leave.
I guess that was wishful thinking!
Mike turns and sits on my desk facing me with that huge showing-all-teeth, smile of his.
"Have you heard the latest news, Bella?"
"Hmm?" I direct at him without losing eye contact with my completely uninteresting computer screen.
Mike leans forward closing the much need personal space between him and I. I pull back slightly but he just gets closer, thinking the worst it's a relief when he starts whispering in my ear.
"We've been bought out. The new CEO starts today and everyone downstairs is going crazy with his arrival"
This was news to me, I knew the company was going downhill since I started back in February, but I thought we would be seeing redundancies way before we saw an entire sell. You see, the company was owned by the Hunter family, who founded and built the accountancy firm from the bottom up. James Senior had left the company to his son James Junior in 2007, just as the economic recession hit. Unfortunately, within the accounting business, if your clients don't have the income coming in neither do you. To combat this, James began dealing in dodgy trading's such as illegal offshore bank accounts linked to drug money and extortion.
This all led up to last week, when the FBI made a surprise visit to the office demanding to see James. As I work on the top floor with James as an intern to his general assistant, I witnessed first-hand James sneaking out through the back entrance stairwell whilst his assistant fumbled with the phone to call through to his office. It seemed James Hunter was about to be caught out, however it appears he's dodged a hefty bullet by selling the family business.
But, it makes me wonder what kind of person would have the finances and expertise to buy an international multi-billion dollar business that has been linked to such immoral dealings- clearly someone who is either an absolute business genius or someone in way over their head.
"Wow, I guess I'd better get back to work. You know make a good first impression and all that!" I replied to Mike, hoping he'd take that as his cue to leave.
"Uh.. Yeah. Good point Bella, wouldn't want to piss off the hotshot CEO!" Mike stammered, leaving with a wink thrown over his shoulder to me. I shuddered, God I hope he doesn't think anything will happen between us. I'd better make sure I don't run into him in the break room any more.
The rest of the day dragged even with the mountain of work that the general assistant Jessica needed me to climb. Jessica was a hard-working assistant but her moral compass was somewhat screwed. Due to the type of position she is in she frequently accompanies high powered men to their meetings with James in order to take notes and "generally assist" – no shit given the name. However, this means she is able to take advantage of such opportunities by flirting shamelessly with these mostly married men. The word gold digger doesn't even come close and I'm sure her interest in the job position did not come from wanting to simply learn how the business is run from the top.
Anyway, due to Jessica's work ethic it means I too am bogged down with work most days and rarely see the sun when I leave work . Today was such a day that Jessica decided to bestow upon me a massive file of accounts that needed to be sorted into date and company order. Thus leading me to leave at gone 11pm when the office is completely devoid of any life at all. Still with no sign of the new CEO and owner I packed up my things and headed home to an empty apartment where the only thing calling to me was my bed and not the warm embrace I so desperately wanted.
After leaving the warm elevator and hitting the cold wind of Seattle even though it was June it still held that chill in the air. Wrapping my coat around me I ran to my rather crappy truck, the only vehicle an intern-ship could afford me, and started the engine pulling out of the parking garage straight away. The streets at this time on a weekday were deserted with only the quiet tones on the radio to keep me company on my 20 minute drive home. Thus it was my surprise that a pair of bright white headlights hit my rear view mirror as soon as I pulled on to the road.
Normally this would be of no consequence to me, but I had the strangest of feelings come over me. Like I was anticipating something to happen, but not something bad, no something good and exciting. I blamed it on the sleep deprivation and my lack of excitement in my life. I mean there is no reason why I should be excited about a car sharing the same road as me, I do live in a busy city after all.
It appeared as though the car was keeping an acceptable distance away from my truck, thus meaning I couldn't identify the owner. As I took the right turn off of 5th Avenue to take me to the highway, I watched the car take the same turn. At this angle I could the car was a very expensive completely blacked out Audi A7 and the owner appeared to have a very large expensive looking wristwatch on the hand holding the steering wheel.
Hmmm I pondered what someone with that kind of wealth would be doing at this time on the streets of Seattle. But then again I'm sure Seattle's elite must work hard for their money, probably an unfortunate business owner just trying to make it back home before his wife goes to bed. Oh what I'd give to have someone to come home to like that.
As I meandered my way to the highway and the open road, I pushed my foot as far as it would go on the accelerator, willing my truck to go at a reasonable speed. What struck me as odd was that the clearly powerful car behind me chose to stay behind again and not simply overtake.
For the entire drive home the Audi quietly drove behind me, not coming closer, nor further away from my truck. This probably should have alarmed me, but as I said before this overwhelming feeling that something better was on the horizon stopped me from putting 911 on speed dial. As I took the exit off the highway and came to my apartment block trying to find an open parking space the Audi was still behind me. I slowed right down, parking my car in one of the bays and took one last look in my mirror, and that's when I saw them.
Two beautifully, mesmerizing green eyes staring right back at me, completely illuminated by the street light as the Audi drove past. I was transfixed, spell bound even! I don't know how eyes can shine like that in such dark lighting but these appeared to have a light source of their own entirely.
And then it was gone… it seemed out of thin air it had appeared and disappeared.
Shaking my head, thinking that I must have finally reached crazy with the amount of loneliness I felt, I gathered my handbag and headed into my apartment. For once, I didn't dream of a completely faceless man by my side, no I dreamt of pure green eyes…