I let out a long, deep sigh, as I rifled through the papers scattered across my desk. It was times like these that I wished I were one of the organised people. Not the one overly involved in her work who, when it came to it, could never find the one piece of paper that they had been working on for a week, minutes before possibly the most important meeting of the month. We have a lot of meetings.
The fact that my mind had been wandering onto other things all day was probably not much help either. He hasn't called. It's been a week, and nothing. To be perfectly frank, it doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that I have been thinking about him, more than I've been thinking about the project that I'm working on. My thoughts have been totally consumed by Danny. We had a good evening, far better than expected, but I really did not anticipate the constant struggle to get him out of my head.
I stood back from my desk, in an attempt to focus on the job at hand.
"Oh fucking typical." I cursed loudly as I noticed the piece of paper on the floor. The one that I'd turned my already untidy desk, upside down to look for.
"Well, If I'd have known I'd have that much of an effect on you…" the voice trailed off.
I spun round violently on the spot. A perfectly formed being stood in the doorway to my office smiling smugly. Corey. God I hated that smug little smile of his.
"How can I help you Corey?" I smiled back at him, unable to stop myself.
"Brooke, it's always a pleasure, so nice to see such a fine specimen of a female in this male dominated work environment…"
He just couldn't resist the cringe worthy compliments could he? It never failed.
He entered the office, standing uncomfortably close to me, "We're going in now, I think Bradley wants a quick run through before boss-man joins us."
I smiled sweetly back at him, grabbing my bag, and papers.
"Thank you Corey. I'll…" my speech was interrupted by a vibration from inside my bag. I frantically rummaged through the cavernous space, and pulled out my mobile.
I glanced at the number flashing on the screen, quickly realising that I didn't recognise it.
"Excuse me, I'll be there in a minute" I ushered Corey quickly out of my office, and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Oh, hi. Is that Brooke?"
"Yep" I was getting impatient here. Don't call my number, and then ask if it's me. Especially right now.
"Oh hi. It's Danny from the bar the other night?" my heart plummeted to my feet, slowly rising and beating aggressively in my throat. Bad, bad timing.
"Hi!" my voice emerged far more enthusiastically than I'd hoped.
"Yeah, Hi. I was wondering if you wanted to go for a drink later on?"
"I'm sorry, Danny, now is a really bad time, I'm about to go into a meeting. Could you call back a bit later? I'm so sorry"
"Oh," I heard his voice drop and felt a small pang of guilt shoot through me, yet I didn't have time to do anything about the situation.
"Yeah, sure, speak to ya later then."
I hung up the phone without even saying goodbye. Tossed it back into my bag, and quickly made my way to the boardroom, to be met by a heckling crowd of colleagues.
I slumped down into the nearest available seat, the one next to Corey, and proceeded to arrange my papers on the desk in front of me.
He turned to face me, leaning into me slightly, breaking that personal space barrier.
"So, booty call was it? You got me outta there pretty quick!" He looked smugly over at me, with a raised eyebrow, his remark followed by wolf whistles and obscene comments from my colleagues. Being the only female in an office full of heterosexual males had some serious downsides.
I managed to laugh off the taunting, and busied myself with flicking through my work, and scribbling notes before the meeting began. Taking a brief glance around me I noticed that Corey was still staring at me, with that same expression glued to his face, in anticipation of a reply to his question.
"Oh, come on Corey." I looked at him, beginning to get annoyed. It happened every time. He didn't want me, but as soon as the slight possibility that some one else did, he had to know about it. Why does he send these mixed signals and why do I always fall for them? I need to get over him, two years is just way to long for this to go on. Get it together Brooke.
"What? Come on, was it a guy? Have you been seeing someone? Casual thing? Serious? Or was it just a booty call?" he raised an eyebrow again, giving me that same smug look.
"Shut up Corey. It was no one. If you must know - some guy I met in a bar a few nights ago, it meant nothing, he was nothing, I gave him the brush off. Happy now?" God, why did I feel the need to explain myself to him, it was none of his business. Why was I even giving the slimy git the time of day? I guess it was just the effect he had on me. I couldn't shake it off.
I rocked back on my chair, gently biting my lip. For some reason my two-second conversation with Danny was running around my head on a conveyor belt. I wondered why he'd waited so long to call, and smiled as I remembered he wanted to see me again, and then I thought about how rude I'd been to him. I didn't even say goodbye, or give him a chance to speak. I wouldn't be surprised if he never called again, taking my call as a total brush off – which it kind of was, but unexpectedly I quite liked the distraction. I'd be a bit disappointed if I never heard from him again.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the meeting came to a close. Four hours. Four hours we had been discussing this job. It was a successful exercise though. My ideas were taken on board, and I was given the lead on the entire project. It was a huge responsibility, but one that I was ready for. I had the time to focus my thoughts on this, and only this, although it was going to be a lot of work.
I slammed my papers onto my desk and smiled to myself as I looked around my office. It was gonna be yet another late one. I was determined to impress with my work.
I took a sip from my third cup of coffee of the evening, my stomach growling loudly and bringing me back to reality. It was gone midnight. Time had yet again been pulled from under my feet; I gazed around, to see a dark, and empty building. My head was thumping, and I was starving. I reached into my bag to grab my phone and call for a takeaway, and then it hit me. Danny. I'd been a bitch, yet again and given him a total brush off. I winced as I slowly turned the phone over, letting it light up to display an empty screen. No missed calls. He hadn't called back, not that I blame him. I felt my stomach churn, as much as it pained me to admit it, I was really disappointed, and on top of that, racked with guilt. My eyes flickered across his number, as I silently debated with myself whether or not to call him. It was nearly 1am; surely he'd be asleep. I could just leave a message, apologise, and leave it up to him whether or not he wants to call me. I rehearsed what I wanted to say in my head, it wasn't like I'd never left a message before, but this time, I was nervous, I could feel a lump in my throat, and didn't want to muck it up. Here went nothing.
I took a deep, shaky breath as I heard the dial tone kick in, and the phone began to ring. Cursing myself for being such a baby, yet still desperately hoping that he wouldn't answer, I racked my fingernails on the desk, rocking gently in my chair.
"Hello?" I heard the brash northern accent and deep voice answer the phone. Oh. My. God. He answered. I didn't rehearse this. My heart sped up and I felt the lump in my throat grow by the minute.
"Hello?!" That voice again. I panicked, trying to make myself speak.
"Uh, Hi." The feeble attempt left my lips.
"You alright?" Danny queried, with a slight chuckle.
"Yeah. Actually, I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't expecting you to answer. It's nearly 1 am" I felt myself begin to relax, slowly regaining my composure.
"Oh yeah, couldn't sleep. How was your meeting?" He was being so sweet, especially after the way I'd spoken to him.
"Oh yeah, I'm so sorry about earlier. I was just about to go in and see my boss, I'm actually still at work now..." I trailed off, realising how sad that must sound.
"I was just calling to see if you wanted to go for a drink tonight, but I guess not," He laughed again, sending chills down my spine.
"Well, I would have, but I just got stuck here. You're welcome to take me out for a drink now though," I laughed sarcastically, in an attempt to lighten the mood slightly.
"Yeah, okay," he replied bluntly, leaving me somewhat speechless.
"What?"
"Yeah. Okay. We can go out now."
"Danny, be serious. I've been in the same clothes since..." I glanced at my watch, five past one "..Yesterday and I haven't eaten since breakfast, I don't think I'd be very good company."
"Rubbish. I'm starving, you must be starving, tell me where you work, I'll pick you up, and we'll go for late night dinner and a drink. I know this great place just off Regent Street."
"Danny.." I hesitated, smiling at how ridiculous this whole idea was, yet never regretting my suggestion.
"Come on, give us the address, and I'll be there."
"No, this is crazy" I laughed, frantically running my fingers through my hair, and flattening out my clothes in an attempt to make myself look mildly respectable. My heart was screaming at me to say yes, to go with him, but my head was otherwise inclined, thankfully my heart won.
"Okay, but not from work, I'll meet you on Regent Street in twenty minutes, outside the tube station." I spat the words out hurriedly, before I changed my mind.
"Done, see ya there!"
I snapped my phone closed and threw it into my bag. I wasn't a spur of the moment person, and I wasn't prepared for this. I pulled my hair back from my face, tying it into a messy bun, and quickly smoothed on some lip-gloss. I felt grubby in my work clothes. When I left home seventeen hours previously I'd looked pretty good, to the naked eye, I looked exactly the same, but to me, I'd been wearing the same clothes for far too long. Unfortunately I had no time to change and this would have to be as good as it got.
I thought my heart would explode as I walked along the street towards the tube station. I could hear it beating in my head, and the lump in my throat had yet to dislodge itself.
As I neared the station I could see the dark shadow of a figure leaning up against the wall. Even from a distance he made my heart race. He looked gorgeous stood standing there, hands thrust into his pockets, the collar of his jacket pulled up, tousles of hair poking out from under his beanie hat. Why on Earth was he meeting me at one in the morning, and I was dressed in my work clothes.
He turned to face me as he heard me getting closer, and I saw a small smile creep onto his lips. I glanced down at the floor, suddenly self-conscious, but struggled to keep my eyes off him for too long.
I smiled back, as he took a few steps forward to meet me half way.
"Hey working girl" He greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, leaving my skin burning with tingles where his lips touched.
"You look gorgeous"
"Hey," I smiled and tore my gaze away from his sparkling eyes before I looked into them for an uncomfortable amount of time. I crossed my arms across my chest in an attempt to block out the cold night air, and cover some of my clothes. I'm sure he was only saying that to be polite.
"Come on, it's just 'round the corner." Danny led the way, clearly noticing that I was cold. I walked beside him, our arms brushing every so often, sending those all too familiar tingles shooting through my body.
I looked up at him, frowning slightly as we turned down a dark, narrow side street. He raised an eyebrow and nodded as reassurance.
"I come here all the time. It's pretty cool. Kinda old school music bar – like…" he trailed off, obviously coming to the conclusion that he wasn't making much sense.
I could hear live music coming from somewhere, and laughed to myself as I realised how crazy this whole thing was. I was being led down dark side streets, at one in the morning by a guy I'd met only once before.
"What's so funny?" Danny nudged me with his elbow and stared down at me, waiting for an answer.
"This is crazy."
It was crazy. But I loved it. I liked being with Danny, I enjoyed his company, and he looked absolutely gorgeous.
"Pretty much. But it's also pretty cool. It's up here," Danny directed me down another street, narrower than the first and opened the door to the bar.
The heat hit me as soon as I stepped through the door. The entire place had an aura. I couldn't help smiling as soon I was inside; friendly faces all laughing and chatting in their own little corners of this dark smoky room. I could understand why Danny liked it here immediately. I had also found the source of the live music, there was a middle-aged man on a stool at one side of the room, I didn't recognise what he was singing, but I liked it immediately. It just added to the relaxed ambience of the room.
I blinked a few times, my eyes adjusting to the smoky atmosphere, and followed Danny up to the bar, he nodded in greeting to a few people along the way.
"Let me get these; to make up for earlier?" I insisted, and ordered, handing him his beer.
"You really have nothing to apologise for!" he smiled over at me, and tilted his head towards a booth, tucked out of the way in a corner of the bar.
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