Chapter Four: Finally Feeling Like Myself
Killian hadn't been there long when he started impacting my life. The smallest thing can change your life, as this did mine. I mostly tried to stay out of Killian's way in the beginning. Some of the other cashiers were flirting with him which he only slight reciprocated in the beginning. I could tell he was here to make a difference in our store and make a name for himself. Since I had been with Walsh and things were going well I didn't go out of my way to flirt with him. Yes, I was a flirt I will admit but mostly just meaningless flirting with guys that I was comfortable with or customers who didn't make a daily difference in my life. I felt like I had finally settled down after years of looking for a reliable man. I was content, hell happy even. Granted I was only twenty years old but still felt like I had my life and my relationship under control. All of that changed in a course of a day though.
You really never see these things coming. I remember working with Killian and I'm sure it was just another average day, not special enough to even remember the date or time. Work was carrying on like always and I needed him to grab change for my till and get it for me. I wasn't facing him, but before I knew it he was behind me, right behind me. Now I've been close to men before so this wasn't anything new, except for the fact that my stomach dropped completely. I could smell his cologne and feel his breath on the back of my neck. He didn't touch me but I felt the butterflies. The moment was probably only five seconds long, if that, but the effect of it was significant. A huge feeling out of nowhere, I knew I was in trouble then, I never could have predicted how much.
That day many years ago really changed my life. It sounds simply, a simple act that could have been done by anyone else and not gotten the same reaction. I know it sounds crazy that such a simple moment could have altered my life but I'm being honest when I say it did. I could never look at Killian the same after that moment. He went from being just another guy to someone who I was curious about, someone who gave me butterflies. I thought after I met Walsh I would never get butterflies again but then completely out of the blue there they were. With a complete stranger, but the feeling was strong. I was surprised and certainly confused.
As the bus pulls into a long driveway my eyes land upon the biggest hotel I'd ever seen. It was gorgeous, the exquisite architecture and grand scale of the hotel made me excited to spend the next three days there.
"Not bad right?" Graham commented from the seat beside me, he had already been to a few conferences here before.
"It's gorgeous, I'm actually impressed." I replied still staring at the ginormous building.
"Time for a beer, right bud?" Eric asked from the seat behind me.
I laughed, I had heard about the open bar parties our vendors put on for us during the evenings. Classes started at eight in the morning and went until at least eight at night but after we got huge events with free booze for us until midnight. I was glad that I had partying experience in my background from my college days because I was determined to not be 'that girl', the stereotypical drunk girl in a room full of thousands of men. As fun as I'm sure it would be, I still knew it was a work function and there would be eyes everywhere.
The next hour flew by as I explored the grand hotel with Eric and Graham. We ate lunch in the huge hall and laughed as we help each other try to find our hotel rooms in the maze of a hotel. I found it humorous that I was directing the guys to their rooms and they were the ones who had been here before. I was actually relaxing for the first time in what felt like forever. I didn't have to worry about Walsh and I could just be myself. I felt more comfortable in my own skin then I had in years. I was happy just joking around and hanging out with my guy friends. Guys that I had no physical attraction to what so ever and who liked me for who I was.
I still had an hour before my meeting and decided to head to my room to get myself ready and see if my roommate Mulan was there. I always got along with Mulan and it was her first conference too. She wasn't the most girly-girl, and not much of a gossiper but she was a tough lady and a huge bitch if need be.
As I walked through the hordes of Cal's employees and up the staircase that would lead me to my floor I spotted two of my other friends, Hap and Doc standing at the top of the stairs and taking in the scenery.
"Well aren't you guys being creepy checking out all the chicks from the top of the staircase standing next to this tall plant trying to be discreet." I teased them as I approached.
They both hugged me in greeting before Doc replied, "Please this is a sausage fest and I actually just watched ten dudes check out your ass as you walked up the stairs. You still got it girl!" He exclaimed laughing.
"Please, you know she's only looking for Killian." Hap replied slying smiling at me.
"Shut up you two, I'm getting married in a few months." I replied teasingly. I forgot that these two had both worked under Killian's management at our old store and had both called me out on my crush on our former boss.
Shockingly they had both been very supportive of my feelings (even though I constantly denied them and brushed them off) and they both encouraged me to act on my feelings, they even had some crazy notion that Killian felt something for me too.
"Exactly, perfect reason for you two to finally hook up before you tie the knot. You're out of town, away from Walsh's prying eyes. The indoor gardens get quite romantic at night you know." Doc said clearly not dropping the subject. I'm not going to lie and say I have never pictured 'hooking up' with Killian. During our many late night store closings and close teasing back office interactions it was hard not to. However, the problem was I couldn't see what happened after the hook up. Where would we go from there? He had Milah and I had Walsh.
"I'm sure you know about those gorgeous gardens from past experience Doc." I replied deflecting my answer and placing the focus on him.
He smiled like he knew what I was doing but he replied, "Of course I know from experience, it's the perfect place to set the mood for an enjoyable evening. I was just up here looking at my very limited prospects."
"You mean victims," I joked at him and smirked before adding, "Well I'm headed up to my room before the opening ceremony. You two are trouble so I'm sure I'll see you later."
A short hour later I headed down to the opening ceremony. Luckily Graham and Eric had came to my room to walk downstairs with me since the hotel was huge and easy to get lost in. I felt comfortable wearing my black pants, teal polo shirt and black tennis shoes. I wasn't sure what to expect so I was slightly nervous. My long blonde hair fell just below my shoulders and I had put on a decent amount of makeup, overall I thought I looked okay.
I had texted my boss to let him know I had arrived. My boss was now ironically Peter the trainer from all those years ago. He had got out of the training department and became a district manager. Although sometimes we butted head overall we got along pretty well.
Peter had texted all ten of his store managers to meet in front of the entrance to the grand hall where the opening ceremonies would occur. Somehow amongst the throngs of people we managed to find our district. Most the managers were already standing there waiting to go in.
I was immediately surprised at how many people there were jammed into such a small place. We got lucky to find our district right away. I also noticed that I was severely out numbered. In the hardware business I was used to being one of the few females working, however here at the management level there were way more men then women. Hell I was one of the only females in the hallways currently amongst hundreds of men; it was every woman's heaven. However I secretly was only looking forward to seeing one man.
I greeted Mulan warmly and shook hands with my boss.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Peter asked me with a smile.
"It really is," I agreed and couldn't help the smile that had formed on my face. It was impressive that our company had arranged to have all of us managers here. It had to take a lot of time and effort and I really respected and appreciated our company more because of it.
"Just wait, it gets better." Peter replied with a smile clearly enjoying himself as well.
I turned my head and immediately thought 'it already is getting better.'
He was walking at a fast clip like always (one of the many things we have in common) and somehow in a room full of people Killian had spotted our group and started walking towards us.
He was in khaki pants and a light blue button up shirt that brought out his eyes. His gaze was locked on mine as he approached the group and I felt warm all of a sudden. He stopped right next to me and immediately began shaking hands with everyone in the group. He knew them all from being a part of our district for so long as a store manager before he got promoted.
As he was going around the circle greeting everyone I noticed that he was saving me for last. I really hoped he wasn't going to give me a handshake. After all we had been through I knew a handshake would be really awkward. Instead his eyes rested on me again and he surprised me by giving me a one armed side hug (something he was famous for and I teased him relentlessly about never being able to fully commit to a real hug) and a huge smile.
As he hugged me he shocked me further by saying, "Hello Darling."
I know! Another chapter so soon! I really love this story and like I said I already know how the entire thing will play out which makes it easy to write! I hope you guys are enjoying it as much as I am! Let me know! I LOVE the reviews and follows! THANK YOU for your support!