Chapter 5

Christie walked the few blocks to Operius with a grim determination. When she got to the building, she quietly walked in and rode the elevator up to the third floor and sat down at her desk. Meg was super excited that Christie was back but could sense that something was wrong. Thankfully she didn't press the matter because Christie could not have told her even if she wanted to. She continued her training almost numbly. She was wondering all the while if Erik would ever speak to her again, or if she could ever be brave enough to speak to him.

At lunch she sat eating her sandwich next to Meg. Joe was chatting loudly to Peter, the other man on their sales team; something about cars. The two tall girls were posting pictures of their food to Instagram. The woman with the red hair, Carla, was fixing her makeup in a small hand-held mirror. Meg was trying to make small talk, but Christie was distracted. She kept looking up at the security camera, wondering if Erik was watching her, wondering what he was thinking, if he was still mad at her. After lunch Ms. Gary called Christie into her office. "I hope you are feeling better my dear. I think I will have you start calling on Monday. Make sure you have everything down by then."

"Yes, I will." Said Christie, smiling weakly. Ms. Gary looked Christie up and down, and smiled with concern in her eyes.

"Don't be so gloomy." She said knowingly.

"I…yes, I'm sorry." Christie said, looking up in surprise. She hadn't thought that anyone could tell how she was feeling, but then again, she never had been one to hide her feelings very well.

After her shift was over, she grabbed her purse and trailed after everyone else over to the elevator. After waiting for almost five minutes, it wasn't stopping at their floor. "It must be stuck." Meg said. "Let's just take the stairs." Chimed in Peter as he took Carla's arm and led her to the door that led downstairs. They all went down the narrow staircase, all chatting and gossiping. Christie a few steps behind the rest of them.

As she passed the door to the second floor, it suddenly swung open. A hand reached out and pulled her into the second floor. Christie gasped in surprise and swung her purse at the person who grabbed her. It hit them with a soft thwap. She looked up in the darkness of the empty sales floor. She saw the cap in the dim light and immediately recognized it.

"Oh! I didn't know it was you! I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" she blurted in a panic.

Erik chuckled without humor. "I'm fine." He said.

Christie gripped her purse tightly. "Are you still mad at me? I'm really sorry about the other night." She said, looking between his dark outline and the floor.

"NO!" He said too loudly. "I mean... I'm the one who should be sorry. I never meant to… to drive you away. I was mortified as soon as you ran out. I only got so upset because I was afraid that you wouldn't want to talk to me again after seeing my face. I never meant to lose my temper…one of my many flaws." He finished quietly. She couldn't help herself; she lunged forward and hugged him tightly around his waist. Her cheek pressed against his linen shirt. He stood there woodenly for a moment and then wrapped his arms around her. He took a deep shuddering breath and she thought that she felt him kiss the top of her head. They pulled back at the same time. Christie couldn't help but smile at him. He didn't really smile back, but it was dark and she couldn't tell.

"I'm not mad, and I'm sorry I ran away like that. I was just embarrassed and ashamed."

"You probably want to get going…" he said, after smiling down at her during her admission. "May I walk you home?" He asked nervously.

"Sure!" Christie replied eagerly. They left the building and began walking down the street. "It all seems so different at night… It's like another world." Christie mused, looking up at all the darkened buildings.

"Yes..." he said and trailed off, then continued. "I have a confession. I umm… I may have followed you home, your first day, after you switched to the night shift…"

Christie stopped walking. "That was you!?" She exclaimed in disbelief.

He turned towards her. "I just wanted to make sure that you got home safely." He explained.

She smacked his arm. "You really scared me!" she said in exasperation.

"I know, I didn't mean to…"

Christie started walking and finally couldn't help but giggle at the memory of how she was so scared that night. Erik smiled down at her, grateful that she wasn't angry. When they reached Christie's house, he walked her right up to the door. "Are you hungry?" She asked shyly. "We could go get some food or something?"

"I umm… I don't like to go to restaurants, or public places…" he said going back to his odd way of saying each word clipped and formal.

She flushed with realization. "Oh, I should have realized… I could make us something instead… I have a frozen pizza!" she said hopefully. He tilted his head at her.

"I wouldn't want to put you out, perhaps another time?" He looked mildly amused.

"Ok, sure." She agreed.

"Goodbye Christie." He said and began walking down the steps.

"Wait!" Christie said, stepping down to the step above him, she was still below his eye lever, he was so tall.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Will… Will we still be friends later? I mean, will you talk to me and stuff?" she asked lamely, feeling like a little kid. She was very close to him and it made her wrists tingle where he had gripped them so hard last time. She shuffled her feet nervously and waited for him to reply.

He smiled warmly and briefly touched her jawline. "Of course."

"But when will I see you?" She asked.

He considered and then said "How about you join me for lunch on Monday? Just bring your lunch down to the basement and we can eat together."

A smile lit up Christie's face. "Ok, I will bring a lunch for you too! I owe you for all my lessons anyways." She said excitedly.

"Alright." He nodded and turned to go.

"Bye!" she said happily.

"Goodbye." He said and began to walk down the street. Without turning around, he called back "Oh, and I like your sweater."

She looked down and smiled, and she didn't stop smiling for the rest of the evening.

That weekend was the longest she had ever known. By Saturday night she had already done all her cleaning and errands that had been piling up. She pulled out her laptop and checked her messages. She saw that she had a message on skype. She opened it. It was from Erik and he had sent it the day that he had yelled at her.

Christie,

Please forgive me for the way I acted towards you. I should never have spoken to you that way and I apologize. I meant to apologize in person, but you didn't come in today and I'm afraid that I've frightened you away. Please come back. I haven't shown my face to anyone in years and years, and I've become rather sensitive. Please don't leave me in darkness.

Erik.

She wanted to see him more than ever after reading his message. "Why can't today be Monday?!" she said forlornly to Gussie, who just swam around his bowl, opening and closing his mouth mutely.