Later, when some people helped putting the stuff into the trunk of the car. I smile as I said goodbye to some who came to give us some compliments.
I turn and look at the two, they are talking and hugging a little. I smile as I watch them, there is nothing that can come between them, it is so very rare what they have. I see him nodding and smiling, then he turns and looks at me.
"I'm going now, I'm very tired."
"Have a good night, Pen."
"We'll celebrate tomorrow, okay?"
"All right."
Penny looks at me and I smile at her.
"And you'll be celebrating with us."
"Sure, as long as it isn't a night club or something."
"Not fond of those?"
"Not really, no."
Penny smiles and came to me to give me a short hug. I chuckle softly as she let me go, she turns to look at him and gives him a kiss on his cheek.
"See ya tomorrow."
With that, she went to the other car and steps in. I wave a little as I watch the car driving away, then I turn my head to look at him and see him looking at me. I give him a smile, and he puts his hands in his pockets.
"Are you hungry?"
"A little bit, you?"
"I am, I just wanted to get something to eat, you want to join me?"
"You want me to join you?"
"Yeah, otherwise I didn't ask."
I giggle a little about his confusion, he sees my teasing smile and scoffs.
"Let's go, I know something good."
"Ali's Snack Bites?"
"How did you know?"
I wink and I went to step in the car. He chuckles softly as he watches me, then he shakes his head and steps in as well. I move a little to give him more room.
"Same old, sir?"
"No, Gio, to Ali's, I'm not going out tonight."
"Really?"
Johnny rolls his eyes. I look at Gio and see him smiling via the mirror, then he looks in it and sees me looking at him. He gives me a wink and drives away. I turn my head to look at Johnny, who has taken his phone out because he got a message.
"So, what did you think of this evening?"
He looks up at me and sees my smile. I see his smile appearing as he puts his phone away.
"I've never had so much success at a demonstration."
"Really?"
"Yes, really, I'm not really good at these things. It's thanks to you, Baby."
"I didn't do that much either."
"No, I mean it, you're the best assistant I've ever had. One who knows how to deal with business, and…"
He stops and looks at his hands that lay on his lap. I watch him as he inhales deeply.
"And?"
He looks back up at me, sees that I am still smiling, though I can see how vulnerable he looks right now. I wonder what is on his mind, but I probably will never know.
"How to deal with me without trying to rip my clothes off my body."
I try not to giggle about that, if he knew what is going on in my head, and how much I would love to rip those clothes off his body, but I need to stay professional, especially now, since we are alone. Well, okay, Gio is driving, but I do not think that really counts.
"I'm just doing my job."
"No, Baby, not just."
"What do you mean?"
"I feel like I can rely on you, like you understand me."
"Oh."
I am a little surprised about this honesty coming from him. He sees my surprise and inhales deeply.
"I'm sorry, I don't know how to reply to that."
"It's fine, Baby, you don't have to."
"I don't want to make you feel like I'm not taking you serious on this, because I do."
He looks in my eyes, and I see his eyes getting a little darker. I hold my breath and look away. I do not want him to know my real feelings. He watches me and starts to smile. I look back at him and see something else in his eyes now.
"I want to meet your family."
I see his eyebrows going up with that. I guess he is as surprised as I am about what he just said. I start to giggle, and he starts to chuckle.
"I'm sorry, it just came out."
"It's okay, my family wants to meet you too."
"All right, maybe I should come by for dinner one day."
"Yes, maybe you should, but you'll meet my parents next weekend."
Gio parks the car in front of Ali's Snack Bites, and he steps out to open the door. It interrupted our conversation. I was enjoying the conversation very much. I feel like I can talk to him about anything, but it also could just be my mind wishing that.
"What's your favorite snack?"
I look at him as I think.
"The little rolls with kebab in them and all that."
"The mini durum, you mean?"
"Yes, I forgot the name."
I see his face and I smile. He is smiling widely about that.
"They're my favorite too. I could eat them forever."
I giggle about that, and he chuckles. I am seeing another side of him right now, and I start wishing I could see this all the time.
"Stay here, I'll get us some."
"Where are we going to eat them?"
"You'll see."
He winks and steps out. I look after him, watching him go inside and I inhale deeply. Gio has closed the door while I wait.
I want to get to know the real him, his heart, and his mind, what he loves and what he hates. All those things, you know, but for now I know what a few expressions of his mean, and I try to react on time, even before he shows an expression. If you know what I mean, reader? I want to turn him inside out, not literally of course, but I do want to break that wall down that he has build around him. The door opens again and I see him stepping inside, holding a plastic bag with the food. Gio steps in and drives away.
"Where are we going to?"
"You'll see."
"You're not going to kidnap me, are you?"
He chuckles and rolls his eyes. I giggle a little and look outside. It is late already, I should be going home. I think my parents are getting worried. Then I feel my phone vibrating, speaking of the devil. I take my phone and see that dad is calling me. I answer the call.
"Hey, dad."
Johnny is watching me as I talk to dad, he smiles and inhales deeply. I look at him for a moment.
"When are you coming home, pumpkin?"
"Soon."
"You're finished with work today?"
"Yes, the demonstration was a great success, I'm grabbing a bite now."
"All right, pumpkin, but please don't be late, your mother is already thinking you were kidnapped."
"You're sure it wasn't you who started to think that?"
I hear him chuckling a little. I know him too well, because mom actually is loving the fact that I want to work on my own life and that I explore a little more of the world and that I go out and meet people. She is way less worried about me than dad is, believe me.
"You got me."
"I'm going to hang up now, dad, the food is coming."
"Okay, enjoy the food."
"Thanks, bye."
I end the call and put my phone back in my purse. I turn my head and see him smiling at me. Did he even took his eyes off of me at all?
"What?"
"Your father I assume?"
"Yes, asking me when I'm coming home."
"He's worried about you."
"A little too worried about me, mom is less worried."
"I get that."
Gio parks the car and I look outside. I see we are at Central Park. I watch Johnny stepping out when Gio opens the door. Then he turns and bends over to look inside.
"You're coming?"
He extends his hand to help me stepping out. I take his hand, it feels so soft, I want to hold his hand all the time, not letting go anymore. But as soon as I am out of the car, he let my hand go. Gio closes the door and smiles at us.
"Wait here, we won't be long."
"All right, sir."
I walk with Johnny into the park, he takes me to the little bridge and stops walking. He turns a little and sits himself on the wall. He looks at me and pats on the wall next to him. I came closer to him and try to sit on it. I giggle as I fail on doing just that. The wall is a little too high for me.
He chuckles and gets off the wall. I look at him as I see he wants to lift me up. I step a little back at first.
"I'm not going to do anything inappropriate, Baby, I just want to help you up."
"What's so special on sitting on the wall?"
"You'll see."
I inhale deeply as I let him lift me up. His hands are on my waists, strong and steady. I cannot help but to think about what else they can do. Stop it, Frances, enough of this now. When I sit on it, he checks if I am comfortable, I nod at him, and he came to sit next to me.
"Turn around."
"Why?"
"You'll see."
"You're very mysterious."
"I know, but I'm sure you'll love this."
"Okay."
I try to turn around, he keeps me steady, making sure I would not fall off the wall. It is a little scary, but I do feel safe with him next to me. He turns as well and opens the bag. I look at the view, he looks at me as I let out a little gasp. This view is mesmerizing, the stars reflect in the water. I see the lights from the city in the background. It is like a painting. Johnny is smiling as he looks at my reaction.
"How did you discover this?"
"I come here often at night, alone, to think and to be alone."
I look at him and see his smile.
"You never take any date here with you? Or any woman that you're going to sleep with?"
"Ouch, Baby."
I see his face changing, he looks at the view. I feel bad about my reply.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I guess I had it coming eventually from someone else besides Pen."
"I didn't meant to sound like…"
He looks back at me and holds up a mini durum. I stop talking as I look at it and then at his face. I see him smiling again.
"This one is my special version of the mini durum."
"You mean?"
"Yes, Ali has a special mini durum version only for me, not available on the menu, and no one can get this one without my permission."
I start to smile, he is so sweet, really, I never thought he could be so sweet, that he wants to share this special treat with me. I feel my heart thumbing in my throat.
"And you want to share it with me?"
"Yes, and you're the first I share them with."
"Really?"
"Yes, not even Pen, because she doesn't like them."
He reaches the mini durum out to me. I carefully take it, our fingers brush a little bit. I look up in his eyes, and I see him smile a little more. It is like we had a moment, but I do not want to think about that. I look at the mini durum as I am holding it. I do not dare to take a bite because it looks so precious.
"Try it."
I look at his face and then back at the mini durum. I take a little bite. I know he is watching me. God, this is delicious, I do not know what is in it, but I for sure love it. I look at him and I see him smiling.
"You like it?"
"I love it, what's in it?"
"My secret."
He winks at me and takes one for himself. I watch him as I eat mine. When I finished mine, I look at him with puppy dog eyes. He sees my eyes and starts to chuckle.
"Want more?"
"Yes, please!"
He takes another one and gives it to me. I squealed a little as I take it and eat it. He watches me with a smile and chuckles from time to time. I try to figure out what is in these. I never had them being so delicious.
"I'm thirsty now."
"Here, Baby."
I see him taking a bottle of water out of his pocket and hands it out to me. He is very considerate. I think there is more to him than he always shows to people. A side he does not want others to see, and I wonder why. I want to figure him out so bad, he is so intriguing. I know I am repeating myself, dear reader, please forgive me for that.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome, I'm glad you like them."
"Why?"
"Because I finally met someone with whom I can share this delicious secret."
"I feel honored."
He smiles and takes another bite. He looks at the view and I did too.
A little breeze blew some hair in my face. I push them away as he is watching me. I turn my head and see him swallowing once. I look at my hands. Right now, I wish I was not his assistant, so I could take his hands in mine and kiss him. If it only was to thank him for this moment.
"Time to go home."
I nod at that as I look down.
"You're okay?"
"I am, I just don't know how to thank you."
"For what?"
"Sharing your secrets with me, I don't know why I deserve this."
"I just wanted to share them with you."
I look at his face, he smiles and jumps off the wall. He turns and looks up at me. I know there is more to this than he is telling me, but I am not going to ask him. I want to treasure this.
"I'll keep your secrets to myself."
"I'm glad to hear that, I don't like to share secrets with anyone else."
"I know, I wouldn't either."
"Come, I'll help you down."
I nod and he helps me off the wall. He smiles as I straighten my jacket a little. He gives me my purse and we walk back to the car in silence. I do not know what to say anyway, and he seems at a loss for words as well. We step in and Johnny told Gio to drop me off. I told him my address. I have never been brought home or picked up by one of the drivers. I live like three blocks from the company and normally I just go on foot. I look outside at the sky with a smile, and I wish this was a date, this would have been a perfect date.
The car stops in front of the house. I look at Johnny and he smiles at me.
"Thanks for the wonderful evening."
"You too, Baby, have a good night."
"Good night, Johnny."
I step out and walk to the front door. I turn and see that he has opened the window. He waves a little, I wave back and watch them driving away. I turn to open the door and see that dad has opened it already. I see his serious face.
"Hey, dad, I thought you would be asleep already."
"You took some time to get back home. Did you had a date?"
"A date? No, why would you think that?"
I went inside and he follows me to the kitchen.
"I saw you stepping out of that car, and waving at that man."
"That was my boss."
"Your boss? What kind of boss takes his assistant out?"
"Dad."
I turn and look at him while I take the milk out of the fridge.
"We only went to have a bite, and celebrated the success from the demonstration."
"Are you sure about that, don't lie to me."
"I'm not lying!"
I see him watching me. I take a cup and fill it with milk. He drops his attitude.
"How did it go?"
"We seem to have gathered more customers than normal at a demonstration."
"Did you use your networking technique?"
"Yes."
I see him starting to smile, I drink some milk as I look at him.
"I'm proud of you, pumpkin."
"I know you are, and you're overprotective too."
"When am I meeting your boss."
"Next weekend at your event."
"But he's not invited."
"I'll take him with me as my plus one."
"I can see if I can give him an invite, pumpkin."
"Don't worry about it, he wants to learn how to network, so he actually needs to stay with me."
"You're going to teach him?"
"Yes, I hope you don't mind."
I see him still smiling as he came closer, he leans in to give me a kiss on my forehead.
"I'm going to bed."
"Have a good night, pumpkin."
"You too, dad, and please don't worry so much, I'll be fine."
"I'll try."
"Thanks, dad."
I put the cup in the sink and went upstairs to go to bed. I am so tired now. I let myself drop onto my bed and look at the ceiling with a smile as I think about the moment in the park. I bite my lip a little as I think about his smile, then I giggle softly and turn on my side. I am too lazy to take my clothes off when I close my eyes and drift off into a deep sleep.