The Blue Dress
Chapter Eight: Champagne Talks
He let out a disappointed sigh as the elevator dinged open to his floor.
He had caught glimpses of her all evening but he was never able to get close enough to reach her. Like an elusive and rare little bird, she escaped him before he could get a good look at her, let alone talk to her. He was rather hoping that the evening would provide them enough cover to talk about anything other than work.
"No such luck," his tongue clicked on the roof of his mouth as he stepped out of the elevator and walked to his office.
He sighed again he buried his hands in his pockets and thought about their little run-in in the boiler room, replaying the memory like a movie. Her blue buttoned dress bunched at her waist as she rode her fingers, bringing herself over the edge. The sounds of her moans echoing against the walls and in his ears. The swoon of her breasts bustling and spilling over the tops of her lace covered bra. Her skin dark red with a blush and glistening with sweat from the sweltering heat in the room. The way she said his name as she enjoyed the ecstasy of relief.
It was all he could think about.
But now, a thick air of tension wedged itself between them and they hadn't been able to look at each other since. They focused solely and tirelessly on their work, if they worked- often times the meetings ended up being cancelled for any multitude of reasons. There was never a mention of the kiss in the file room. No mention of what he saw in the boiler room. No inclination that she even thought about it. Nothing.
As if none of it ever happened.
But both of them ran away from it. He from the kiss and her from the act she performed when she thought no one was looking. But neither of them were brave enough to acknowledge it happened. That they happened for a brief moment of time. Maybe things would be different now.
Sighing again, he looked up to see that his office door was already open. Furrowing his brow, he came upon the door quietly and looked inside.
And there she was, dressed in champagne silk, standing in the moonlight as she read the documents in her hands, unaware of his presence.
Taking a deep breath, he gathered his wits and put on a brave face. "Burning the midnight oil, are we?"
She jumped a little, holding the documents to her chest before realizing it was him. "Oh… It's you."
"Of course it is," he shrugged, walking towards her slowly. "Were you expecting someone else?"
"No, I wasn't really expecting anyone. I thought you were down at the party."
"I was," he nodded, taking more steps. Just a few more feet and he could touch her. "But now I'm here… In my office. That you're in. So…?"
"I had an idea and I came to investigate it. Seeing as all the files are in your office as of right now, I came here," she answered, looking down at the documents. "I think we may have overlooked something."
"Have you found it yet?" He asked, walking up to stand beside her.
"Yes… Read all the files from October to the middle of November. Look at all the dates of when he was in town and when he wasn't."
He nodded. "I'll get right on it."
Looking up at him, she smiled and he felt a bit of the tension between them ease up. But it was short lived.
Her eyes drifted down to his lips causing his to fall to hers. Images of their time spent in the case room swirled behind his lashes as the air seemed to tighten around them, bringing them closer together. His name tumbling from her lips over the creeks of the pipes in the boiler room rang in his ears, driving him forward. He watched as her lips parted as they inched towards each other. Just a few centimeters more…
Feeling his breath ghost on her lips, she blinked as logic seeped back into her mind. She pulled away from him and looked down at the floor, a red blush coating her cheeks.
"Right, well," she coughed, looking for a change of topic. "I should probably leave you to it, then."
He watched as she took a few steps away towards the door, mentally telling himself that it was all for the best. That she should go. That they would be better off-
"Are we ever going to talk about what happened the other day?" he called out after her. She stilled. "Or are we going to keep pussyfooting around it and pretend it didn't happen when it so very obviously happened?"
"Mr. Todd…" She sighed, turning towards him a little. "It's late-
"That's not an answer, Miss Raven."
She glared at him and placed her hands on her hip, turning to him and squaring her shoulders. "I thought we already talked."
"Oh, where you switched the whole conversation to me and my headaches and accused me-
"I wasn't accusing you. I was stating a fact. You were jeopardizing the case."
"And look who's jeopardizing the case now?"
Her arms folded over her chest as she stepped towards him. "Are you accusing-
"I wasn't accusing you. I was stating a fact," he repeated her previous words, mockingly. "It's been days, Raven."
"I remember you canceling a few of our meetings because of your headaches," she drawled, tapping her foot. "It's best not to call a kettle black if you're a pot."
She had a point. "That was wrong of me, I admit-
"So forgive me if I avoid you-
"But you can't blame it all on me."
"I wasn't-
"Maybe not directly but that's essentially what you're doing, Miss Raven," he finished.
"What do you want from me, Mr. Todd?" She huffed at him, throwing her arms up in the air in resignation. "Cause I have yet to see the point in this whole conversation."
"The point is that we have been avoiding each other since the file room and the boiler room and it's damaging the case. We only have a few more days-
"Which is why I came up here to look at those files and then leave you to go over them."
"No, we need to do this together," he stepped forward and stood toe to toe with her. "You wanted us both to remain on the case because we were the best ones for it, despite my issues. And we still are the best ones for it. But we can't do it if we keep canceling on each other and working on it in different spaces. It's a waste of both of our time."
He noticed a faint blush coat her cheeks at his closeness as she grew quite flustered. He tried not to show the pride he was feeling at that.
She uncrossed her arms and nodded. "Fine. Tomorrow at 4 pm to go over the rest of the case. If that is all, Mr. Todd, I will take my leave now."
And with that she turned on her heel and walked out of his office.
"I'm not finished discussing this," he called for her.
She didn't stop. "Well I am. Good night, Mr. Todd."
"You said my name."
He heard her footsteps stop, giving him a chance to catch up with her. "In the boiler room. You said my name."
"There are plenty of guys named Jason," she fired, defensively and immediately regretted it.
He couldn't help but let out a chuckle at her little jab at him as he approached her, her back still to him. He stuffed his hand in his pocket while the other guided along his face. "True… You kissed me back in the file room."
She stiffened, her fingers clenching and unclenching.
"I did," She admitted, over her shoulder feeling a bit of her armor chip off.
"And you said my name in the boiler room?"
There was a long pause before she turned her head to peer at him over her shoulder. "I did."
And with that she walked away from him again, leaving him with a small twinge of hope in his gut.