"Sorry, I didn't think it was urgent. Plus, I was spending time with my daughter," I answer.
A few minutes later, he taps me on my arm.
"Let's have dinner later," he invites me.
I look at him coldly.
"Can we please focus on the meeting first?" I point out.
Thankfully, he didn't bother me for the rest of the morning.
The entire week has been like this, he tries to invite me to eat out or spend some time together, but I always have some sort of excuse. I just want to go back to our professional relationship without any strings attached.
Of course, it's a different story whenever Gloria's around. After all, our agreement is still in place.
"Mommy, let's have ice cream after we finish our dinner," Lauralee tells me.
"Sure thing, honey," I reply. We go to our favorite place.
We're in a burger joint having our dinner. It's Friday, and I promised her earlier that I'll take her out. So at 5 pm, I clocked out of work and fetch her.
After finishing our burger and fries, we go to the nearby ice cream place. Lauralee gets strawberry sundae, while I get a scoop of pistachio ice cream on a cone. We sit in a corner table, happily eating our sweets.
"Mom, when is Uncle Grant going to visit us? Can we go with him to the zoo next time?" She asks out of nowhere.
I pause a little bit, unsure of how to answer her.
"I think he's busy with work right now, but I'll ask him," I reply.
"Okay," she says and goes back to enjoying her sundae.
Damn! Should I be doing this? Am I just setting up myself and my daughter for heartbreak in the long run?
Twenty
Grant
The past week's been like hell.
I'm quite confused about what's the current state of my relationship with Sonya.
Whenever we're in the same room with my mother, she still puts up with the act that we're lovers whose about to get married. The performance is impeccable that Gloria seems to be convinced.
Professionally, we work great together. The strategies and plans that we come up with are solid, and I'm sure that the company will benefit from it. Honestly, I'm surprised that it took this long before Sonya's work is noticed, and she's promoted. We should have done it a long time ago.
But that's where the good ends. Ever since our almost encounter the last Monday while ironing out the details of our latest project, it seems that the air around us drastically changed.
She already told me earlier that day that our relationship will be strictly professional. I admit that I was a bit shocked, but I followed her lead since that what she wants.
Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to hold myself back whenever we're alone together. Some kind of magnetism just pulls me towards her, and I can't resist it. Then, some sense was knocked into my head by that memorabilia.
The next thing I know, Sonya's ready to walk out the door. I don't know if it's out of frustration with me or the situation. I try to explain myself to her. I told her my story the best way I can, but I didn't get any indication if she believed the words that came out of my mouth.
From that day on, Sonya's given me the cold shoulder. I try to send her text messages or call her after office hours, but she wouldn't respond to any of it. She'll only talk to me during working hours, and will only discuss work-related matters. Anything remotely connected to our personal lives is instantly shot down.
Which leaves me very confused. I know I'm developing feelings for Sonya, and I thought that she's also feeling the same way. Did I just imagine things, or did I misread her actions?
That's why I'm drowning all my sorrows in this bar tonight.