Page 76 of Love Me In Color

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Wednesday midday.

Ten days left.

Richard cleared his throat behind me while my lunch spun in the microwave. Almost everyone was gone for lunch. The pizza place down the street was having a ridiculously cheap deal, and everyone jumped on it. The floor was quiet.

Amelia and Parker sat at one of the tables in the corner of the break area. She wasn’t happy with him, and he wasn’t happy with her, but unlike Gabby, they were good at whispering. Lainee and Nathaniel ate at the table across from the microwaves. Lainee told Nathaniel a story I thought would have him rolling on the floor laughing.

Richard wore navy blue slacks with a white button-down. He stood closer than usual. A faint smell of soap emanated from him. He seemed taller than usual. He was almost imposing.

“Hey Blake, can we talk?” his quiet voice asked.

“What’s up? Is there something wrong with the numbers I sent you?”

“No, no. I haven’t looked at them yet, if I’m being honest. I just wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?” my heart rate increased.

This had all the markings of being a personal interaction and not one I wanted to have in the break area. I looked around. Lainee was hooked on her story. Nathaniel was paying attention, but his eyes occasionally darted toward us. Amelia huffed at Parker and stomped to the conference room, muttering under her breath. Parker stayed on the table, pretending he wasn’t trying to listen to Richard and me.

“About the party. I know you told me what happened, but I mistakenly thought it had been a long time ago, so it wouldn’t be such a big deal. Erik and I talked, and now I just feel terrible.”

“It’s okay. Now you know.”

“Yeah, but you told me what you wanted to do, and I ignored it,” he took a step closer, taking my hand into his. “I’m sorry.”

“Can we talk about this later?” I tore my hand away from his. I didn’t want to be touched at work. The faint snapping of rubber against skin came from Parker’s table.

“You’ve been ignoring my texts, so no.”

I cleared my throat.

“Look, Blake,” he kept his voice low and slow. “I care so much about you, and I like you a lot. I feel happy around you and want to make this official.”

“Richard, this is not –”

He suddenly stepped forward, and his cold lips cut me off.

His hands cupped my face and pulled me into him before I knew what happened. I wanted to slap or punch him, but I was conscious of the fact that we were in the office. Yet, that didn’t seem to matter as much right now.

“What the fuck?!” I shoved him off and took a step back. My back hit the edge of the counter, and a stinging pain shot through it.

Lainee was taken aback. Neither of the boys reacted, although they both wanted to. Lainee’s eyes were wide, staring right at us. She gasped slightly and brought her hands to her mouth.

I switched to Parker. His jaw twitched, and his blue eyes were the color of the deep ocean. Dark and scary. His hand tightly gripped the cup he drank his coffee from. The veins in his hands were popping. His other hand held onto the table as if that was the only thing stopping him from coming over here. The rubber band sat torn on it.

Nathaniel looked between Parker and I. Lainee looked to him for an explanation, an idea of what was happening, but he was waiting to see how it played out. I could read in his eyes that he was assessing whether he should walk Parker out or step in to help me. I nudged him toward Parker. I could take care of myself.

He told Lainee to give Richard and me some privacy. She nodded and walked away. Nathaniel gripped Parker’s bicep and dragged him away.

“This was not the time nor the place!” I said through gritted teeth.

Richard’s eyes went angry as what he thought would be a romantic gesture was rejected. It was the exact thing I had asked him not to do. I was mortified. Embarrassed. “What the hell was that?!”

“Blake, I didn’t want to wait any longer. We don’t have to keep our relationship a secret. I don’t want it to be a secret anymore.”

“Kissing me here, at work, in full view of other people, is not the way to ask for that!”

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