Good Pet

We’ve been doing the long-distance thing, over our computers. Which is why I’m sitting in front of mine right now, with the video-chap program open on it. I’m waiting for him to call — even though it is night in his time zone — as is our routine. We usually have this phone call at the beginning of the week, and then one on Friday night. That one is where we get a bit more intimate and dirtier.

Even now, my heart is racing while I wait for him. I’m smiling just thinking about seeing his face and hearing his voice. But I’m also getting a little worried, too. Dennis is running a little late. A lot later than usual.

I take a moment to drink my tea. It’s not the usual green, red, or black variety. It’s a special caffeinated variety derived from particular tea leaves only found in the Amazon, or somewhere like that. Probably more like some of the regions of South America, but I don’t really care. All I care about is that it gives me my morning boost of energy without too much sugar or calories.

As I sit there sipping on my tea, listening to the early-morning sounds of birds and commuter traffic outside my window, I take a moment to reflect on all my good fortune and on how much McKenzie Tech has grown.

Back when I started, it was just mostly accounting. It’s grown astronomically since then. Due to all these new partners that have joined, and then mergers with financial and consulting companies.

That’s a new thing that started happening within the last six months to a year. Actual whole companies, merging with us. This means I have tons more work to do as one of two secretaries to the CEOs.

But it’s good. It means a lot more hours for me and a lot more time to talk to my best friend and fellow secretary, Isabella, who is the secretary to Ashton Smith, the second CEO.

I smile again, thinking about all the good things I get to tell Dennis when he calls. Now that I think about it, I have a lot of good news to share with him and a lot of things I think he’ll be happy to hear.

If he ever gets on to have our little video chat, I think irritably, looking at the clock.

He’s now over ten minutes late.

I know he has his own routine, but this is ridiculous.

Part of me is getting more irritated by the second, but another part is beginning to get anxious and nervous.

Unless…unless, he forgot.

This thought is truly an unsavory one. Both because I don’t think that Dennis would ever forget, but also because if he did — if he wasn’t able to keep his word — then that would be a sign that something more serious had happened — something out of his control. I don’t like those kinds of thoughts.

Those are the kinds of thoughts that make me sometimes regret his move to Paris. I always have a part of me that fears that something will happen to Dennis while he’s away. Like I will lose him to something, or someone, and I will never know what happened because I’m thousands of miles away.

But, as if my knight in shining armor heard my worried thoughts halfway across the world, I suddenly see Dennis’s screen name pop up. I, and my heart, give an audible sigh of relief seeing him there and knowing that he hasn’t forgotten.

I giggle a moment later when an incoming call from him pops up on my screen. The video of Dennis shows up immediately after the moment I hit the “accept incoming call” button.

He’s just as handsome and rugged as I remember. He’s still got his breathtakingly-blue eyes. Ever since the night I met him, I’ve had the same thought. His eyes were fashioned from one of the big sapphires in King Louis XIV’s collection. That’s how deep and sparkly the color is. It’s like nothing I have ever seen on another man.

What makes his eyes even bluer and more beautiful is the long, shiny locks of black hair flowing around his face. Though he’s in what looks to be a fairly normal t-shirt and sweater combo, his hair is allowed to fall in wild waves — like the fashion model he is.

But his face, oh my God! Though I’ve looked into those eyes, surrounded by that beautiful mouth and nose, that delicately strong chin, thousands of times, it never ceases to steal my breath, and my heart, away.

It’s his voice though, the deep gruffness of it in conjunction with his looks, that has the most effect. It makes me melt for him, even though he said nothing more than “Good morning” to me. That simple greeting really warms me up. It hits me in just the right spot. I’m breathless, and it takes me a moment to connect to my brain.