The Dare

“So, this is it?” Latesha slides in to the warm and welcoming bar with ease. “This is the bar?”

She shoots me a confident wink and heads over to the corner of the room to take the table there while I head to the bar to buy us both a drink. I find myself an excitement coursing through my body as I wait for the bar maid to pour us our liquids. For the first time in a very long time, it feels like anything is possible…

Chapter 7 – Latesha

Last night when I finally managed to drag my sorry ass out of the office, I went back to my apartment and with the help of Tracey I applied for a million and one other jobs. Anything similar to what I do now and even some things that I’m not even slightly qualified for, just on the off chance that someone would give me the opportunity to get the hell out of the mess that I had created for myself because I was determined to go.

As far as I was concerned, I wasn’t going to continue working with a man who could treat me so coldly. I knew that I would have to stay for a while because I can’t have no job, but I didn’t think that it would be long.

But now, I don’t want to go anywhere else in the world. Now, I want to stay with Zack, to see where this might lead. I didn’t even consider the idea that he might just not be good with women. He doesn’t seem the type to struggle around females. He’s so hot that I just thought he had to be smooth, but that isn’t the case.

It makes me like him even more, knowing that he isn’t this player. It makes me want to get to know more about him because I’m even more convinced that we could have something special. It might have started with sheer sexual chemistry, but I really think that it might become so much more and that thrills me.

As he hands me a glass of wine and he sits opposite me with his own drink, the fission of excitement bursting and darting through my veins is nearly overwhelming. This is so much fun, I am over the moon.

“So, Mr. Ward,” I declare with a sing song tone of voice. “It’s nice to see you out of the office.”

“It’s good to see you out of the office as well,” he declares with a new seductive tone to his voice. “You look good. Not saying that you don’t look awesome in the office as well because you always do.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that you ever noticed me,” I reply, unable to hide my shock. “But thank you.”

“How could I not notice you, Latesha Aston? You draw attention wherever you go.”

Oh my God, I’m starting to think that this might have always been a two-way thing. I have always lived under the assumption that I have adored him from afar and that my flirting has always been ignored, but maybe he simply wanted to remain professional because he didn’t want to cross that barrier. My video broke down those barriers and made it impossible for him to keep away from me any longer. Thank goodness.

I extend my leg out and gently rub it against his, letting him know with my body how much I like him. He smiles and responds by leaning closer to me, allowing me to deeply breathe him in. I half wonder if this is the moment where he finally comes in for the first kiss of the night, the kiss that will seal the deal and ensure that we are more of a fling than a one-night stand. That’s exactly what I want. I need that confirmation.

Bleep, bleep. But then the magic of the moment is shattered by his cell phone blurting out. Bleep, bleep.

Zack leans back so I do the same thing. I can’t get irritated because I’m sure that I would be distracted by a message coming through on my cell phone as well. I always like to check anything that happens on my cell phone immediately, so I don’t miss out… I just never thought about how disconnected that made me from the real world before, but now it’s hitting me hard in the face. Watching Zack switch off from me completely when things were so good between us just a moment before is really challenging. I don’t know how to handle it.

I grab my drink and glug it back, hoping that we can just be me and him again soon enough. Zack reads what is in front of him and types back a message, all while ignoring my existence completely. I’m sure that once up on a time, this sort of behavior would have been considered incredibly rude. Not now though.