The Boss Crush

Pressing his hands into the top of my desk, he pushes himself up. “Here, let me give you your seat back.” He pulls out the chair for me and walks to the front of the desk. “So, the reason I’m here is because I need you to stay late today. We’re starting the new campaign as you know, and I like to get ahead. Does that work for you? Can you stay?”

“Yeah, absolutely. I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”

I want to prove myself to Lyle and his sister. I want them to know I’m a hard worker, and that I’ll go the extra mile. Plus, after being late my first day, I kind of feel like I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to. I didn’t make a good first impression, but I can make a lasting second one.

“Good,” he says, heading for the door. He’s about to leave, when he stops and turns. Tapping a finger against his lips, he smirks. “And for the record, I wasn’t just talking about the view out your window.” Lyle winks, and then disappears into the hall.

My cheeks blush instantly, and my stomach twists like corded rope. Lyle Vox checked me out, and he flirted with me. What dimension did I wake up in?

This is surreal. Never in my life did I expect to be here, getting hit on by my high school crush. Life really does have a way of surprising you.

The rest of the day goes by quickly. I spend some time researching the sneakers for the campaign, coming up with teasers, and looking for advertising platforms that fit the brand.

There’s a knock at my door, and I look up to see Giada. “You’re staying late?” she asks.

“Yeah, Mr. Vox wants to get some stuff done so we’re ahead of this project.”

She nods and smiles. “Yeah, get used to this. Mr. Vox is always trying to get ahead of the next project. Well, I’ll see you on Monday. Have a nice weekend.”

“Thanks, you too. See you Monday.”

Burying my head back into the pile of papers, I sort and make copies, send out emails to the list Giada gave me earlier in the day, and put together a few different mock art images to start the project.

The office is quiet, I’m the only one left, everyone else went home a long time ago. I’m not even keeping an eye on the time, because it doesn’t matter to me. I won’t leave until I finish everything that was assigned to me.

“Knock, knock.” Lyle’s voice hits me in the chest, and I hold my breath. Looking up, he’s standing in the doorway with a bag in his hand. “I felt bad you were here working late, so I grabbed Chinese for dinner.”

Am I dreaming? Rubbing my eyes, I open them again. I’m not dreaming.

I can smell the food, and it smells amazing. Lyle gives me a smile and nods his head. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Why? Is it hard to believe I’d do something nice for someone?”

“No, it’s not that. I just thought with all this work, you’d want me to eat at my desk.”

“I’ve got a better place to eat. Come on, you’re not eating alone.”

I follow him to an elevator in his office. He looks at me with a smile in his eyes and hits the button.

“Look at this, now this is fancy. A private elevator in your office. . . My view has nothing on this.”

“There are some perks to owning the company.”

The doors open, and we both climb on. I can feel Lyle looking at me, studying me, observing me with curiosity.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing,” he says, turning to face the doors. “You look different is all, the same, but different.”

He does remember me.

“Yeah, well, so do you. It’s been what, six years?”

“Seven and a half to be exact,” he says casually. “But I did see you once a few years ago in a bar outside of Philly while I was on a business trip.”

“Philly. . .” I think back, remembering one of my trips to visit Kira. “Okay, I was probably visiting Kira. She moved out there after college.” Dancing my eyes over his, I smile lightly. “How come you didn’t come say hello?”

Shrugging a shoulder, he adjusts the box in his arms. “You looked like you were having fun, I didn’t want to ruin it for you.”

Ruined? How would he have ruined anything?

Before I can ask him what he means, the doors open to the roof. Lyle steps through the doors, holding out one arm and spinning in a circle. “Welcome to my secret playground.”

“Your secret playground, huh?”

Looking around, there’s a long grass strip running the length of the roof, with a few chairs facing out toward the Hudson. String lights wrap a few of the wires, creating a soft glow around us.