Eastern Lights (Compass 2)

When he turned to look my way, chills raced down my spine to the point that the box of chocolates almost dropped to the ground.

“Aaliyah?” he asked, his dark eyes staring into mine.

“Uh, yes?” I asked, sounding unsure.

“You’re here to meet with Connor?”

“Yes?” I said again—as if it were a question.

He nodded once. “Follow me.”

I looked at the receptionist to make sure this man wasn’t going to murder me, but she’d already moved on to a different task. We walked down the hallway, and the knots that sat in the pit of my stomach hadn’t dissipated. I felt like an asshat walking down the halls with a bouquet. What sane woman brings a grown man a bouquet?

A desperate one, I supposed.

We paused in front of an office door, and the man knocked two times before being told to come in.

“Aaliyah is here for your meeting,” the somber man stated, nodding in my direction after opening the door. Across the way sat Connor, who stood from his seat quickly. He wore a light blue button-down with navy blue slacks, along with a belt that had probably cost more than my whole wardrobe if he shopped anything like Jason.

“Thanks, Damian. You can close the door behind her,” Connor said, nodding toward the man who escorted me. “Aaliyah, come in, have a seat.” As I began to walk toward the chair, Connor slapped his hand against his upper thigh. “Wait, Damian—I almost forgot.”

“Please don’t do this right now,” Damian said dryly.

“Come on, we can’t avoid our daily banter,” Connor insisted.

“It’s not daily banter. It’s you being idiotic.”

They must’ve had a different kind of boss-employee relationship. If I’d said those words to Maiv, I would’ve been attending my funeral the following week. Cause of death would be a heel to my ass.

Connor rounded his desk and took a seat on the edge of the wooden structure. He crossed his arms, and a wicked smirk found his lips. “Why did the ketchup blush?”

Damian let out a dramatic sigh. “I don’t know. Why, Connor?”

A childish chuckle escaped Connor before he proudly said, “Because it saw the salad dressing.”

I couldn’t hold in my laughter. It was clever and corny, two of my favorite things.

“Oh please don’t encourage him with your laughter. It only pushes him to find worse jokes,” Damian said in a monotone voice.

Connor gestured toward me. “No, she just knows good humor. You have to admit, Damian, that’s a good one.”

“It was a good one, but it kind of makes me sad seeing that you are using the same jokes as before,” I said. “I didn’t take you as a guy who recycled jokes.”

Connor cocked an eyebrow. “I used that joke on you before?”

“About two years ago, yup.”

“No way…” He blew out a cloud of smoke. “I need to do better. Though, it is remarkable that you remembered the exact joke that I told you two years back.”

“What can I say? You left an impression on me,” I said with a shrug.

“You two know each other?” Damian asked, confused.

“We met once on a random Halloween night two years ago,” I explained.

Damian seemed a bit intrigued, which surprised me. I didn’t know he could look anything more than monotone. “That’s Red?”

Connor grew a bit flustered as I smirked. “So, you talked about me to people, huh?”

“Just here and there,” he calmly stated.

“Are you joking? You met me a few months after that situation. You went on and on about how that woman changed your life. You couldn’t shut up about how perfect and wonderful and life-changing—”

“Okayyy, Damian, now is not the time for you to adopt a chatty personality. You can go get back to work,” Connor said, hurriedly ushering Damian out of the room. He was quick to close the door behind him, and when he returned to the front of his desk, he looked like a boy who’d got caught in the act.

“I swear, the guy never talks, and this is when he decides to blurt out all his thoughts,” he said, shaking his head.

“Sounds like I left an impression on you, too.”

He smiled. “Without a doubt.” The mirth that radiated from Connor’s face stayed as he shook his head but then a somberness fell over him. “I was kind of surprised to hear you wanted to meet.” He narrowed his eyes, and the jollity he’d possessed seconds ago transformed into concern. “How are you doing?”

Why was that question almost enough to send me into a tailspin of emotions?

I shook my head and shrugged. “As well as one could imagine, but that’s not why I’m here.” I looked down at the gifts in my hand and shoved them out in front of me. “These are for you.”

He raised an intrigued brow. “Uh, thank you?”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know if guys like getting flowers, but if it were me, I’d love getting flowers. I went with roses because, basic safe route, even though I’m more of a sunflower girl myself. Anyway, here you go.”