So Two Years Ago
Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen:
Andy texted me periodically throughout the rest of the day to complain about how bored he was. Geez, doesn’t this guy ever work? Between the texting, random conversation with Natalie and my other co-workers, and actually doing work, 5 o’clock rolled around quickly.
I sat at my desk and watched various people stand from their desks and start on their ways home. At around 5:10pm, I noticed Jack step out of his office. Eager to leave the room I’d been sitting in all day, I got up from my desk and picked up my purse from the floor.
Jack approached me with a friendly smile on his lips. “Ready to go?
“Yep,” I grinned back, actually kind of excited to be going out to dinner with him. I mean, I’d never had a “cool boss” before. I think it’s going to be nice now that I’ve got one.
He lead me out of the building and through the cars parked outside, stopping beside a black Land Rover. He was going to drive both of us to the restaurant, then drop me back at the office building to get my car. “The restaurant isn’t too far from here,” he began as pulled out his keys to unlock the car. “But I didn’t want to make you walk. Didn’t think that’d be too proper of me.”
“Walking would be fine, actually. We wouldn’t have to sit in traffic.”
“Good thinking.”
So, we walked. The restaurant was only a few blocks away, and walking definitely took much less time than driving would have.
We were seated as soon as we arrived, as Jack had called ahead and made reservations. It wasn’t a terribly fancy place, but it was definitely a far cry from the Applebee’s a few blocks over. We ordered pretty soon after we sat down, and started on some friendly conversation.
“So, you went to school in Philadelphia,” Jack began.
“Yep. I lived in Philly my entire life. Until now, of course.”
“Well, how are you enjoying Chicago so far?”
“I like it. It was kind of scary getting lost my first day in town, but I’d have to say that’s the only bad thing that’s happened to me since I’ve moved.”
“Lost?” He said with a chuckle.
“Hey, I was new to city,” I defended myself.
We continued our conversation on each others’ hometowns after our food was served. Turns out, he was from Toronto, but had moved to the Chicago area when he was in high school. He started working as an independent filmmaking once he’d graduated from high school, recording on a regular camcorder. He eventually became successful enough working as a filmmaking, that he was able to start his own production company.
Halfway through our meal, the topic of conversation shifted suddenly from hometowns and backgrounds to our preferences in significant others.
“I like a woman who’s goal-oriented. Someone who’s got big plans for herself and the determination to follow through with them. Like you, Tessa. You know that you want to work in film, and that’s what you’re doing.”
Did he just blatantly tell me that I was his type? I chose not to jump to conclusions, though, and simply grinned modestly as he continued.
“Honestly, Tessa. You remind me of my ex-girlfriend. Well, you remind me of her good qualities, I mean. None of those things that lead to our break-up.” He was smiling in the way that men sometimes do when they’re trying to charm a girl. He was trying to charm me.
In my head, I was freaking out a little bit, but I kept my cool on the outside. “Oh. Well, thanks, I guess.” He kept on smiling. “Um, would you excuse me for just one second?”
“No problem.”
I grabbed my bag and headed for the bathroom, fumbling through my things for my phone. I found it as I walked into the restroom, and immediately began to text the first person I thought of: Andy.
omg. i’m freaking out. help!
He responded quickly. why? what happened?
my boss is basically hitting on me. i wanna get out of here w/o making it obvious that he’s creeping me out a little.
he’s hitting on you?? geez…. just tell him your friend andy is sick and needs your help.
you think that’ll work?
sure. it sounds legit. i’ll call you in a few minutes to ask you to leave.
alright. thanks so much andy.
I returned to the table, slightly comforted in knowing that I’d be leaving soon. Not a minute after I sat down, my cell phone began ringing. I tried not to look too excited as I answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, guess who,” Andy said with a snicker.
“Oh, hi, Andy. What’s up?” I did what I could to act natural.
“You ready to get outta there?”
“Uh-huh,” I said in the way you would when someone was explaining something and you wanted to assure them you were listening.
“Alright, well, if you wanna come over, we’re all at Patrick’s place, so you won’t have to drive out of your way to Wilmette.” He sounded like he wanted me to come over, and I wanted me to, as well, if only to get this creepy feeling out of my bones.
“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Really?”
“Yea.”
“Cool. See you soon.”
“Bye.”
I hung up with a look of concern on my face.
“Everything alright?” Jack said with a raised brow.
“My boyfriend’s sick. I need to go over to his place.” Boyfriend? Did I just say boyfriend?
“Oh,” he seemed shocked by the word boyfriend, but tried to hide it. “Would you like me to walk you back to your car?”
“No, that’s alright. I’ll be fine. Thanks so much for the dinner, Jack. It’s nice to have a boss who actually wants to know his employees.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And with that I was out of the restaurant as quickly as possible, walking swiftly toward the office building and my car. The idea of my boss trying to woo me had been giving me the heebie-jeebies, but my mind was becoming more and more preoccupied with my use of that word: boyfriend. That certainly wasn’t part of the plan Andy and I had come up with, but my mind unconsciously labeled my “sick friend, Andy” as my “sick boyfriend, Andy. That one word stayed on my mind for my entire drive to Glenview.
Andy texted me periodically throughout the rest of the day to complain about how bored he was. Geez, doesn’t this guy ever work? Between the texting, random conversation with Natalie and my other co-workers, and actually doing work, 5 o’clock rolled around quickly.
I sat at my desk and watched various people stand from their desks and start on their ways home. At around 5:10pm, I noticed Jack step out of his office. Eager to leave the room I’d been sitting in all day, I got up from my desk and picked up my purse from the floor.
Jack approached me with a friendly smile on his lips. “Ready to go?
“Yep,” I grinned back, actually kind of excited to be going out to dinner with him. I mean, I’d never had a “cool boss” before. I think it’s going to be nice now that I’ve got one.
He lead me out of the building and through the cars parked outside, stopping beside a black Land Rover. He was going to drive both of us to the restaurant, then drop me back at the office building to get my car. “The restaurant isn’t too far from here,” he began as pulled out his keys to unlock the car. “But I didn’t want to make you walk. Didn’t think that’d be too proper of me.”
“Walking would be fine, actually. We wouldn’t have to sit in traffic.”
“Good thinking.”
So, we walked. The restaurant was only a few blocks away, and walking definitely took much less time than driving would have.
We were seated as soon as we arrived, as Jack had called ahead and made reservations. It wasn’t a terribly fancy place, but it was definitely a far cry from the Applebee’s a few blocks over. We ordered pretty soon after we sat down, and started on some friendly conversation.
“So, you went to school in Philadelphia,” Jack began.
“Yep. I lived in Philly my entire life. Until now, of course.”
“Well, how are you enjoying Chicago so far?”
“I like it. It was kind of scary getting lost my first day in town, but I’d have to say that’s the only bad thing that’s happened to me since I’ve moved.”
“Lost?” He said with a chuckle.
“Hey, I was new to city,” I defended myself.
We continued our conversation on each others’ hometowns after our food was served. Turns out, he was from Toronto, but had moved to the Chicago area when he was in high school. He started working as an independent filmmaking once he’d graduated from high school, recording on a regular camcorder. He eventually became successful enough working as a filmmaking, that he was able to start his own production company.
Halfway through our meal, the topic of conversation shifted suddenly from hometowns and backgrounds to our preferences in significant others.
“I like a woman who’s goal-oriented. Someone who’s got big plans for herself and the determination to follow through with them. Like you, Tessa. You know that you want to work in film, and that’s what you’re doing.”
Did he just blatantly tell me that I was his type? I chose not to jump to conclusions, though, and simply grinned modestly as he continued.
“Honestly, Tessa. You remind me of my ex-girlfriend. Well, you remind me of her good qualities, I mean. None of those things that lead to our break-up.” He was smiling in the way that men sometimes do when they’re trying to charm a girl. He was trying to charm me.
In my head, I was freaking out a little bit, but I kept my cool on the outside. “Oh. Well, thanks, I guess.” He kept on smiling. “Um, would you excuse me for just one second?”
“No problem.”
I grabbed my bag and headed for the bathroom, fumbling through my things for my phone. I found it as I walked into the restroom, and immediately began to text the first person I thought of: Andy.
omg. i’m freaking out. help!
He responded quickly. why? what happened?
my boss is basically hitting on me. i wanna get out of here w/o making it obvious that he’s creeping me out a little.
he’s hitting on you?? geez…. just tell him your friend andy is sick and needs your help.
you think that’ll work?
sure. it sounds legit. i’ll call you in a few minutes to ask you to leave.
alright. thanks so much andy.
I returned to the table, slightly comforted in knowing that I’d be leaving soon. Not a minute after I sat down, my cell phone began ringing. I tried not to look too excited as I answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, guess who,” Andy said with a snicker.
“Oh, hi, Andy. What’s up?” I did what I could to act natural.
“You ready to get outta there?”
“Uh-huh,” I said in the way you would when someone was explaining something and you wanted to assure them you were listening.
“Alright, well, if you wanna come over, we’re all at Patrick’s place, so you won’t have to drive out of your way to Wilmette.” He sounded like he wanted me to come over, and I wanted me to, as well, if only to get this creepy feeling out of my bones.
“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Really?”
“Yea.”
“Cool. See you soon.”
“Bye.”
I hung up with a look of concern on my face.
“Everything alright?” Jack said with a raised brow.
“My boyfriend’s sick. I need to go over to his place.” Boyfriend? Did I just say boyfriend?
“Oh,” he seemed shocked by the word boyfriend, but tried to hide it. “Would you like me to walk you back to your car?”
“No, that’s alright. I’ll be fine. Thanks so much for the dinner, Jack. It’s nice to have a boss who actually wants to know his employees.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And with that I was out of the restaurant as quickly as possible, walking swiftly toward the office building and my car. The idea of my boss trying to woo me had been giving me the heebie-jeebies, but my mind was becoming more and more preoccupied with my use of that word: boyfriend. That certainly wasn’t part of the plan Andy and I had come up with, but my mind unconsciously labeled my “sick friend, Andy” as my “sick boyfriend, Andy. That one word stayed on my mind for my entire drive to Glenview.