Chapter Thirty-Eight
Eliza
I practically skipped into work that morning. When Mae saw me, she burst out laughing.
“What happened to your hair?” she asked.
My hands flew to my head. “My hair? Why? What’s wrong with it? It was fine when I left for work this morning.”
“Well, it’s not fine anymore. You need a brush. It’s all over the place.”
I chuckled. “Oh, that’s probably because Ian took me to work this morning on his bike. It’s helmet hair.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Ian took you to work? Did I just hear that correctly?”
I laughed. “Oh yeah, I have a lot to tell you. Is John here?”
She shook her head. “Nope. He’s out this morning at some meeting, and he took Paul with him. So we have the office to ourselves. I’ll make the coffee.”
Mae came back moments later holding two steaming cups of coffee and we both took a sip and sighed. I sat down at my desk and Mae pulled up a chair.
“Right. Tell me everything.”
I told her about how there was a place that I knew Ian went to when he wanted to clear his head.
“I figured he’d come there eventually, but I wasn’t sure how often I would have to go. I mean, I needed to get both the day and the time just perfect. But, somehow, the stars were aligned in our favor. I was only there for probably less than half an hour when he pulled up.”
“No freaking way!” Mae said and squealed with delight. She was a fantastic audience to have.
“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it. He sat down, surprised to see me there. And before I knew it we were both apologizing. He said he didn’t blame me. He just thought I didn’t want to see him again. We talked it out, just like you suggested, and we made up.”
“You made up?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Just kissing?”
I shook my head and felt the color rising to my face.
“Hang on a second! Are you telling me that the two of you had sex out there? Isn’t it out in the open?”
I giggled. “Yeah, it’s sort of open. I mean, I don’t think anyone could see us, but there was a slight possibility that someone would walk past. But I don’t think either of us really cared at that moment.”
“You did it out there? On the grass?”
I laughed. “We sure did. And he officially asked me to be his girlfriend.”
She put her mug down and leaned in to hug me. “Oh Eliza, I’m so happy for you. Did you spend the rest of the weekend with him?”
“I sure did. I slept over there last night too, and he dropped me off this morning.”
“I must say, you look happy. And I’m happy for you. This one is a keeper.”
“I think so too.”
“And John is going to be happy.”
“John? Why?”
Mae chuckled. “The poor guy felt so uncomfortable seeing you so sad. He’s such a guy.”
I laughed. “So, come on now. When are the two of you going to finally admit to each other that you like one another? It’s so obvious. Even Ian said so, and he doesn’t even know you that well. He said the guy is hooked.”
Mae grinned. She took a sip of her coffee and just smiled at me.
“You guys finally told each other!”
“Oh man, I’ve been dying to tell you.”
“And you let me go on about Ian all this time! You should’ve told me.”
“Nah, you had pretty big news too. I wanted to hear about Ian.”
“Okay, but enough about that now. Tell me everything. How did it happen?”
“Well, I was supposed to do a bit of work on the weekend, and on Sunday I realized that I’d left the file on my desk. So I made my way to the office, but then I couldn’t find the key anywhere. I called John to see if maybe there was a spare one hidden somewhere, like in a pot plant or something. He said he’d swing by and let me in. So he came by, and we went inside the office together to get my file. And while we were there we just ended up talking. I had made us a cup of coffee, and we were sitting in the conference room because it was the warmest place inside to be. We were just talking about random stuff, and suddenly he just blurted out that he liked me.”
“Smooth,” I said.
“Yeah,” she giggled. “It was so out of the blue that it took both of us by surprise. Then I told him that I liked him, too. And before I knew it, we were kissing.”
“You kissed! Finally. How was it?” I had been waiting for this moment to happen ever since I knew that Mae liked him. I still couldn’t believe that it had taken this long.
“I knew I had been waiting for John for a reason. I’ve kissed many guys before in my past, but it wasn’t like this. This was perfect. Fairy-tale perfect. I have never experienced anything like that in my life. I mean, I know what you experienced with Ian now. Like I just sort of sat there in shock afterward.”
“Oh wow. I can’t believe it finally happened. I’m so excited for you.”
“But that’s not all.”
“It’s not?”
“Oh, no. One kiss wasn’t enough.”
“Oh yeah? I like where this story is going. Tell me more!”
“There were a lot of pent up emotions that we’d gathered up over the year. I found out that he had liked me for a very long time. Even longer than I had liked him. We’ve both been keeping those feelings inside us the whole time, so the moment we kissed, it was obvious that we were going to do more.”
“Are you about to tell me that you had sex with John in the conference room?” I asked. I couldn’t believe it. I decided not to tell her that Ian and I had beaten her to it. I didn’t want to take away from her big moment. I’d tell her one day when the whole thing had settled down a bit more.
She chuckled. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m going to tell you. We did it on the conference room table. It was the most incredible thing ever. I mean, it sort of makes sense that our first time having sex would be at work, don’t you think? Seeing as though that’s where this whole love affair started.”
“It is actually kind of perfect,” I admitted. “So, that was last night? What happened afterward?”
“Well, nothing really. We laughed and talked, and everything sort of went back to normal, which was pretty incredible. I went back home, and he went back home. And then, this morning, at like six o’clock, he knocked on my door.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, he wanted to talk to me before work. He said he couldn’t sleep. And I had this sinking feeling that he was going to tell me that he can’t be with me. But next thing I knew we were kissing again. I know it’s going to sound clichéd, but last night we had sex on the table, and this morning we made love on my bed. Both pretty incredible moments.”
“And, did you ever get to talk?”
“We did. And we’ve decided to give it a go. We both know it might be awkward with working together, but we’re willing to try. And anyway, I don’t see it being all that different from how it was before. I mean, we both flirted shamelessly, anyway.”
“That’s true. And it won’t be awkward. The two of you are meant to be together. Wow, this is big news, Mae. Is he coming in at all today?”
“Yeah, he’ll be back later. He said he’s going to tell Paul while they are out, and I said I’d tell you. It will only be a bit weird today, and I’m sure after that it will be back to normal.”
“Normal is overrated, anyway,” I said and grinned at her. Just then my phone rang, and I moaned. “Who is interrupting our gossip session? Ah, it’s my mother. Let me get it.”
Mae pushed off back to her desk while I answered the phone.
“Hi, Mom,” I said. I still hadn’t completely forgiven her for everything that had happened, but she was my mom, and I still loved her regardless. “How’s it going?”
“Hi, darling. I’m fine. I just wanted to see how things were there.”
“Things are great,” I said as I surveyed the room around me.
“Have you spoken to Raymond at all?” she asked.
“Nope. And I don’t think I will. Have you?”
“I saw him at the store the other day, but he walked right by me,” she said.
“That’s good. There’s no point pretending anymore.”
“I guess you’re right. Well, I just wanted to know when you were coming home. I mean, now that the whole thing with Raymond is over, you don’t really have to be there. Do you?”
I knew what my mom was getting at. She was asking me in a roundabout way whether or not I was still seeing Ian. She just didn’t know how to say it out loud.
I looked at Mae, who had headphones in and was bobbing her head to whatever music she was listening to, and grinned. “I am home.”