Christian

I set my phone down and sighed. She was definitely jealous about Brio, and in a weird way, that made me happy. She did like me, and I knew damn well she was interested, but she was resisting. Hopefully, after our trip to Chicago, she would feel differently.

Picking up my phone, I sent a text message to Claire.

“Hi, Claire. Thank you for tonight.”

“You’re welcome, Christian, but I hated doing that to my best friend. If I didn’t think you were the right guy for her, I wouldn’t have done it.”

“I know you wouldn’t have and I appreciate it. I’ll see you tomorrow at the office.”

“See you tomorrow.”

The next morning, I stopped at Starbucks to grab a cup of coffee before heading into the office. As I stepped inside, I turned around to see if anyone was behind me to hold the door open. That was when I saw Eloise walk up.

“Good morning.” I smiled.

“Christian. Good morning,” she spoke as she looked at me with confusion. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have coffee at your office?” She smirked.

“I do, but sometimes I like to stop here and grab a cup on the way. What about you? Don’t you have a coffee maker at home?”

“I do, but I like what Starbucks has to offer better.”

“Actually, I’m glad I ran into you. Since we’re leaving tomorrow morning for Chicago, I thought maybe sometime today or tonight, we could sit down and go over a few ideas for the shoot.”

“I was wondering about that. I thought maybe you just trusted me enough to wing it.” She grinned.

“I do, but I think it’s in both our best interest to have a meeting first. Just so neither one of us catches the other off guard.”

“I agree. I’m sure dinner is out of the question since you’re probably going out with that woman from last night.”

“Actually, I haven’t set anything up with her yet, so I am free tonight. That is, if you’re free. Or are you planning on attending another singles mixer?”

She let out a light laugh, which made my smile grow wide.

“I think I’m done with those singles mixers.”

“Then how about dinner? Strictly professional.” I put up my hands. “All we’ll talk about is business.”

She glared at me for a moment and then the woman that was standing behind her spoke up.

“You’d be crazy not to have dinner with him. Even if it is strictly business.” She winked.

Eloise turned and looked at me.

“Dinner will be fine, but I can’t be out late since our flight leaves at an ungodly hour in the morning.”

“I agree. I can pick you up around six o’clock.”

“Just tell me which restaurant and I’ll meet you there at six.” She smirked.

“Shit, honey, I’d give anything for him to come to my house and pick me up,” the woman behind her spoke.

I gave the woman a small smile and then it was my turn to order.

“Your coffee is on me today, Eloise. Tell her what you want. And you also, miss.” I smiled.

As soon as our coffee was ready, the woman thanked me and began fanning herself while she looked at Eloise as she walked out of Starbucks.

“That was nice of you to buy her coffee. You made her day,” Eloise spoke.

“It’s the least I could do since she was rooting for me.” I smirked.

“How about Tavern on the Green tonight?” she asked as we both walked out the door.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you at six.” I winked as I walked down the street and hailed a cab.

What a way to start off the day. I could spend every morning seeing her first thing before heading into the office. She looked as beautiful as ever, and not only was I looking forward to our dinner tonight, I couldn’t wait to spend the next three days with her in Chicago.

When I arrived at the office, my phone dinged with a text message from Digits. A smile crossed my lips.

“Good morning, sunshine!”

“Good morning. You seem to be in a good mood. Feeling better from last night?”

“I am. I wanted to thank you for listening to me last night. I know I kind of dumped a lot on you.”

“You’re welcome. That’s what friends are for. Plus, I like being here for you.”

“Thanks. I’m here for you too, Mobile Man. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t. I appreciate you, Digits.”

“I appreciate you too. Any progress on the woman situation?”

“A little bit.” I sent the smiley emoji.

“Good to hear. I just got home and need to start doing some work now. Catch ya later?”

“Always. Catch ya later, Digits. Have a great day.”

“You too, Mobile Man.”

“I already am.”

After an awesome productivity meeting with my staff, Peter followed me back to my office.

“Guess who has a date tonight?” he spoke.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you do.”

“That’s right.” He smirked. “I texted Rebecca this morning and we’re having dinner tonight.”

“Is she the blonde you were talking to at the singles mixer?”

“She sure is.” He grinned.

“Good for you, Peter. I’m having dinner tonight with Eloise. We’re going to go over some ideas for the Chanel shoot.”

“Looks like we’re both scoring tonight.” He fist-bumped me.

“My dinner is strictly business.”

“How are things going with that chick you text every day? Any chance of meeting her yet?”

“Nah. She likes things the way they are and I respect that.”

“I still think she’s probably some two-hundred-fifty-pound girl who sits on the couch with a computer in her lap all day. Why else wouldn’t she want to meet you? She’s probably embarrassed by the way she looks.”

“Looks aren’t everything. She’s a nice girl and I like talking to her.”

“Suit yourself, bro. I still think it’s fucking weird, and looks aren’t everything? Yeah, right.” He laughed.

“Don’t you have work to do?” I asked with annoyance.

“Yeah. I’ll see you later.”