9. Rose
9
ROSE
After returning to my office with a lunch of veggie delight salad and an iced tea, I power on my computer. Before perching back in my office seat, I check the water level in the moisture sensor of my small bowstring hemp plant.
When I unlock my PC, there’s an unopened email in my inbox from Zander.
The tea almost slips from my grip as I see his name.
I place the cold bottle on the table and wipe the spilled drops.
Something tickles inside me as I read his email.
From : Zander Teager
Subject : New Project
To : Rosemary Marlin
Dear Miss Marlin,
I read the report about your latest project. I’m very impressed and would like to discuss more. Would you meet me in my office at 4 today?
Waiting for your response .
Zander Teager
CEO, Elixir Inc.
I chew on my lips, mulling over how to reply. My eyes focus on his words waiting for your response.
You weren’t so nervous last night while texting him. Don’t make it a bigger deal than it is. He’s your boss and he’s just curious about your work.
I spend a few more minutes giving myself a pep talk before my trembling fingers type him a response.
From : Rosemary Marlin
Subject : New Project
To : Zander Teager
Dear Mr. Teager,
I’ll see you at 4.
Rosemary Marlin
Lead Data Scientist, Elixir Inc.
At four, I stand outside the corner office that has a new gold nameplate with Zander’s name written on it.
I knock softly.
When the door doesn’t open, I knock again.
I try to turn the knob, but it’s locked.
Did he forget our meeting?
The foreign tingling in my heart is immediately replaced by a familiar feeling of embarrassment. I peek around. Did anyone see me lurking outside the CEO’s office?
I’m about to leave when a tall frame looms over me.
Turning around, I find Zander standing with his hands full, holding a paper bag and two coffee mugs from Steamy Beans.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize there would be such a long line.”
He looks out of breath, as if he rushed his way back to the office.
My heart does a weird, happy dance when he gives me his lopsided grin, reveling in the knowledge that his dimple is exclusively for me.
“No…worries. I was afraid, um…that you forgot.”
“You are hard to forget, couch girl.”
His curious gaze holds me captive, and I can’t look away. His brown eyes shine as afternoon sun rays fall on his face, filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the lobby. The five o’clock shadow on his face makes him look impossibly handsome.
Why the hell is he wasting his precious time with me? The voice in my head whispers, and I try my best to ignore it.
Our locked gazes break when the printer in the adjoining copy room whirrs and I look away.
“Marr, can you take out the keys?” He cocks his head toward the right pocket of his jacket.
I blink rapidly. He…wants me to…put my hands…inside his jacket? I look nervously at him and then to his pocket and then back at his face. My cheeks flush at his simple request, and I tug on my sleeves.
“Or can you hold this?” He brings the paper bag forward, and I grab it eagerly.
Anything to get that door open.
“Come in.” Zander leads me inside his office after unlocking the door.
“I didn’t know about this room,” I murmur, looking around at the high-definition projector screen, brown leather couch, slick desk, and the sleek silver laptop resting on top of it.
“Yeah, I declared it as my own on my first visit to Cherrywood when we purchased the building.” He smirks, sinking gracefully into the leather chair.
While I sit with a thousand butterflies fluttering in my stomach, Zander leans forward and opens the paper bag.
How does he do it?
Make a mundane activity of unpacking dessert some sort of sensual act. Watching his long fingers meticulously unwrap the two slices of pie, my face warms.
“I got us each a custard pie. I didn’t know what else you liked,” he says, catching my gaze.
“Thank you,” I reply, torn between the desire to look at his face and the anxiety forcing me to look anywhere but at him.
After passing me a coffee mug and a piece of pie with a plastic fork on the side, Zander places a few paper napkins between us.
“You wanted…to discuss something?” I ask, taking a sip of the latte macchiato.
He nods before wiping his mouth. “I’m very interested in the project. I’d like to know more. What’s the current state? Do you need some support from us? How much time does your team need to make it ready for alpha release?”
I place my coffee back on the table and rub my hands on my jeans, unable to decide which question to answer first. “Um Zander, I mean Mr. Teager—”
“Marr, I thought we settled on the name issue yesterday.” His honey-sweet voice makes my heart stop.
When I don’t reply immediately, he raises an eyebrow, an amused smile on his lips.
“Yeah, yeah.” I fix my glasses and run my tongue over my dry lips. “The thing is, there is no team…working on this. I started it, um…as a side project.”
His eyes flare in surprise. “When do you work on it?”
“Mostly weekends and some evenings…when I don’t have much to do.”
Great. Why don’t I just plaster on my forehead that I’ve no life outside of work?
My cheeks warm with embarrassment.
“You should never be embarrassed about loving your work.” He gives me a kind, encouraging smile. “So, show me where are you with this project.”
“I-I don’t have my laptop with me. I can get it.” I put the fork down and am about to stand when Zander interrupts me.
“Is the project data on the company server or your personal computer?”
“Everything is on the server.” It’s Elixir’s policy to safeguard against any data loss.
“Then use my laptop.” He turns the said device toward me, taking me by surprise.
“A-are you sure?”
“Of course.”
When I make no move, Zander gets up and stands behind me. Leaning forward, he fires up his laptop, and I inhale his earthy smell up close.
It’s intoxicating.
“It’s connected to the screen.” He turns his head in the direction of the projector.
Before straightening back, he gives me a smile. His face is so close to mine that I worry he can hear the wild thumping of my heart.
I login to the server with trembling fingers, and twice, I enter the wrong password. It’s a good thing Zander is back in his seat and can’t see my clumsy movements.
Taking heavy breaths, I try to compose myself while searching for the data.
When I have what I need, I pull my gaze away from the laptop to find Zander peering at me with a pleasant smile.
“Ready?” he asks .
“I don’t know what to say, Marr. When you said it was a side project, I didn’t expect this level of perfection and complexity. If it’s okay with you, I want this idea to be pitched to our sales and marketing team. That’s Zach’s department.”
Holy crab. Why didn’t I think of that? But he surprises me again.
“I’ll ask Kristy to prepare the presentation and arrange for a meeting with Zach’s team.” He’s already opened a blank email, ready to write Kristy.
“You don’t want me to present?” I blurt, putting my foot in my mouth.
Zander’s eyebrows shoot up, and this time, it’s his turn to hesitate. “I…thought you didn’t like giving presentations. Did I understand wrong?”
I shake my head in embarrassment. Why did I dig my own grave?
“Doesn’t it bother you that…” I don’t finish the sentence, because I don’t know what to include and what to skip. There’s a huge list of things that one can find annoying in me.
“Does it bother you that it took me three reads to fully understand your email?” he asks, and I’m startled by his strange question. “Didn’t Einstein say something about not judging a fish for its tree climbing abilities?”
Even through the tension, my lips curl into a smile.
“What?” He inquires with a bemused smile of his own.
“I never took you for a guy quoting Einstein.”
“I can be mysterious, couch girl.” He winks at me, and that tingling is back in my heart.
My phone vibrates, reminding me it’s time to go home.
I quickly check Kristy’s calendar online and see that she’s not in a meeting. Then why isn’t she here already?
I leave my office in hopes to find her with Oscar, but my steps come to a halt outside the office of the HR manager, Brenda.
“Do you think Zander Teager is gay?” Brenda asks someone.
“Nah, I think his brother meant it as a joke.”
I don’t recognize the other person’s voice.
“Uh-huh. But he’s not seen with many women. With those looks and that bod, girls should be falling head over heels for him. Do you think he’s single?”
I barely hear Brenda over the rustling of plastic.
Are they discussing Zander over a bag of chips?
My stomach hardens at the thought. How do people think they have the right to discuss and dissect someone else’s life?
“I hope so. As long as he’s single, I still have my chance with him.” The other girl laughs.
“Same here,” Brenda replies before they both start giggling.
I don’t like the thought of Zander with Brenda, or whoever the other person is. I turn around, ready to stomp back into my office, forgetting Kristy.
But two steps in and I hit a wall. A warm wall.
I feel the heat of Zander’s hands through my flannel as he grabs my shoulders.
“I-I’m sorry.” I gaze up at him, lightheaded.
Why does it have to be him?
“Where are you going in such hurry?” he asks, composed as ever while I’m brimming with foreign irritation and weird jitters.
“I’m…looking for Kristy,” I reply, creating a good distance between us.
“I saw her outside your office.” He tilts his head behind him .
Of course she’d be there now.
“Thank you,” I whisper before making a run for my office.
“How was your day? Anything special happen?” Kristy asks as I place the paper bag containing our dinner on the kitchen counter.
“Why do you ask?” As I remember my meeting with Zander earlier in the day, my insides tingle and the warm feverish feeling returns, heating my face.
“I got an email from Zander about your fabulous work. He says he wants me to pitch it to the sales team.” She arches an eyebrow at me.
“Um, okay.” Avoiding eye contact, I slide onto a barstool next to her and open my salad box.
“Um, okay? This is all you’re telling me?” She turns toward me, forcing me to do the same. “You met with him today?” Her eyes gleam with excitement.
I gently nod, trying to not make a big deal out of it.
“And?”
“He asked me to give him details on the project.” I shrug, pushing my fork into the mozzarella ball.
“But no one knows about this project except Oscar and me.” Kristy’s full attention is still on me.
“I told him in a text.” I look at her under my eyelashes as she does a double take. “I mean, he texted me first, asking what I was doing. So, I sent him a picture of the code.”
“You guys are texting?” Her mouth hangs open, her eyes as wide as saucers.
“Yeah, he took my number in the café. When you left me alone with him!” I try to put some blame on her plate.
“Hold on, this is my chance to be pissed off. You cannot hijack my moment like this.” She gives me an irritated look for a few more seconds before her lips curl into a wide smile. Her hands clasp together above her chest. “Holy shit. Zander Teager, the reputable bachelor, is crushing on you.”
My pulse speeds up, my head becoming light. But then I remember his face when he told me how he can’t say my name.
Stupid, Rose.
“I…don’t think that’s true, Kris. I think, I just confuse him.”
“You leave the job of interpretation to me. Just tell me everything, and I mean everything that happened between you and him so far.”
My words have no effect on her excitement.
“Nothing happened—”
“Everything!”
I shake my head in defeat. It’s better to cave in than sit here the whole night, so I explain everything to her.
“Holy crap. He said he finds you beguiling.”
My pulse quickens in false hope at her words.
“I think, I just confuse him,” I tell her again.
“What does that mean?” Kristy’s brows furrow.
“He can’t say my name, Kris. Don’t you think that’s weird?” I don’t tell her that this adds his name to the long list of people who find something wrong with me, something inadequate.
“What do you think it means if a guy says he can’t say your name, but you as a person beguile him?”
I jump at Kristy’s voice.
Ship. She’s on the phone, most likely asking Oscar’s opinion.
Why did she include him in this? He’s friends with Zander.
I thump my head against the table .
“Uh-huh.” She peers at me, but her face gives nothing away. “So, if you are really, really interested in me, you’d say I beguile you.”
Her eyes sparkle in delight, skyrocketing my pulse.
What are they discussing?
“So, what’s the deal with Zander? Why can’t he say Rosie’s name? It’s such a pretty name.”
Whoa, she didn’t just ask him that!
I elbow her, but she gives me the stink eye before rubbing her side and going back to listening whatever Oscar has to say.
“Yeah. They are texting now.” The way she stretches her lips, giving an extra emphasis on the word texting , it appears like she means something else with the word. “Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker.”
I shake my head, torn between curiosity and nervousness.
“Hey, Rose. How’s it going?”
“G-good.”
“You gave Zander your phone number?” There’s no hiding the surprise in Oscar’s words.
“Mm… yeah. I mean, he asked so—”
“You don’t need to explain anything to me, Rose. I’m just curious. I know how cautious you are about sharing your number.”
Oscar waits for a few moments, but when I don’t say anything, he finally breaks the silence.
“Zander is a great guy to be friends with. If the name thing bothers you so much, ask him. I’m sure he has a valid reason. But don’t let anyone railroad you into doing something you don’t like.”
Oscar ends the call, leaving me with mixed emotions and feeling more confused than before.
Later that night, I receive a new text.
Zander: Just so you know, I’m certainly not gay and very much single. Good night, couch girl.