8. Chapter Eight
One meeting after another, it’s finally time to head home. I cannot complain, as this makes the entrepreneur’s life enthralling.
Signing deals, making presentations, and serving clients with the best products while ensuring your staff are efficient and knowledgeable enough to deliver what is promised.
This life of a CEO also involves thinking on your feet more often than not, although I failed horribly at that today with the Lea situation.
I wonder how her first day at the office went. I had explicitly told Samantha to keep an eye on her and ensure no one bullies her.
She mentioned Lea stayed on our floor throughout the day and didn’t interact with the other recruits. Samantha seemed to have taken a liking to her, so it was no big deal for her to play older sister.
That we would work closely together leaves an unexplainable excitement in my heart. I have not felt this giddy about a person in years.
With the routine I had every day, it was almost impossible to make time out for feelings, love, or relationships.
I arrive in front of my house. The lights on at Lea’s means she’s back home. My mind wonders about what she is doing.
The cramped shopping bags from the mall fill the backseat of my car. Taking them out one after the other, I arrive at my doorstep and notice a takeout plate with a note placed on it.
The note reads:
‘I know you are a Master Chef, but sometimes, the chef needs to be cared for too. Thank you so much for today. XO, Lea’.
This gesture warmed my heart until it was at the temperature of the food itself. What can I tag all these emotions swelling inside of me?
Quickly, I take the food and the bags from the mall and bring them into the house. Surprising her as she just did me won’t be a bad idea.
The aroma of the food fills the air as I take it all in. Steak and baked potatoes. My all-time favorite meal. She seems to know the right buttons to press every time.
After a quick shower, I put on my joggers, signature black shirt, and the same Oud fragrance I had on last night. It is often said that everything appears pleasing in black, and I couldn’t agree more.
I dived into the meal and savored every mouthful. Since she gave me dinner, she must have had some for herself.
Dinner was now not an option, but we could watch a movie over a bowl of popcorn. Any excuse is valid to see her again tonight.
However, if she still wants dinner, I will not hesitate to choose the best meal for her. Anything to make her feel as happy.
I make a big bowl of popcorn and take a bottle of red wine with me.
Knocking gently on her door, my heart races as I wait for her to open up. My legs won’t stop pacing around, and I feel like a young boy meeting his long-time crush again after so many years.
Lea opens up, dressed in a pink long-sleeved shirt and a pair of white joggers. Her hair is wrapped up in a messy bun, and there’s a certain dimness in her eyes as she stands before me.
Had she been crying? Her eyes looked like it. I decided to lighten up the mood and say: “If you keep feeding me this way, I might grow fat and stay glued to the couch.”
She chuckles. “I should tell you that. You are the chef here, not me. Come on in.”
She gives me a hand with the bottle of red wine while I hold on to the bowl of popcorn steadily. I followed right behind, and a movie was showing on television already.
It looks like one of those sci-fi/adventure movies, and I’m not surprised. Lea has always had something for thrill and exploration.
I position myself close to her phone on the couch to ensure that we stay beside each other when she returns from getting a pair of glasses for us.
As predicted, she sits beside me and looks even more beautiful from the side view.
“You saved me today, even though it wasn’t in a way that I expected. I would have felt even worse if I lost the job. I also figured you would be tired when you got back from work, so making dinner for you seemed like the best thing to do.”
Our minds were in sync. She did for me what I had in mind to do for her.
“How was my fiancée’s first day at work?” I ask with genuine curiosity and an undertone of sarcasm.
“Oh, please stop it.” She tilts her head towards me a little and mildly shoves my arm.
“Samantha is even more excited about our engagement than I would be. She kept going on and on about it, and I couldn’t stop laughing. I really like her.”
That’s typical Samantha. She has a way of accommodating everyone and has made it a point of duty to always look out for everyone, like a mother hen looking out for her chicks.
“Well, she has been a powerful advocate for me to find love, so it’s no surprise that she is all over the woman I have introduced as my fiancée. She has tried to set me up on different blind dates, but I either forget them, or I get so busy and have no time to go. Left to Sam. I should be married by now with three kids.”
We both laugh at Samantha’s dedication to my love life and the heartache I must have caused her by my lack of dedication.
“I see. That explains her excitement better.” She must have gotten a foretaste of energetic Sam.
“My first day was okay. I mostly spent time with Sam and Dominic, the new IT recruit. I found out that he attended NYU as well. I didn’t know how the other recruits would treat me, and I didn’t want to find out. Staying in my lane or rather on my floor works best for me.”
She goes on and on about the new things she learned from Samantha, her eyes brimming with excitement. She mentioned the new five-star hotel project that we had just landed.
Her lips and their rhythmical movement, along with the gesticulations of her hands as she makes certain descriptions, hold my focus. Her voice serenades my ears, and I can continue listening to her forever.
“Damien? Are you listening to me?”
“Yea…yea,” I sound disoriented. Of course, I’m not listening, but I’m focused on your beautiful self, I’m tempted to say.
She asked me about my day, and I told her about my meetings and how they went. I also told her I had gone shopping for dinner, but since she already got something, I settled to make popcorn instead.
“Aww. That’s so thoughtful, Damien. We had the same ideas.”
Our eyes move to the TV. A scene from the movie playing shows a little boy trying to save his pet dog and frantically pacing around the garden, seeking herbs and whatever he can find to cure his dog’s ailment.
She laughs loudly at the scene, and I can vividly guess her recalled memory. It has been close to twenty years since that incident, but apparently, she is not over it.
“In my defense, I had Charmer from the day I was born. She was like the sibling I never had.”
“You wouldn’t eat for days because of Charmer. Kelvin and I practically had to force you to eat all the time. You got your mom worried sick with your lack of appetite.”
“You both were the closest humans I had to siblings, so I could listen to you. Charmer was our family pet. We all played with her every day. Thinking about it now, I should sue that kennel for the flu they gave my sweet pet, Charmer.”
“Yeah, right. You still cried like a baby, and nothing can justify that.”
She stuck her tongue out at me, and we laughed so hard, holding our tummies.
We go silent again, staring at the TV, but I notice she is absent-minded. The dim sparks in her eyes are glaring and I confirm she has been crying earlier before I came in.
“How are you really doing, Lea? How are you coping with the loss of your parents?”
She breathes out heavily in response to my question, which is not a good sign.