Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Nikolas
Two weeks had passed since my lunch with Leyla, and her offer to be my dating coach hung over me like a blinking notification I refused to click.
We were both extremely busy at work, which was a gift until I could decide what to do about it.
My team and I were putting in overtime to stay on schedule with the sunscreen project, so that was buying me time.
Leyla was just as busy. She had a few out-of-town meetings and a conference in New York, so we hadn’t seen each other much since then.
As anxious as I was about the idea of having Leyla help me practice date, I could not deny that I was starting to miss her and was looking forward to her getting back in town.
“Niko, I was hoping to go over the report that came back from our formulation technician,” Marshall said when I stepped out of my office. I checked my watch. It was almost five, and I was exhausted, but I knew I’d be wondering about the report all night.
Stretching my neck side to side, I motioned for him to step inside the office.
“Show me.”
He grimaced and said, “It’s a lot of information. I was heading out for the night, but I know this is important. Just wanted you to know I’m willing to stay, but we may be here a while.”
I nodded and looked at my cup on my desk.
“Let’s grab some coffee and come back. I don’t think I’ll be able to focus until I do.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be right behind you,” he said, heading to his desk.
My feet dragged toward the break room. I was starting to feel like I lived between my office, the lab, and the break room. The long hours reminded me of college, but I was older, and my body didn’t care for being forced to lean over a lab table or sit at a desk for twelve hours.
While bemoaning my decrepit-feeling bones, I walked into the room that smelled like this morning’s donuts and old coffee. Movement in the corner of the room made me tilt my head up.
My tired brain was not prepared to see Leyla digging through the refrigerator, muttering to herself. She spun around, a bottle of kombucha in her hand.
“Oh,” she squeaked, nearly dropping the bottle.
“You’re here,” we both said simultaneously.
She chuckled, and I rocked back on my heels. My mind and heart had a visceral reaction to her presence. We were staring at each other, she with her bottle, me with my plain, white coffee cup.
“I didn’t know you were back,” I said, trying to calm my racing heart.
“Didn’t know you were still here,” she said. Her creamy skin looked flushed, and I wondered if she had been running.
She dipped her head and set the bottle on the counter, then turned back to me. I noticed that she swallowed loudly, and I wondered why she hadn’t taken a sip of her drink if she was thirsty.
“I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said, her voice low. I didn’t want to miss anything she would say, so I walked closer to her.
Her neck stretched up, her eyes locked on mine now that I was about six feet from her. Those round emerald eyes seemed to glow brighter the longer I looked at them. Had she said something to me?
“Y-your eyes.” Oh no, what was I doing?
She took a step closer to me, making me suck in a breath.
“My eyes?” she whispered.
“I meant I haven’t seen your, I mean you in a while, either.”
“Does that you mean you missed me, Niko?”
“I missed you, boss lady.” Marshall’s deep voice broke the tension, and we backed away from each other like a gunshot. I’d forgotten he was coming to get coffee, too.
“Oh, hey, Marshall. Missed you, too,” Leyla said, grabbing her bottle and heading toward the door. “Don’t work too late, guys.” And then she was gone.
I glared at my fellow scientist, but his furrowed brows and shoulder shrug let me know he had no idea that he had inadvertently interrupted a moment as we both headed to make our coffees.
It was a moment, right?
Maybe I did need Leyla’s help more than I thought. I couldn’t even tell if that was flirting, tension, or exhaustion.
Pushing the coffee maker's button, I let my question go so I could keep my mind on finishing the report and going home.
The next morning, at the meeting with all the department heads, I sat in my usual spot, next to Leyla, who always sat at the head of the conference table. Everyone was talking animatedly, waiting for her arrival.
I’d worn my navy-blue blazer over a white button-down shirt, no tie, and a crisp pair of tailored chinos, matching the majority of men in the office. I’d thought I’d change it up a bit, as Mike had suggested.
Luke and Leyla walked to the door together just as the meeting was starting, mid-conversation about an issue in the marketing department. Because she was the sun and I was apparently nothing but a sunflower drawn to her warmth and light, my head lifted from my tablet the second I heard her voice.
“Luke, we dealt with this weeks ago. I’m sorry. That’s their problem now. I can’t hold their hands through every step,” I heard her say quietly, stopping once they were inside the room.
He nodded as he strode toward his seat on the opposite side of her. She smiled and greeted everyone as she passed me. “Morning, all. Glad to be back. We have a lot to go over today.”
When she caught my eye, hers scanned me up and down quickly, and she nearly missed her chair. I reached over to help as she teetered, everyone gasping at the sight.
Righting herself before she fell, she held her hand up in a wave like royalty and said, “Nailed it!” We all laughed at her joke as she sat in her chair, taking one last quick glance at me before starting.
I could only guess that all her recent traveling made her tired.
So when she reached for a bottle of water, I grabbed it and slid it toward her so she didn’t have to get up.
I did the same when she dropped her pen.
Unfortunately, my attempt to be of some help to her caused her to lose her place and start over.
“Yes, okay. As I was saying, we have the green light from the formulation team on the sunscreen that will address part of our issues,” she said.
She continued for almost forty-five minutes, never once looking at me again, even when I was asked for an update from our techs about the sunscreen project.
I was afraid I’d done something wrong in assisting her, so I didn’t do it again during the meeting.
“That’s it for today,” Luke said, clapping his hands once. “Thanks, everyone, and a huge thank you to those who have been staying later. We appreciate it, but Leyla and I don’t want that to happen again for at least a week.”
A rumble of appreciation broke out from the team, and I nodded.
“That includes you, Niko,” Leyla said.
My head snapped up at the sound of my name, my eyes meeting hers with a smile.
She walked out of the conference room quickly, and Jaz met her at the door, reviewing a list of tasks. Worried thoughts about whether I had done something to upset her crowded my mind as I headed back to my office, grateful that my list for the day was long as well. I needed the distraction.
Several hours later, lunch was brought in as a thank-you from Leyla and Luke, but I brought my pasta and salad to my desk to read while I ate.
When a knock on my door sounded, I said absently, “Come in.”
“Up for some company?”
The sound of Leyla’s voice made me swallow the bite of pasta while nodding quickly.
After taking a sip of water, I said, “Sorry, caught me with my mouth full. Please, sit down.”
She had brought her lunch with her, so I hurried to make space for her on my desk, my head buzzing with energy.
“Sorry I didn’t give you any notice. I finally had a moment of quiet from the phone, so I thought I’d visit my, um, friend. Like I said last night. It’s been a while. You doing okay?”
My thoughts were jumbled as I tried to make sense of everything she’d just said and of her behavior earlier. These were the times I wish I understood subtext and body language better.
She’d finally gotten a quiet moment from her duties, and she wanted to spend it with me?
Don’t forget she said friend, dude.
Grimacing, I pushed Mike’s voice out of my head. That’s all I needed right now.
“Is that all right? I can leave if you’d rather eat in peace,” she said, already picking up her black container of lunch.
I stood so quickly to stop her that I hit my knees on my desk. Ignoring the pain, I said, “No, please. Sorry. I need to work on my pauses in conversation so people don’t get the wrong impression. Please, stay.”
She smiled and sat back down just as I did. Crisis averted.
“So, how was New York?” I forced out, desperate for her to stay.
Mixing up her pasta and vegetables, she answered, “Really good. Made some strong contacts at the conference. When I catch my breath, there are a few ideas I’d like to go over with you.”
“I’m yours when you’re ready,” I answered with a smile.
Her fork stopped, and her green eyes found mine. Oh, I’d said the wrong thing again.
“I mean, I’m available. To you. I’m available when you’re ready.” Cue the sweating.
Leyla chuckled and took a bite of pasta, nodding her understanding.
“And you? Been doing anything fun while I was gone?” she asked, twirling her pasta again, gathering vegetables on her fork. It took me a second to realize she was trying to get a bit of pasta and broccoli together before eating again.
“What?” she asked around her second bite when she noticed me staring at her.
I pointed to her lunch. “Looks like you’re trying out some mathematical equation there.”
She put her hand over her mouth when she started to laugh. Once the food was swallowed, she chastised me. “I was looking for the perfect bite. And don’t make me laugh when I’ve got a mouthful of food. That’s table etiquette 101. Not to mention not cool in friend code.”
Smiling, I asked, “Friend code?”
“Yeah, you know, don’t make them spit out food or liquid while eating. Always tell them if they have spinach in their teeth. Always order extra fries so the other one can share. Friend code.”
I nodded. “I’ll make a note of it and not mention that you did the same thing to me when you walked in.”
Her melodic laugh filled my office, making my heart swell.
Gathering my courage, I said, “And do friends help in other ways?” I shoved a big bite of food in my mouth to keep from saying anything else incriminating.
Leyla took a sip of water and sat back in her chair. “Was there something in particular you were needing help with?”
Great, she was putting it back to me to bring up. I had not planned for this contingency. Since she had brought up the idea of helping me on a pretend date, I assumed she would steer the conversation back to it once we were alone again.
I licked my lips, but couldn’t get the words out, so I went back to eating, as did she.
“Well, ah, Luke and Sofia are having a game night at their house on Sunday evening. They wanted me to invite you, but please don’t feel obligated to come,” she said, wiping her mouth.
“Oh. Mike and I were going surfing after church, but I could still make it if it’s after four.” That would give me time to prepare, I hoped.
“Bring him with you. I haven’t seen him since school. It’ll be fun to see him again,” she said excitedly.
I tried hard to keep from sneering at the thought. Mike would never try anything with her, knowing how I felt, but Leyla didn’t know that. What a disaster that would be if she met him and they bonded over their outgoing personalities. Disaster and pain.
Leyla hadn’t been like her old self since we started working together again, but maybe what she needed was someone like him to draw it out again.
As my mind worried over these thoughts, I didn’t realize I was not only ignoring her remark but also violently chewing on the inside of my cheek.
“Again, don’t feel obligated. If you two had plans, don’t change them. We can do it another time, maybe. I, ah, I thought maybe it could be a way for us to, you know, ease into our lessons.”
I bit my cheek so hard at her words, I tasted blood.
Alarms were going off in my head, and I felt dizzy. Maybe it was from the blood loss.
She must’ve seen my alarmed reaction. “Wait, no, I don’t mean go there as a date or act like it. I just meant it would be a way for me to see how you interact within a group. Data I can use for later on.”
“Later on,” I parroted.
Leyla nodded. “I mean, if you still want to.”
“Yes, yes, I want to. I want to.” Good grief, did I sound as breathless to her as I did in my head? Deepening my voice and straightening in the chair, I said, “I think that’s a great idea. We can gather data and go over it on our first…”
“Date,” she said.
“Date.”
“Pretend date,” she clarified.
“Yes, pretend date.”
She took a deep breath and smiled, “Great. I’m not sure if you put my number in your phone on your first day or not, but my number has changed since college. If you give me your phone, I can add it, then you can text me, and I’ll send you the details.”
“I added it already.”
That seemed to please her because she smiled, gathered her container and water, and stood to leave. I stood as well, and her eyes scanned over me again, like she had earlier, making me look down. Was my shirt unbuttoned, or did I have pasta on it?
“Thanks for the few minutes of peace. See you later,” she said quickly as she left.
I looked closer at my clothes but couldn’t see anything amiss.
Not sure if I’d given her and Luke my number, I decided to message her, racking my brain to find something to say. Should I be witty? Straight to the point? I spent ten minutes going back and forth, the effort making my stomach churn.
Finally, I quickly sent one over and set my phone aside. How was I going to go on a pretend date with her when a text made me break out in hives?