Part 13 - Second Date

I'm going at work with a different vibe today. I haven't been here in four days and I feel happy to be back. Happy to be around my friends. Happy to be in a work place and not in a hotel with him on the other side of the hall. What I did during that trip was awful. I hate myself for it and think about his poor wife all the time.

I concentrate at work to come back to reality and remember that I've left a lot of things unfinished when I started working with Downey a week ago. Working at the office now seems boring compared to the work I was doing the previous week. And not only because it had pleasure in between, but because it was way more interesting.

All I see now are numbers, algorithms, stocks, finances but before we were actually working on a brilliant idea. Downey's job has to be way more interesting than mine. We all have to start somewhere, right? He had my job, or one familiar, before he became CEO. I just have to be patient.

"Come in" I say after hearing a knock on the door.

I can already tell it's Malcolm from the playful way he knocks every time.

"Finally! It was getting so boring without you around" he says smiling.

"It's good to be back. Believe it or not, I missed this place"

"You certainly didn't miss me, did you? Downey must be a delight" he says playfully and I gulp.

"Why would you say that?" I ask hoping he didn't learn anything about Downey and me.

"Well, you said you were going to call me back and you never did. I assumed Downey was the reason. You must've been drowning in work"

"Oh my God, I totally forgot. I'm so sorry" I exhale that breath I had been holding in the whole time he was replying to me.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. I'm sure under other circumstances you wouldn't have forgotten" he smiles sweetly at me.

"Yes, you know Downey. He kept me occupied during the whole trip" I laugh nervously.

"How was he? Any more friendly than he usually is?"

"You'd be surprised" I smile.

"How about the meetings?"

"Downey did most of the work but they went great. If he gets the green light for this idea, which I think he will, we'll be on another level in a few months" I say passionately.

"It's not just him, don't forget that. Anyway, would you join me for a beer after work?"

"Only if you promise it'll be as fun as the last time" I laugh remembering the fun night out we had together.

"Perfect. I have to go back to work but I'll try to find something interesting for later" he smiles and stands up.

"I believe in you" I say and he chuckles.

"I better up my game then. It's our second date" he says smiling.

"You left a very good impression on the first date, don't ruin it now" I tease him.

"Yes, ma'am" he smiles and leaves.

We were getting close to the end of the day and I hadn't seen Downey at all. It felt strange not seeing him after all the time we spent together. Normally, it wouldn't feel like that. After all, I wasn't even talking with him until the incident with the intern. Maybe he's not coming to the office today, it's not like he's here all of the time. Before I even realized it, it was 5 o'clock and Malcolm was standing outside my office. I got my stuff and met him at the door.

We were walking down the hall towards the exit together, sharing a laugh, when my eye caught Downey. He was wearing one of his usual expensive suits and his beard was clean shaven. He wasn't looking at us but when he started walking to his office he saw us. We were walking on the exact opposite direction and for a moment I lost my focus on what Malcolm was saying. I was too focused on Downey and the split second of eye contact we had before we walked past each other. I could see the glimpse of his smirk but this time it didn't bother me. I could even say I enjoyed it since I caught myself smiling back. I could even smell the scent of his perfume for the next couple of seconds but then it disappeared.

"Are you there?" Malcolm asks waving his hand in front of my face.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I got distracted for a second" I clear my throat.

"We're still going for that beer, right?"

"Absolutely" I smile at we get down to the parking lot.

He told me to follow him with my car since he had a plan for what we should do now. He offered to drive me there with him but it would be a waste of time driving back here for my car. After a short minute drive we stopped outside another pub that looked like the one we went on our previous date.

"Are we having another pool competition? Because I haven't improved at all since then" I ask laughing.

"No, we're doing something different and I'm almost sure you are going to be better than me at this" he smiles and then we get inside.

There are not so many people around but it's still early. More people will start joining slowly. We took a seat and I looked around to see if I could understand what was his plan for today.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" he asks smiling.

"I don't see any clues" I laugh.

"I think they're going to have everything ready by the time they bring the first round"

I nod and soon the waitress comes for our order. She soon comes back with our beers and I start getting what's going on. They pulled a curtain which revealed a stage. It was definitely a karaoke stage.

"I'm a terrible singer" I laugh loudly.

"C'mon, it will be fun" he laughs along with me.

"You're going to hate me after you hear me sing" I cover my laugh by taking a sip from my beer.

"You can't possibly be worse than me. We'll let the others start and after a couple of beers it'll feel much easier" he finishes his sentence and drinks from his glass.

"So we're having many of these?" I ask pointing at the beers.

"Not as many as we'd like because we have to drive unfortunately" he chuckles.

"Fine, but we'll go only after a few others have sung"

"Exactly what I was thinking. Let's enjoy our drinks and have some fun with the others for now" we clink our glasses and see the first man going on stage.

The crowd wasn't very warm at first but after the first couple of congs we all started singing along and laughing. It was at the end of our second beer when Malcolm went to the stage first. I kept laughing at him and his silly movements. He was actually singing "Staying Alive" which gave him the opportunity to show off his dance moves. He wasn't a great singer nor dancer but that wasn't important. He was pointing at me whenever he could like he was dedicating his performance to me. When he finished we all clapped and he came back to his seat with a huge smile on his face.

"Well, now that you saw and heard me I think you don't have any doubts that you're better than me"

"Are you kidding? You're a true perfomer. I'm jealous of these dance moves" I tease him.

"At least I warned you before going up there" he replies and we both laugh.

"I'm not sure I can beat your performance though"

"I'm sure you'll be great. Now go before someone else goes before you" he says encouragingly and I actually do it.

I stand up and walk over there. I'm laughing nervously and feel a little embarrassed with all these people looking at me but Malcolm's smile and anticipation make me forget about them. I look through the available songs and decide to go with "I Will Survive". It's a popular song, I know most of the lyrics, it can't be that hard. Everyone seems happy with my choice when they see it on the screen and then the music starts.

I can't stop smiling during the whole time. I feel uncomfortable at first but as I go further into the song I feel better and better. All my focus is on enjoying the moment. It turns out the lyrics are far more than I thought but even though I missed some of them I still had fun up on the stage. The crowd's cheerful clap at the end made me even happier and then I went back to seat where Malcolm was waiting for me smiling widely.

"I'm speeachless, you were amazing!" he compliments me.

"No, I wasn't. I missed some lyrics" I laugh.

"That doesn't matter. You entertained everyone and you seem happy as well. I see this as a win" he smiles.

"It's true, I loved it" I smile back at him.

We heard the next few people that wanted to sing and by now the vibe was perfect. We ordered another round of beers and since we were both having so much fun we decided to go to the stage together and sing a duet.

We were in the pub for hours, it was actually night when we left. This was one the best nights I've ever had.  Before we parted our ways he made sure I could drive safely and then we shared a warm hug and he gave me a kiss on the cheek for goodbye.

A/NLet me know your thoughts on this!