“You make it sound like such a chore. How flattering,” I snapped back. “And despite that charming proposition, I’ll have to decline in favor of a sausage fest. Board meeting tonight.”
“We don’t have to be at each other’s throats like this you know,” she said, sighing deeply.
“Well, the fucking sexual tension in the room is making us act this way.”
“Yeah, it’s something like that,” she said, staring at her feet.
“Not to change the subject but I got you something,” I said, producing a tiny box from inside my suit pocket.
“What is it?” She looked nervous.
“Not a ring, obviously,” I said, handing her a box.
“Oh really? I was so convinced that it was a ring, and that one steamy night with me had made you decide you wanted me for the rest of your life. Cause that’s how things work,” she laughed, opening the box and gasped when the contents were revealed.
“These are beautiful,” she exclaimed, examining the diamond Liberty locket I had gotten her. “Is this a real diamond?”
“Two carat. Not much, but since you had never been to New York before, I thought I’d bring a piece of it back to you.”
I was playing this smooth.
She laughed. “Yeah, just two carat, no big deal. It’s not like that’s more than any valuable item I have ever owned. Seriously, though, it’s beautiful. But I can’t accept it. You need to stop buying me expensive presents.”
“It was nothing,” I said. It was just a couple of thousand dollars and that wasn’t much to me. “Just take it, Aria. Otherwise it’s just going to be thrown away.”
“I can’t. I don’t feel comfortable taking gifts from my boss.” She sighed.
“I’m not just your boss.”
“I know.” Her eyes widened. “That’s not what I meant to imply. You’re…” She started fidgeting with the pendant in her hand and flushed to match the color of her red shirt. “You’re... I think of you as… as…” It was like someone asked her to name every state in the U.S. alphabetically in descending order. “A friend,” she finished after a lot of struggle.
“Ah, so you let all your friends do what I did to you the other night?” I tried to look severe, although I was laughing inside at her struggle to speak.
“No! Of course not! You know that I had never – that I was a –“ She caugh
t my eyes and realized I was just teasing her. “I’m going to kill you.”
“Great, then you can keep the pendant as memorabilia for when you miss me after my death.”
She grunted. “I feel bad, though!”
“If you really think of me as a friend, then please, take this small present from your friend.”
“Fine,” she finally said. “But one condition: no more presents, no more spending a single penny outside of our contract on me. Promise?”
“I promise,” I smiled. “Now start shelving and let me enjoy the view.”
“That’s okay. I’ve got to get back to work. Enjoy my underwear,” she said, laughing as she waltzed out of my office.
She was just as good as I was at this game.
Chapter 3
Aria
I was walking out of class, disgruntled again from the second encounter in a row with my Statistics professor. It was beginning to be an every class thing. Then I heard someone call my name.
Dick.