As soon as the call ended, the driver stopped in front of my office building. I paid him and added a tip before stepping out onto the sidewalk. When I did, I stopped cold in my tracks. Right there, out in plain sight, was Jason. I closed the door to the cab behind me and watched as he smiled and placed something in the hand of a woman that I was pretty sure I recognized as our waitress from the lounge we visited the week before. Curious as to how this would play out, I folded my arms over my chest and just observed.
Jason smiled a bit at the girl again and I recalled the way she’d flirted with him right in my face before. Flipping her hair behind her shoulder, she looked him over from head to toe when he walked away. He was nearly all the way to me when he noticed that I was standing there.
“Oh, hey babe,” he said sweetly, placing a kiss on my cheek when he did.
“Hey,” I replied dryly, not returning his hug.
He stepped off and walked toward the building, holding the door open for me. When I didn’t move, he let it go. “What’s up?”
I looked him in his eyes and cocked my head to the side. “Tell me I didn’t just see you give that girl your business card. That was the waitress from the other night, right?”
Jason smiled and lowered his head. “It was. And what you saw was me networking.”
I folded my arms over my chest and kept my eyes trained on him. “Networking, huh?”
His smile turned into laughter. “Babe…I just ran into her and she mentioned that she’s on her way to meet her sister. They’re looking for a condo together. I gave her my card so I can help. Make a little cash? That is what I do for a living, you know,” he added, trying not to laugh again.
He stared, still smiling, waiting for me to get my emotions in check. When he saw my expression soften, he leaned in and kissed me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get jealous,” he added, pulling me in by my waist even though I wasn’t responding to him physically. Once I realized that I’d overreacted, I leaned into him a little.
Jason let me go and went to reopen the door to our office building, trying to hold in his laugh. We stood at the elevator and I gripped his hand when he laced his fingers with mine. Silently, we rode to my floor and he kissed me one last time before I took off, headed for my desk.
Once I read through the three emails that I missed while I was out, I sat back and stared out the window while chatter and the regular commotion of the office went on around my cubicle. Laughing a little, I couldn’t believe I’d jumped to conclusions with Jason a short time ago. Knowing he’d reached his desk by this point, I dialed his extension. When he picked up, I tapped my pen against the surface of my desk.
“Jason Fenelus,” he answered.
“Soooo…I know a girl who needs to apologize to her man for thinking he was flirting with another girl. What you think he’d say if she said she was sorry?” I asked coyly.
I could hear him laugh quietly through the phone. “I think he’d tell his woman that she doesn’t have to apologize, but to take a look in the mirror and ask herself if she really think’s he’d cheat on someone as beautiful as her.”
I blushed and tried not to grin. “You accept then?”
“I let it go while we were out on the sidewalk,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone
“That’s why I love you.”
He laughed again. “And here I was thinking you were with me for my good looks.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. When someone stepped into his office talking business, I slipped off the phone with a rushed “bye” and then got back to work.
There was a stack of paper on my desk that I couldn’t even see over, fabric samples awaiting my approval, and the light on my phone was flashing that I had new voicemail. Even all that wasn’t enough to dampen my mood. Dr. Gill was right; I did feel different. I hadn’t realized how heavy it’d been weighing on me that so much negativity still lingered between me and AJ until after it’d disappeared. Well…practically disappeared. We didn’t talk through any of the issues, but he kind of forgave me. And that was huge.
I got my second wind and breezed through the paperwork and was out of the office by five on the dot. A little more tired than usual, I dragged myself inside to the apartment, finding Angel sprawled out on the couch looking like she’d just finished running a marathon.