Chapter 3- Busy days at work

Thursday is the busiest day of the week and being executive assistant to the CEO means I have to be on my toes all the time. If I’m  on a 100 then my boss is on a thousand. It’s halfway through the day and we’ve been in one meeting after another. At this point, we’re ready to pass out but we won’t be doing that.

“What time did you leave here yesterday? “ My boss asks looking down at a handful of papers he’s reading through. Clearly, the contents of the documents are not that interesting if he’s asking me about my knock-off time.

“A little after 4:30,” I say not even trying to lie. He already knows the answer he just wants me to know that he knows.

He frowns as a sign of disapproval. My phone rings at that moment saving me from a long lecture.

“Hello,” I answer getting up to get some privacy.

“Hi, may I please speak to Ryan?” a deep voice says on the other end of the phone. Chills run down my spine immediately.

“This is she.” I reply

“Ryan it’s Gabriel your brother’s friend. “

“Oh Gabe hi,” I say using his nickname, I’ve known Gabriel my whole life. He and my brother have been friends since before I was born. So he’s like one of my big brothers.

“Wow I haven’t heard that name in a long time,” he says laughing.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen you in a long time, when Zan said a friend of his will call I didn’t think it was you. I thought you were still in Ireland or something like that.” I say smiling. He always hated his nickname. I never understood why though.

“Well, I’ve been back for a while now. It’s a long story, can’t really explain it over the phone” he says sounding a little distant.

“Oh yeah, of course. The package, when can you get it to me?” I say remembering the reason for his call.

“Your brother told me you work at Syron Towers, I am a few minutes from there I can drop it off whenever” he offers.

“Is today around 4:15 good for you?” I ask hopeful, tomorrow is my day off and I want to chill out before my three-hour drive home.

“Sure, can’t wait to see you,” he says, his smile evident in his voice.

“Okay, see you soon,” I say ending the call.

Two hours later I am standing at the Syron Towers next to my car waiting for Gabriel. After a while a car stops and parks next to mine.  The car door opens and he steps out. A big smile on his face. I can’t help but smile right back at him. The joy on his face is infectious, he walks toward me confident. The closer he gets his tall frame causes me to strain my neck so I can look him in the eye.

“Hey Ryan,” he says coming in for a hug, he has to come all the way down to embrace me. And I feel even shorter.

“Hi,” I say when he lets go and steps back and really looks at me. I’m a little taken aback he has never hugged me before.

“You’re all grown up kid. The last time I saw you, you were what? Sixteen?” he says giving me a look.

“Yes,” I say, trying not to think about that time of my life. Let’s just say I am grateful puberty finally hit.

“Look at you now, working for a multi-millionaire. I’m proud of you” he says looking genuinely proud. This makes me grin really hard. And he grins even harder. The look in his eyes is charged, if I look closely I know I see more but… am I seeing things?

 For a while, we say nothing and just stand there smiling. The air is heavy and I look away

“The package?” I ask after a while, trying to bring us back to the now. I am confused and warm. I fan my face, I need air. This is Gabriel, I take a deep breath; trying to calm my nerves. I need to relax, I say to myself.

“Oh yeah,” he says returning to his car to retrieve something. My eyes trail down to his ass as he walks away and I feel even warmer. I turn away from him and busy myself with opening my car boot, so he can place a box inside.

“I’m not transporting Contraband right?” I ask half joking as he leans over to place the heavy box in my boot. I watch as his muscles flex from the strain as he lets go of  the box.

“Oh no, it’s just car parts I sourced for him.” He says not really looking at me anymore. I move even further away from him. This went south fast I think as he moves away from the car closing the boot.

“Well, thanks” I say walking toward my car door.

“No, thank you,” he says walking toward me and stopping as if deciding against what he was about to do.

“Have fun and greet your parents for me”

“Will do” I say feeling the sudden shift in his emotions. I ignore the feeling and get into my car. I decide to leave all those emotions right there at the Syron Towers entrance.

I leave the office to go to a nice sushi spot in town. It’s been a while since I took myself out and today is a good day. I walk into the restaurant ask for a table for one and sit down. I casually look around the place taking in the place. I love the all-glass structure, the South African sun spilling through the windows, reflecting on the wooden tables and wooden chairs. The restaurant is littered with live plants and smells like a garden. And the smell of sushi of course.

I look to my right and spot a guy staring at me, I stare back. He smiles slightly looking uncertain. I don’t smile back at him and look away.

The waiter comes to me and I order my food and wait. My mind drifts to Gabriel. I remember him when we were kids or should I say when I was a kid and he and my brother were older. The girls would fall all over him. I would hear my sister's friends talking about how sexy he is and how they would love to have him. At the time it didn’t make sense to me because I was so young. When I was in high school and he  Zan would drive me to boarding school things changed.

I was always so ashamed of how I felt because he’s what? 12 years older than me and he’s my brother’s best friend and all. But today felt so different, the way he looked at me, the way he spoke to me. Am I crazy? I’m seeing things.

It must be my hormones talking, I’m just too horny. I need to...

“Hi, mind if I join you?” The guy that was staring at me earlier says in front of me.

“Uhm… okay” I hear myself say before I even think about it.

“Great. I’m Thaba” he says smiling and he sits opposite me.

“Ryan, nice to meet you Thaba,” I say and we shake hands.

“ This is going to sound so cliché but, I saw you walk in, and I…”

“Had to say hi” I say  finishing off his sentence, he smiles shyly

“You’re stunning, so you caught my eye”

“Thank you”

“Yeah, how’s your day?” he asks looking at me intensely.

“My day? My day is uneventful and…” I say and the waiter brings my food at that moment. Suddenly I am hit with intense hunger. I thank the waiter and start digging in.

“How was your day?” I ask him after a long pause of silence, usually, I would be creeped out by his behavior but I’m too hungry to bother with him.

“Better now that I’m with you” he says and instantly regrets his words when he sees the look on my face. I drop my chopsticks and look at him.

“Really?”

“I’m sorry,” he says and stands, he looks at me for a long time and walks away.