CHAPTER FOUR:YIKES

Evan’s POV

Everyone filed out of the conference room in the same stiff, work-appropriate formation that all corporate workers seem to naturally adopt, chairs scraping, laptops closing, a few murmured greetings to the new manager.

The conference room was almost empty.

Almost.

But I stayed seated. 

Slower than slow. Pretending to organize my notebook. Reorganize. Zip it up. Unzip it again. 

I even gave Dennis the classic “go ahead, I’ll catch up” nod, which he returned with a curious glance before disappearing into the hallway.

And then we were alone.

The room felt too quiet, too tight. The soft hum of the air vent overhead was the only sound between us.

My knees felt locked, heart still thudding in my ears as Blake Thatcher: Hazel Eyes, Coffee Shirt, Bathroom Kisser Extraordinaire, stood at the front of the room like nothing had happened.

Like he hadn’t once pressed me against a sink and kissed me like he’d die if he didn’t.

He looked… calm. Focused. Professional. The picture of composed authority.

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.

Blake was closing his leather notebook, his eyes flicking toward me for the briefest second before returning to his notebook.

I watched the way his hands moved, slow, methodical. Like nothing could rattle him, I used to think that kind of confidence was hot.

Breath.

My voice came out higher than intended as I called for his attention. “Mr Thatcher?” 

He looked up. Calm. Professional. Completely unreadable.

“Yes?” he said.

I cleared my throat. “I just wanted to say welcome. To the department.” 

Smooth. Totally smooth. Very normal. Extremely professional.

I hope I sound like a real adult with a job and not a lovesick dumbass with a lingering bathroom fantasy.

Blake nodded once. “Thank you.”

Silence stretched between us, thin and sharp. I shifted on my feet, the air in the room thick enough to chew.

I hated it.

Hated pretending I didn’t know the way his hands felt on my waist. Hated that he hadn’t even looked surprised. 

I should’ve left it at that. Should’ve turned and walked out, just another eager junior associate kissing up to the new boss.

But I didn’t.

The icebreaker was complete. It was time to dive into an emotional swamp.

“I, uh…” I shifted awkwardly. “I think we’ve met before.”

He didn’t blink. “I remember.”

Oh thank God.

I offered the barest smile. “Okay. Cool. Just checking. Because I wasn’t sure if we were, like, pretending that never happened, or—”

“We are.”

I froze. “…Sorry?”

Nothing in his expression cracked.

“You shouldn’t bring that up,” he said, his voice quiet but firm. “It was a moment. It’s over.”

I blinked. “Oh.”

He turned away, began organizing his folder.

“It meant nothing,” he added, still not looking at me. “You should forget it ever happened.”

Just like that.

Flat. Cold. Like he was commenting on the weather or reminding me to submit a report by Friday.

No hesitation. No emotion. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment in his stupidly gorgeous hazel eyes.

I just stood there, blinking back the sting behind my eyelids and the what-the-hell rising in my chest.

He didn’t look at me again.

Didn’t give me anything.

He just looked at his notebook like I was a typo in his life.

I managed a stiff nod. “Right. Nothing. Got it.”

I turned on my heel and left before I did something dumb like cry in the copy room or dramatically throw myself into the elevator shaft.

I didn’t even wait for the elevator. I took the stairs, two at a time, adrenaline pushing me down four flights like I was running from a ghost.

Because that’s what it felt like now.

Like he never happened. Like the kiss never happened. Like I imagined it all.

After I calmed down a little, I went to the break room and I found Dennis in there, grabbing an overpriced granola bar from the vending machine. 

“You good?” he asked, tossing me a side-glance.

“Yeah,” I lied as I grabbed a bottle of water from the table. “Just tired.”

I barely made it through the rest of the day. The numbers blurred on my screen. My fingers typed autopilot. I began replaying and reliving the most painful moment in my head;

“It meant nothing. You should forget it ever happened.”

The words still hit harder than they should’ve. Like ice water down my spine. I relived standing and staring at him, willing his face to crack, to show anything. But there was nothing.

No emotion. Not even the ghost of the man who kissed me like he meant it.

Just cold detachment.

I felt heat creep up my neck as I typed, not from embarrassment but from hurt. And the air in the office felt ten degrees colder now that I knew he was somewhere nearby… pretending I didn’t exist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, I took a cab to Hailey’s apartment. She had invited me over for a chill night and girl talk (her words not mine), and I desperately needed the distraction.

By the time I got to Hailey’s apartment that night, I felt like a deflated balloon. Not deflated all at once, but gradually, painfully.

She answered the door with a sparkly face mask on and an energy drink in hand. “You look like a soggy breadstick.”

“Thank you,” I muttered.

“I’m making ramen, we can eat and talk”

I dropped into the seat across from her in the small dining area and slammed my head against the table.

“So? First day! Did you trip over anyone important?”

She set up the chopsticks and stood up to place the pot of noodles in the middle of the table.

“Worse,” I muttered. “So much worse.”

She leaned in. “Did you trip and kiss your coworker then?”

“I wish.”

“Out with it Johnson” Hailey said as she began slurping her noodles.

“The new manager…” I started, grabbing my chopsticks . “It’s him.”

“Who’s him?”

I groaned. “Remember the airport guy?”

Her eyes went wide. “The bathroom kisser?!”

I nodded, arms flopping dramatically. “Turns out he’s the new manager in my department.”

“What the actual fu-.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “You’re working with Airport Daddy?”

“Worse. I’m working under him.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Not in a fun way, I’m guessing.”

“Hailey.”

“Sorry. Go on.”

I sighed. “I stayed behind after a meeting that was arranged to introduce the new manager. Thought maybe we could talk. Y’know, like normal humans who’ve… swapped bodily fluids.”

Hailey made a face.

“I was professional at first. I congratulated him. Welcomed him to the department like I wasn’t internally freaking out.”

“And?”

“And then I asked about the kiss.”

She gasped. “You didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Okay, okay… then what?”

“He looked at me like I was gum on the heel of his red bottoms and said and I quote ‘It meant nothing. You should forget it ever happened.’”

“Damn.”

“Right?”

“I can’t believe he rejected you.  What an emotionally repressed, no-good, suit-wearing coward.”

“Thanks.”

She reached across the table and shoved some noodles into my bowl. “He’s probably emotionally constipated. Don’t take it personally.”

I sighed. “He kissed me like he meant it. Twice.”

“I know, babe.”

“And now he’s my boss.”

“Yeah…”

“And I work right outside his office.”

“Yikes.”

We slurped in silence for a moment.

Hailey reached over and grabbed my hand. “I think he’s lying. It meant something. You don’t just kiss someone like that and feel nothing.”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “Maybe I was just a one-time experiment.”

“Bullshit. That man looked at you like you were the last person on earth who could ruin him.”

I blinked. “You weren’t even there.”

“I’ve heard enough to make an educated guess.”

I smiled, but it was weak. “Well… it doesn’t matter now. It’s done. I’ll get over it.”

She smiled softly. “Do you still want him?”

I paused. Chewed. Swallowed.

“Yeah,” I said. “I really do.”

She nodded. “Okay then. We’ll figure it out, but let’s let it suck just for  tonight. And tomorrow, you can go back to being the sexy, competent junior associate with a cubicle and a three-month trial period.”

I smiled faintly. “I do love my boxed office.”

“See? Office romance isn’t dead. It’s just… very inconvenient.”

I lean back in my chair. “What do I even do now?”

Hailey smiled manically. “I have an idea.”