STRANGER IN MY CHAT

LAURA 

Me> OH MY GOODNESS. THIS IS A COMPLETE MISUNDERSTANDING. CAN YOU TRY TO IGNORE THIS?!

Stranger< Lol. You don't have to freak out and type in full case letters. It's totally cool. And funny. 

I stared at the text for a long moment, shaking from my head to my toes. He was laughing out loud?! What was so funny about this horrific situation?

My head felt even lighter as I grabbed the bottle and chugged down the rest of the wine. I needed to think straight. Come up with a good fucking excuse. 

I was drunk. That was what happened. I had to come out clean and make him understand that I absolutely had no intentions of fucking him. Just a stupid game between best friends, where they took pictures of random men from group chats and joked about shagging them. 

Fuck me.

My phone dinged and I looked down to see another text from the stranger. I opened it with trembling fingers.

<Still freaking out? We could be doing something else right now, you know?

Wait a minute. Could he be serious?

My fingers flew across the keyboard immediately. 

>Once again, I'm really sorry about this. The joke ends here.

Stranger< It doesn't have to be a joke. 

My teeth snagged my bottom lip in confusion. 

Was he insinuating that we actually fuck? Despite the fact that a stripe of wetness was already coating my panties, I did not know this man from Adam. 

Did he possibly know me? Fuck. Of course we were colleagues. He probably knew me already.

Definitely interesting, whoever he was. And because he seemed interesting, he piqued my curiosity. Or maybe I was just drunk stupid on cheap wine. 

And maybe it's the wine that had me shooting him another text.

>Haha. That was an expensive joke. And I'm not exactly a fan of those.

My fingers tightened around the mobile phone as the bubbles danced on the screen for too long. Was he typing and deleting? 

Finally, a text dropped, and my heart skipped.

Stranger< Will you be at the intern dinner tonight?

There was an intern dinner? Was that what they discussed in the group chat that led me here?

My bottom lip got caught between my teeth again as I pondered the question and why he asked it. Would he be there too? I was curious about this man that made my panties soak with just a light conversation over the phone. Maybe it was his humour, or a kind of pre-reaction to what he could offer?

Another text dropped. 

<You there?

Why did he seem heavily sat on the matter now? Could he be a…creep?!

I carefully typed a response.

>Yeah. I might be at the dinner. Might not.

Stranger< You should come. I'm dying to see the woman who's bold and expressive about her sexual desires. It's sexy.

My cheeks colored crimson, and my thighs pressed together of their own volition. My heart raced in my chest as I stared at the text, reading it over and over again.

What could I possibly say to this?

I held my breath as my fingers flew across the screen. It didn't feel like it was me in charge of this phone. 

< And what will you do when you see her?

Almost immediately, another text dropped. Like he'd been waiting like a patient dog to catch the bone.

Stranger< I'll do to her whatever she begs for. 

Definitely got humor. 

My lips spread in a sheepish smile, and I slapped my hand over it. I was drunk. There was no better explanation for giggling over mere words of a stranger. 

I tried, but I couldn't not smile as I typed back a response. 

> Beg? We'll see about that.

Stranger< I take it I'll see you, then?

> You will. What's the location?

Stranger< I'll text it to you soon.

I caught myself swinging my legs as I dropped the phone face-down on the bed, still smiling.

What was wrong with me? I guess I'll find out when I meet the mystery man tonight.

°°°°°

I picked out the dress Colin never liked.

The shiny, backless, black gown with a halter neck and extreme cinch at the waist. 

My ex-boyfriend never liked it because it exposed too much of my smooth body, in his words. So I wore it because for some reason, I wanted the mystery man’s eyes all over me tonight. I wanted it to be that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on the dinner hangout with our colleagues because he was too busy drinking in every of my exposed curves.

I wasn't sure where that boldness came from, but I loved it…mostly because he did.

When I got to the address the mystery man had texted me, and walked into the classy lounge, the reflection that strutted beside me had me in complete awe. 

I looked really good in this dress, so good I felt a sudden surge of anger for letting Colin stop me from wearing it out countless times.

Pausing in my stride for a moment, I drank in my reflection. 

Ginger hair piled atop my head in loose waves, softly framing and complimenting the lightly made up face. My lips were painted in deep wine red matte lipstick, and they looked perfect, blending with the deep sea-green of my eyes.

Satisfied, I turned and walked through the revolving doors. 

“Hi,” I smiled at the lady at the front desk. “I'm here for a..uh, work dinner hangout?”

“Welcome to Lakeside,” she replied with a polite smile. “I'll briefly look through the reservations.”

After a while, she looked up with a slightly confused expression. “Ma'am, are you sure about the work dinner hangout?”

My tongue suddenly felt heavy against the roof of my mouth. “Well…yes.”

God. Did I really believe a creep I found on the group chat?

“What's the problem?” 

“There's no work dinner reservation on the list. But it could be privatized. What's the establishment?”

“Pierce Holdings?”

She shook her head, looking disappointed on my behalf. “I'm sorry, there's no such—”

“She's with me,” a rich, warm baritone interrupted smoothly from behind me. 

I turned around, and immediately grew weak in my knees. The man standing there was so gorgeous the world disappeared around him. 

And I happened to know that face.