Uncontrollable Tempration

This is my opportunity to make things right. I know she is still angry at me but I have also discovered that she is very good at hiding her feelings. I really just want to clear the air between us.

“Umm okay, what restaurant is it so I can make a reservation before hand.” She said with red cheeks. She is playing with the hem of her dress and avoiding my eyes.

“Don’t worry about that Sophia, just come to my office by 6.” I smiled at her. I noticed that she was blushing.

“Okay.” Then she left.

I just hope this dinner goes well.

************

Sophia Parker

I closed the door to Mr Wilsons office and took a deep breath. Why does he have to affect me so much! I thought I was done with him but no! Can’t these feelings just go away once and for all! I shut my eyes tightly trying to recover from the embarrassment.

“Sophia?” I heard a familiar voice say my name. The voice was deep and masculine but it wasn’t Mr Wilson’s. I opened my eyes to see Sean.

“Sean, nice to see you again. It’s been a while!” I was genuinely happy to see him.

“Actually it hasn’t been long. We saw three days ago before you went on your little trip to London.”

“Oh, it feels like forever.” I said and he smiled.

“Um, are you alright Sophia? I was just walking past when I saw you standing here and closing your eyes like you were on some sort of punishment.”

“Oh, uhhh… I was just trying to uhhh… remember something.”

“Alright.” He said be he didn’t sound convinced. “Are you doing anything tomorrow night?”

“Actually, I’m not.”

“Good because I have two tickets to see Drunk Shakespeare tomorrow night and I haven’t found someone to go with me yet.”

“You haven’t found someone, or you were just saving it for me?” I asked knowingly and he raised his hands in the air.

“Ok, you’ve got me.” He admitted and I laughed. “Yes I was saving them for you.”

“I would love to come Sean.”

“Great, it starts by 6 in the evening at Vineyard Theatre. So, maybe we can go after work?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m already looking forward to it. I love Shakespeare.”

“Really?” He raised his eyebrow at me. We started moving away from Mr Wilsons door. “You don’t seem like someone whose interested in poetry or prose. You strike me more as someone who appreciates art.”

“Isn’t poetry and prose still considered as literary art?” I asked.

“You know what I mean. I’m talking about visual art.”

“I love art. All sorts of it. My favorite Shakespeare book is As You Like It.”

“Mine is Macbeth.”

“Oh no, I don’t like Macbeth. There’s barely any romance in it.” I said and he laughed.

“So you’re a sucker for love aren’t you?”

“Yes, I believe in love. Do you?”

“I think so. I believe there’s a possibility of me falling in love… someday.” He said looking at me intently.

I can see him intricately for the first time now. He has pretty blue eyes unlike Mr Wilson who has green eyes. He was blonde while Mr Wilson’s was brown. He-

Stop comparing them! omg!

“Sophia, I have to get back to work now. Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said.

“No doubt you will. We have a play to attend.” I said.

“Bye- oh… Ok” He said as I unexpectedly hugged him. He carefully put his arms around me and embraced me back. I’m enveloped with his musky smell and I don’t want to let him go. I want to give things with Sean a chance and see how it goes. I first have to give him an impression that I’m interested. We finally pulled apart

“See you later Sean.” I said.

“Yeah, you too. Bye.”

I went back to my office to resume work. I really hate the fact that deep down, I’m anticipating dinner with Mr Wilson. If I’m trying to get over him I shouldn’t be feeling this way.

I just hope the dinner goes well.

***

Once it was 6:00pm, I started to pack my things. My eyes were so heavy from staring too much at the computer. I usually end work by 5 but because of this dinner with Mr Wilson, I had to stay with him till 6. I looked through the glass and saw him packing up too.

I think I’m going to start using the blinds now because we keep spying on each other. Today as I worked, I saw him looking at me. When we made eye contact, he winked at me. I had to turn my face to hide my blush, I usually find it so annoying when guys wink at me but I don’t know why I wasn’t upset at that.

As I am going straight to his office, I notice that most people have gone home. I can’t believe he didn’t give me a day off and even made me work overtime.

Just as I am about to knock on his door, he opens it from the other side and steps in front of me.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Yes.” I chirped.

Surprisingly, he put his hand on my waist as he lead me to the elevator. But he’s not supposed to do that…

I jumped when I felt him squeeze my waist gently. I slapped his hand away after that.

“Don’t touch me!” I barked at him.

“Relax Sophia, it was just a light touch.” He pressed the button for the elevator.

“No, keep your hands away from me.”

“Are you sure? That’s not how you felt yesterday when I kissed you.”

My eyes widened. He said it! I thought we were never going to speak about it but he did. He did it on purpose and now he was looking at me closely, expecting me to say something back.

The doors of the elevator opened and I entered it.

“So you’re not going to say anything? Cool.” He walked in to the elevator as well.

“What do you want me to say?”

“I know there are a lot of things about that night that you want to say Sophia. I think we should discuss formally about it, like adults.” He said pushing the button to descend.

“There’s nothing to talk about. You promised it wouldn’t happen again.”

“Sophia, stop pretending-”

“Where are we going Mr Wilson?” I changed the subject. He took a deep breath, accepting that I was not ready to talk.

“One if by land, two if by sea.”

“Okay.” I said.

The lift descended and when the elevator doors opened, he lead us to his car. When he opened the door for me, I scoffed at him before I got in. I didn’t ask him to open it for me, I’m very capable of doing it myself. He shook his head at me before going round to his side and getting in.

“Where are my bags from this morning’s flight?” I asked as he started to drive.

“They’re in the car don’t worry.” He replied me.

“Are you sure? Because this wasn’t the car we used from the airport.”

“Trust me Sophia, they’re in the boot. The driver put it in when we arrived at the office, just after you stormed off.”

“Hm.” I folded my arms and looked out the window.

I know I’m giving Mr Wilson a hard time but I don’t care. He deserves it, after making me work so late today after a tiresome flight. I don’t know why he couldn’t just let me go home. I think he too realized what he did was a bit unfair so now he’s compensating with this dinner.

When we got there, he got down and opened the door for me again.

I rolled my eyes at his attempt to be a gentleman and got out of the car.

“Not even a thank you?” He asked dismayed.

“I didn’t ask you to open the door for me. I can do it myself.” I admit that was a bit rude.

“Sophia why are you acting this way? If you’ve got a problem with me then just say it.”

“Can we please go in now, it’s getting cold.” I ignored his apology. I saw him shake his head at me.

I know, sometimes I can be really frustrating.

He lead us into a very beautiful restaurant. There were roses and candles everywhere.

“Hello there, table for two?” He told a lady as we got in. She took us to a table filled with red roses.

“This is beautiful.” I couldn’t help but to say it.

“It’s my way of apologizing for today. I’m sorry for being mean to you on the plane and I’m also sorry for not letting you go home on time.”

He pulled out a chair for me but I purposely went to sit on the other chair. He looked at me unbelievably.

“Enough with the attitude Sophia. Now it’s getting irritating. Remember, I am your boss so I suggest you toe the line.”

“I also suggest you toe the line with those who work for you.” I shot back.

“I am trying to apologize here, aren’t you listening?” He ran his hands through his hair.

“What I mean is, I did not appreciate you touching my waist.”

“Oh so now you want to talk about that? I thought you had nothing to say.”

I looked away and didn’t say anything.

“Fuck it.” He gave up on me. He picked up a menu from the table. I took the second menu and I began to check as well but I was unfamiliar with the food.

“Could you order for me please?” I said, like we just didn’t have an argument.

He nodded, not even looking at me.

After a while, he waved his fingers and a waiter came jogging over with a pen and notepad to take our order. He said something complicated to the waiter but I knew he ordered two lobsters.

“Two pan roasted maine lobsters and two cocktails.” The waiter confirmed and Mr Wilson nodded. “Right away sir.”

I was okay with that because I like lobsters and he knows it. After everything, he was still so nice to me. Maybe I should stop being nasty to him.

“So why is this place called ‘One if by land, two if by sea’?” I asked when the waiter left.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“It’s a phrase by Henry Longfellow.”

“Oh.”

That didn’t answer my question though…

He brought out his phone, completely ignoring me. I felt bad, maybe I overdid this whole thing and now he’s pissed. I’m fiddling with the hem of my dress because I don’t know what to do now that he’s not talking to me anymore. We stayed silent for few minutes.

Initially I didn’t want to use the restroom but when I walked in, it was so clean that I had to make use of it. I washed my hands and fixed my appearance a bit. When I was satisfied, I went back to the table. Our food had already arrived.

That was fast.

Mr Wilson had already started eating. The food was very delicious, I even got some on my lap while Mr Wilson got some on his tie. We both laughed at each other because we were making a mess. He finished before me and ate some of mine as well because I couldn’t finish it.

“Would you like a nightcap?” He asked me.