Guess Who's Back

Hey everyone, thanks for your patience in the last couple of weeks. Midterms are almost over, I have one left on Tuesday and then only projects and assignments until the end of the semester J Also found out last week that I only have two classes left to take next semester before I'm done my post-secondary education for a few years at least! So excited!! So anyways, I will try to get back to my Monday/Friday schedule as best as I can. I decided to just pick up where I left off, hopefully that is okay with everyone.  I had a couple suggestions for having a post from Nate's perspective which I will try to do as soon as I have the time. Thanks again for all the positive feedback and support, I 100% appreciate it!

XO,
S.

I spent all day Sunday with Nate and loved every second of it. In generally he was a pretty serious guy, but he managed to keep me laughing the entire day. We went for a walk with Koda along the beach, taking in the beautiful fall scenery, went for lunch in a hole in the wall bistro that Nate was super impressed with, and snuggled up on the couch. He even promised to get the fireplace working that hasn't seen any use in years.

On Monday I headed into the office completely blissed out and stopped so abruptly, the person getting out of the elevator behind me bumped into me. No one was more surprised than me to see Ashley sitting behind the desk in front of my office in almost acceptable work attire (I mean, there was still too much cleavage but she was wearing a button down shirt and a blazer). I approached her cautiously and she forced a smile.

"You're back?" It came out as more than a question than I had intended.

"Obviously." She almost rolled her eyes but seemed to stop herself.

"Um, okay." I tried to sound enthusiastic but I think we both knew I wasn’t overly stoked about this. "I'll get the proper paperwork together and let you know what needs to be done today."

She seemed to have nothing to say so I started towards my office, my happy mood gone for the moment.

"Wait…."

I turned back to face Ashley. She was fidgeting with the buttons of her blazer. "I really need this job, Skye."

I sighed. "Then treat it like one. It’s not a hard job and we're great people to work with. It's pretty straight forward."

She nodded. "Okay. I…I'm sorry about what happened on Friday in the elevator. I don't know why I did it…."

Ugh, I didn’t want that brought up ever again. Also it felt like that was weeks ago when it happened, not three days ago. "Let's move on from that. If anything of that sort happens again, you will be fired on the spot." She looked relieved. "Ashley, just do your job. No one is trying to make your life here hard."

I buried myself in work for the day, taking a quick breather only to talk to Spencer and answer texts from Nate, Katie, Breanne, and my brother (I was never this popular!). My brother's text said he was planning on visiting in a couple of weeks and I'm beyond stoked about it. Nate asked to go for dinner with his cousin, Diane, and I later this week. I had seen her a couple of times before, but never talked to her, so this would be a good chance to get to know her. All I knew so far is that Nate bought a her shares of the Steel corporation off her and that she had absolutely flawless skin.

The next couple of days went by fast because there was so much work to do. Ashley pleasantly surprised me every day. I think she was a lot smarter than I gave her credit for. We were still super awkward around each other and only talked to each other when we absolutely had to.

Thursday night I rushed home after work. Well, "rushed" home as fast as I could in Seattle rush hour traffic (brutal). Nate was picking me up to go for dinner with Diane and I was actually pretty excited. I changed into a cute little sweater dress, tights, and boots. I quickly touched up my make-up and hair, and made a mental note to call Katie's friend Trish for a hair date.

Nate picked me up right on time and we may have made out in my doorway for a little longer than necessary. We eventually left and headed to the low-key restaurant to meet Diane.

"You'll like each other, I promise." He said as we got out of his car.

The hostess said Diane was already seated so she showed us to our table. Diane was just as beautiful as last time I saw her, and I felt frumpy in my sweater dress. Her hair was perfectly styled in place and she was wearing the most amazing cut-out dress.  She greeted Nate enthusiastically and sat down on the same side as the table as him, leaving me alone on the other side.

"It's so nice to meet you." I said, smiling across the table at her.

She looked at me blankly for a moment as if she wasn't sure why I was here. "Sure." Nate finished ordering wine for us and so Diane engaged him in a very animated conversation that left me out completely. That set the tone for the first half of the evening. After dinner, Nate excused himself to use the washroom, which left us alone together.

"So, do you work in Seattle?" I asked, trying to find something to talk about.

"Yes." She answered, then reached into her purse and pulled her phone out.

Fun! "And do you live in Seattle?"

She shot me an annoyed look. "No."

And that was literally the end of our conversation. We sat in awkward silence until Nate came back and then she immediately focused her conversation on topics only he knew anything about.

We finally left, and I mean I was starting to check the gigantic clock on the back wall every two seconds, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Diane said goodnight to Nate, kissed him on the cheek, and then left without saying a word to me.

"She's great, hey?" Nate said, opening the car door for me. I gaped at him. Had he been at the same dinner as me?!

"Uh, sure." I definitely don't think I was going to be spending any girl time with good ol' Diane!