Message from S.

Hey ladies (and gentlemen?), 

Unfortunately I will not be returning to blog anytime soon. I'm not even sure how to summarize the last few weeks in a couple of sentences, here are some key words: engagements, babies, graduation, surprise vacation, Christmas, weddings, and so many plans to make. 

Hopefully I can find the time to come back at some point, until then I will try and continue to keep updated on all my favourite blogs.

Have a Happy New Year! 

Xoxo

S. 

Sorry for being the worst blogger :(

Hey everyone,
First of, sorry for being a crappy blogger and not being consistent with my schedule. I hate inconsistency, but unfortunately I have to dedicate the majority of my time lately to school. After putting all of my energy into papers and projects and presentations I have no energy left to write for this blog which majorly sucks. I have about three weeks of classes left, so for those weeks my posts will be up randomly whenever I can find the time to write, and after that I'll try to be more consistent again. Working full time and going to school full time is a bitch.
Thanks for understanding and hopefully you'll continue reading! I love all the comments I get even if I haven't responded to all of them.
Xo,
S

Bonus Post - Nate's POV: I fucked up

** I know I don't do bonus posts ever and I'm sorry for that. I generally don't have enough hours in the day to get everything done, so I don't have time to do a lot of extra writing. Here is a bonus post, my first ever I think, from Nate's perspective. If the formatting is weird it's because I posted off my iPad for the first time and I have no idea what it looks like on an actual computer or on the mobile version. If anything is weird with it I will change it when I am home tomorrow night. Xo, S. 

I left Skye's house feeling like a bag of shit. I felt like I had kicked a hurt puppy and then stepped on its tail just because I could. I sat in my car for a second, trying to gather my thoughts. I shouldn't have met up with Charlie, I know that. And I hadn't done it on purpose. Her and Diane were good friends I just never assumed that's who Diane had invited for dinner. But still, that wasn't an excuse. I shouldn't have let Charlie stay over, I shouldn't have even had dinner with her. None of it looked good, but I had been honest when I'd told Skye that nothing between us had happened. Some idiot pulled up in his douchey back BMW behind me, so, with a final glance at Skye's house, I pulled into the street. 

Somehow I had to figure out how to get Skye to trust me and believe me when I said that I wanted to only be with her. She was funny, and smart, and when she laughed I seriously thought every problem in the world could be solved. And she was stunning. Never in a million years had I thought that I would find purple hair even remotely attractive, on Skye it was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. I know it sounds cheesy, but i thought about her every second every day. 

"Why do I keep fucking this up?" I muttered to myself, driving out of Seattle towards home. I was lucky enough to be able to afford a house on the edge of the city on a piece of land that gave me the privacy I so loved. Hell, I could afford a hundred properties like that, but the thing about not growing up with money is knowing what it's like to have to live without. 

I knew I had to do something fast, or I was going to lose Skye. And that's something that I wasn't prepared to do. I have never felt like this about anyone in my life. The only woman I even had feelings for (in a very platonic way) was Diane. 

Speaking of Diane, I had to call her. I gave the Bluetooth in my car the command to call her and got lost in my thoughts again as the phone rang.   Skye's hurt expression is something I would never forget, but what really got to me was the disgusted expression on her face when I told her about meeting up with Charlie. Never have I felt worse about anything. 

"Nate? Hello?" Diane's voice came through the speakers. 

"Oh, shit." I turned into my driveway. "What are you doing?" I sounded a lot more grumpy than intended. 

"Who shit in your cornflakes this morning?" Diane laughed on the other end. 

"Are you done monopolizing all of my drivers time?" I pulled up to my garage which opened automatically. 

"Oh, come on, don't be grumpy. I told you I had a work emergency last night." She paused, most likely to examine her more than perfect manicure. "Are you and Charlie back together finally?" 

"You own a clothing store, I doubt there was an emergency. And no we're definitely not together." 

She puffed out a breath over the phone. "Boutique! Not store! And why not? You guys looked so cozy last night. It's all over Twitter." 

I groaned. "Yeah, how is that? Why are there pictures of us?"

"Because you're soooo cute together." She said in a singsong voice that made me want to strangle her a bit. 

"Yeah well thanks to that and Charlie's persistence I seriously fucked things up with Skye." I shut off the engine but stayed in my car.

"Ugh, why do you care so much about her? You know you can do better!" 

"Watch it." I bit out. "She happens to mean a lot to me."

Diane sighed on the other end. "Fineeeee. She's nice, I guess. But Charlie and you are meant for each other."

"I'm done talking about this. I'm not talking to Charlie again. And, Diane, don't try to set me up like that again. I don't want to have to question my trust in you." 

"Woah, Nate. Come on, you know I didn't do it to hurt you. I'm sorry." She didn't sound completely sincere. Diane would never do anything to hurt me deliberately but her actions were sometimes questionable.

"Don't do it again. I have to go." 

"Okay. Let's go for lunch this week. Love you!" Diane hung up cheerfully and I wasn't entirely sure she got my message. I generally sided with my cousin on things, but her trying to interfere with my relationship was something I was not okay with. 

I walked into my empty house from the attached garage. It was quiet, and empty. The house was beautiful, but it was missing any sign of life. I spent as much time here as I could, but working 16 to 18 days in the city kept me from actually living in it. Suddenly feeling exhausted and way older than my 29 years of age, I sat down on the uncomfortable, but stylish, couch and closed my eyes. Things had to change. 

Fool Me Once....

HaPpY HaLlOwEen! Xo

My day with Katie was exactly what I needed. I didn't think about Rheece, I didn't think about Nate. Okay that's a lie, I thought of Nate pretty much the entire day but tried not to let it get to me. And also, I have new hair and it's purple! Well, mostly blonde still but with lots of good sized pieces of a super pretty plum color mixed in. Tash did such a good job! My nails were done in a classic French manicure, and my toes dark red. I ended up feeling pretty good about the whole day, until Katie left to do some prep for her Kindergarten class.

I sat on the couch with Koda on my lap, and burst into tears. That was totally not my style. Sure I cried over the Notebook, and I'm generally a very affectionate person, but I wasn't one for just randomly crying. What interrupted my pity party was my phone ringing.

I looked down to see it was my brother calling and quickly pulled myself together.

"Hey, boo!" I said enthusiastically (totally faking it). Not that I wasn't super stoked about talking to Stevie, I was just in the middle of my pity party.

"Sister! Are you crying?" Damn it!

"No...."

"I'll kick someone's ass."

I laughed genuinely this time. So overprotective of his sister! "I'm fine.  What's up? Are you excited to visit?"

"About that." I could feel fresh tears. If he cancelled on coming for a visit I would seriously just go to bed right now. "I have to work on Sunday, so I can't come."

I sniffles. "Ugh that sucks so bad."

"I know, I'm sorry." He was quiet for a moment. "Sooooo I booked you a flight to come visit us!"

"What? Really?" I squealed.

"Yup. You gotta take Friday off though if that's not too short notice. I registered Koda already too so you're good to go. Mom's sending you the info later."

I felt 100% better. A visit home was exactly what I needed. "Oh my god, I love you. You're the best!"

My brother laughed, obviously embarrassed. "Don't mentioned it. Can't wait to see you!"

"Thanks bro! I'm so excited!!" I had Koda dancing on the couch with me.

"Me too!" Stevie's voice got serious. "No more crying, sis. Whoever it is just isn't worth it."

Best advice I could possibly get. We said a few more things before hanging up, then I called my parents who are so stoked to see me (obviously I'm their favourite, and only, daughter!). After that I called Breanne to tell her I was coming which she already knew because my brother and her were so close.

I spent the next couple hours planning who I would visit and when. Chances are a visit to our one (and only) hometown bar would mean I would get to see everyone from school at once. Breanne said she would plan a dinner with our friends from college, and I was excited to just spend some time with my parents.

I was so excited all of a sudden that when someone knocked on the door I didn't even think about who it could be I just pulled it open. The second my mind registered that Nate was standing in front of my door I slammed it shut again.

"Fuck." I whispered to Koda who stood at the door expectantly.

"Skye, open up. We need to talk." I could hear Nate's voice through the door.

I debated pretending like he wasn't there, but ended up acting like a grown up and opening the door again.

"Pretty sure we have nothing to talk about." I said as coolly as possible. At least I knew I looked good with my new hair and nails.

He looked at my face closely. "What happened to your eyes?"

Of course my mascara and eye liner were everywhere after my little crying session. I quickly wiped away what I could.

"Can I come in so we can talk?"

I shrugged and sat down across the couch on the seat so he couldn't sit beside me. Childish maybe but I couldn't even be close to him right now.

"I saw that you called this morning." He began, sitting down across from me. For the first time I couldn't even think about how hot he is because I was seriously pissed. I said nothing. "I know it looks bad, but it's not what it looks like."

I rolled my eyes. "Please, by all means, explain to me what it looks like then."

He started telling me about how Diane had wanted him to go for dinner with one of her friends and when they met up, Diane ended up having to cancel. So this woman, Charlie, and Nate ended up going for dinner alone. She had too much to drink at dinner so Nate let her sleep on his couch.

After he was done telling me this I got up to grab myself a glass of wine. I didn't bother getting him one. "So you're telling me that this random woman was comfortable enough answering your phone after meeting you for the first time? And that you couldn't have put her in a cab or dropped her off at her house?"

Nate ran his hand over his face. "It wasn't the first time we met." I stayed silent. "We went out a few times a while ago."

My heart felt like it dropped into my stomach. "So you went for dinner and slept with your old girlfriend while you're supposedly trying to date me or whatever this is."

"I didn't sleep with her." He reached for me but I quickly took a step back. "And yes, we are dating!"

"I'm not even sure I care anymore. Do not touch me!" I was seriously over this whole situation. I put my professional reputation on the line, wasted time getting to know him, slept with him, just for him to pretend like I don't exist so he can get together with his ex-girlfriend.

"I told you I don't really know how to handle this whole dating thing. I didn't even date her. I want to be with you." He gave me a pleading look.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, willing this headache to go away. "I can't deal with this right now."

He looked sad but nodded. "I get it. I'm so sorry, Skye. Please believe me that nothing happened other than dinner."

"Okay." I mainly agreed because I wanted to just curl up on the couch with Koda and not think about this anymore.

"I'm going to prove to you that you're the only one I want to be with." He reached for my hand before I could snatch it away. "I'll prove it."

I nodded slowly and he gave me a quick peck on the cheek and then reluctantly left. I wasn't really sure where we were at now, but part of me still had hope that this could turn into something. Fool me once...

Weekend date?

**Sorry for the late post! My boyfriend and I were celebrating our 5 year anniversary and unfortunately I ended up not having time to post this! Anyways, here it is and another one will be up on Friday! 

Xo,

S.

Sunday morning Katie burst through the bathroom door as I was showering. I thought she was still sleeping but apparently not anymore. Chris had gone back over to his house earlier this morning to get some work done. Seriously, no one should work as much as he does.

"You won't believe what I just found." She said, plunking herself down on the toilet seat lid.

"What did you find? Did you hear from Kurtis?" I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair, thinking this had to be about Kurtis' weird behavior.

"Nope, he's still MIA." She took a deep breath and then spoke super fast, "Nate went on a date last night, that's why you haven't heard from him."

I stuck my head out of the shower. "Um, okay...."

"I was scrolling through Twitter and came across some pictures of him with some brunette bimbo and they look pretty cozy." She elaborated handing me a towel without looking up from her phone. "Put this on, you don't need to make me jealous with your perfectly petite little body."

I snorted and wrapped myself up in the towel. "It's probably just Diane."

Katie shook her head. "No, I've seen her before and that's definitely not her." She handed me her phone and I scrolled through several pictures of Nate and this random woman.

Ugh. "I know we're not exclusive or anything but he made it sound like he really wants a shot at being together..." It kinda hurt seeing him out on a date with someone else. Obviously we weren't exclusively dating but we had spent quite a bit of time together and I generally don't have sex with guys who are seeing other people. Ew!

"I'm sorry, babe. I didn't want you to spend all day wondering why you haven't heard from him because that sucks. I want to be on team Nate but he's not making it easy."

"No, I'm glad you showed me. I need to figure out where I stand with him." I went to put some clothes on while Katie hopped in the shower. I sat down on my bed, feeling frustrated. For the first time since I was single I was ready to invest time and effort into a relationship with someone I genuinely liked and so far all that's gotten me lies and hurt feelings. I wasn't really sure if it was worth it.

"You should just call him." Katie came out of the bathroom with a pair of my sweatpants on that were way too short on her. Oh to be tall and skinny. "And put it on speaker phone so Koda and I can hear." She flopped down on the bed and Koda left me to lay on her stomach.

"Isn't it too early?" I was hesitant to always be the one to reach out. Katie shook her head so I dialed his number and put it on speakerphone.

It rang a few times and I chewed nervously on my bottom lip.

"Hello?"

Katie and I froze. That was definitely not Nate's voice.

"Hello?" The female voice said a again.

I was about to double check and make sure that it was actually Nate's number that I had called when I heard his voice asking who it was in the background. Katie's eyes widened and she reached over to hit the end call button. We sat in silence for a while as I was trying to wrap my head around what just happened.

So the date must have gone very well. Thinking of Nate with another woman made me nauseous. Thinking about all the sweet things he's said and done for the last few weeks made me want to cry. Chances are he was saying the exact same thing to this woman.

"Want to go for lunch?" I got off the bed, determined to not think about this.

"Sure. Do you want to talk about what just happened?" Katie asked gently, reaching out to squeeze my hand in such a familiar gesture that it made me feel better instantly.

"Nope." I pulled random clothes out of my closet and settled on dark washed, distress jeans, a plaid shirt, and knee-high dark brown boots.

"Okay. Let's go for a men-are-assholes-brunch and then see if Tash can squeeze us in to get our hair done." Katie planned out.

"And let's go for mani-pedis after." I added on.

"Done and done!" She leaned over and gave me a bear hug. "I love you."

I almost cried. "I love you, too."

And with that our girl day began. #hoesbeforebros

Security System

"Did you lock the door?" Katie asked in a panicky whisper.

"I have no idea. I usually only do before I go to bed." I whispered back. "Ohmygod!"

I heard the door squeak open, and footsteps coming inside. I was 100% sure we were going to die right here, right now. A shadow fell into the entry way, and Katie let out loud, high-pitched scream. My whole body was shaking and I was ready to either run or faint at any second.

"What the fuck? Skye?" I heard Chris' voice and could have cried in relief. He poked his head around the corner and gave us a weird look. "What's with the scream you weirdo? You probably scared Koda out of his nonexistent pants."

We both dissolved into giggles and I explained once I finally caught my breath. "We saw Rheece when we went for a walk and hauled ass back home. We thought it was him knocking at the door. Since when do you knock, you usually just waltz right in?"

"I know but I thought you might have locked your door since the whole Jess and Rheece thing." He explained. "That's actually why I came over here. I saw Rheece's car parked across the street when I came home from work a little while ago. I went outside to see why he was here but he left pretty quick when he saw me coming."

Katie looked worried, her face mirroring my thoughts. "He's seriously fucked up. Skye, you need to be careful."

I wholeheartedly agreed but I also didn't want to have to hide out in my own house just because Rheece decided he had it out for me. I wouldn't even be in this position if Jess hadn't told him my address. "What if I text Jess and tell her she needs to get him to back off?"

Chris opened the fridge in search of a bottle of beer. "It wouldn't hurt to try. After last time though she might just think you're lying."

I pulled out my phone anyways, and typed out a text.

S: Hey Jess. Rheece has been around my neighborhood tonight, please tell him to leave me alone.

We decided to start a movie in the living room so we could all get more comfortable and I was hoping it would ease some of my nerves. Having a nutcase around definitely made me nervous. At least I knew Chris was only a few feet away. Halfway through the movie my phone vibrated. Chris paused the movie while I grabbed my phone off the coffee table.

J: Don't be stupid, he's not in your neighborhood. He's in Portland for business this weekend. Don't text me again!

I read it out loud and we all sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm 100% sure it was him." Chris declared. "I've seen his car before when he picked up Jess and it was definitely the same car. And I could see his face because he was parked close to the streetlamp."

Katie nodded in agreement. "I definitely saw him too. So either she's lying to cover for him, or he's lying to her about where he really is."

"Ugh, I wish I would have stayed out of that situation right from the beginning. What do I do now?"

We thought about this for a moment, our movie forgotten. 

"We should get you a security system?" Chris thought out loud.

"Wouldn't that be too expensive? And I feel like that would make this into a bigger deal than it should be." We all agreed on this and drank more wine while we thought of a relatively reasonable and doable solution.

"You could get another dog." Katie suggested. "Maybe a bigger one with some protective instincts. I mean, Koda is protective of you but weighs 5 pounds."

"Hmm, not a bad idea." I looked at him curled up beside me on the couch, only his nose peeking out from under the blanket. "It would have to be an older one though so Koda and him can just chill during the day."

We spent a while looking up rescue dogs in the Seattle shelter before going to bed. Chris stayed over with us so we felt saver. Our evening was so busy that when I went to sleep, I didn't even realize that I hadn't heard from Nate all day. 

Shady

I put my super fun encounter with Diane into the back of my mind and forgot about it. I figured we wouldn’t be seeing too much of each other, and hoped that Nate wasn't besties with her. I didn’t bring up how awkward I felt at dinner because I didn't want to seem insecure or like I constantly needed attention. Instead I focused pretty much all my energy into my brother's upcoming visits with calls to Breanne (who has known my brother for ever), my parents, and calls and snapchats to my brother. He was still dating that 16 year old girl but we both avoided talking about it.

Katie came over on the weekend and I cooked an elaborate dinner to thank her for being such a good friend. We had tons of wine (like always) and caught up on our crazy busy week.

"So how did you like Kurtis?" Katie asked over dinner.

"He was so sweet. He fit in with everyone right away and was so easy to talk to. Even your brother warmed up to him in the end."

She smiled weakly. "See that’s what I thought too, but we went out for dinner last night and it went great. Then ten o'clock hits and he is outta there. And I mean he muttered some excuse and took off."

I frowned. "What? Why? Where did you go?"

"We went for dinner at Canlis, which was great. You and Nate should go there for a date, it's not that far from here. Anyways, we were just sitting there, hanging out, having some drinks and talking nonstop, but he kept checking his phone. And then at ten he checked it, paid for our bill, and booked it out of there." She shrugged and kept eating. I knew she was secretly feeding Koda under the table but since it was chicken I didn't care.

"That's shady. Have you heard from him since?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I sent him a text asking if everything was okay but haven't heard anything back and that was almost twenty-four hours ago. I mean, I know I met him on tinder so I shouldn't be expecting anything, but I actually like him."

"Hmm, that is weird. And so far he hasn't given you a reason to not like him, so I don't blame you for being into him." I cleared the dishes off the table and topped up our wines.

"Okay, but get this…. Woah, I fed Koda too much chicken." She got distracted for a moment watching him waddle around. "We should take him for a walk."

"Good idea." I tidied up the kitchen and Katie grabbed Koda's leash and our coats. It was still relatively nice out, but with the sun down it was definitely starting to get chillier.

We headed down the sidewalk wanting to stay in the well lit areas because I'm a big chicken and its dark.  Katie continued her story. "My friend from work is on tinder, and apparently she found Kurtis on tinder and he swiped right on her." I gave her a puzzled look. "That means he likes what he's seeing."

"Oh gotcha. Was this recently?"

"Well, she told me about it earlier today, but it happened earlier this week. I know we're not exclusive or anything close to that, but it hurts my feelings that he's still looking for someone else when he clearly has the definition of perfect right in front of him."

We laughed and I was happy that Katie wasn't letting this weigh her down too much. Definitely shady in my books though. "Don’t invest too much time on this if he's being weird like this off the get go. Not exactly the best way to build trust."

"I gotcha." We walked in silence for a while, stopping to let Koda sniff and mark his territory. He barked at random things in the night but in general it was pretty quiet and there wasn't too much traffic.

Suddenly Katie grabbed my hand and squeezed it really hard. "Ouch. Katie!"

"Rheece just drove by." She whispered.

I felt a chill run down my spine. "Where?" I knew his and Jess' condo wasn't anywhere close to here and we weren't exactly by a main road. "Do you still see him? Are you sure it was him?"

"I don't see him anymore. He came up from that way and slowed down." She pointed forwards. "I saw his face when he looked at us."

"I'm thoroughly creeped out." My fingers were still in Katie's grasp and I didn't want her to let go. We decided to turn around and head back home, but we both flinched every time a car drove by us and Koda barked.

We were speed walking by the time we got to my front door and hustled inside. Katie plunked down at the kitchen table and I sat beside her needing a breather.

"Holy shit, that was a little scary. I need to stop watching Criminal Minds by myself, especially when Shemar Moore isn't here to protect me." Katie let out a breath and picked up her abandoned wine class.

"No kidding." I sipped some wine. "Not the same as Shemar, but I'm gonna call Chris."

"Good idea. We can have a sleepover party."

I smiled but my hands shook as I pulled out my phone. I was dialing Chris' number when I froze. "Katie? Someone's knocking on the door."

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!

Message from S.

hey dolls!
I was hoping to squeeze in some writing this weekend and unfortunately studying for midterms got in the way. I will try to have a post up on Friday but school has to come first. Check back on the weekend and I will try my best to have one up!!
Xoxo
S.

Let's talk about sex, baby

I ran down the stairs, and whipped open the door much fast than necessary. I hoped it wasn't Rheece, but part of me just knew it had to be Nate. And there he was, in jeans and a sweater that looked incredible on him. We stared at each other, Koda sniffing Nate's shoes before heading back inside.

"Skye, I need to explain this to you. It's been -" Nate began but was interrupted by Chris coming inside from the backyard.

"Hey, man." He shook Nate's hand. "Heard the doorbell ring and just wanted to double check that you're okay, babe. Want a beer? We're just having a fire out back." Chris invited.

I was glad he did because I needed a second to just gather my thoughts and figure out where I wanted this to go. Nate accepted the invitation and we grabbed some more beer and headed out to join the others. Everyone greeted him warmly and we made first-name introductions (I still wanted to keep things on the DL). Katie narrowed her eyes at him when he said hello, then scooted over so I could sit in the chair beside her. Nate sat down in a chair Daniel got for him and we all continued talking among ourselves. One of Chris' friends was telling a story about his freshman year in college that had everyone laughing. My eyes met Nate's every few seconds it seemed like.

"Did he explain?" Katie asked, her voice low so that no one would here.

"Not yet, but he was about to until your brother invited him out here for a beer."

"I texted him." She admitted, picking nonexistent lint off her sweater.

"What? When? And why?" I asked louder than I meant to. Again my eyes met Nate's.

"Don't be mad. Last night when you went to check the barbecue or whatever you were doing, I got the number out of your phone. I just honestly can't see him purposely kissing a skank like Ashley, ever, so I thought something else must have happened. And also you were the saddest person I have ever seen last night and I wanted you to be happy. I told him we’re having a barbecue and he should stop by and explain to you what actually happened." She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "Now that I think about it I totally overstepped my boundaries and I'm sorry."

I laid my head on her shoulder, grateful to have such a good friend in her. "Don't be sorry. I'm not mad. Thank you for doing that."

We spent a couple more hours outside before it got a little too chilly. Tash and Tiffany were the first to leave because Tash's salon was open the next day and she had to go in and do some paperwork beforehand. She told me to call her since she had some great ideas for my hair and I was up for trying something new (as long as it was reasonable, obviously). Then Chris, Daniel, and their friends left soon after to go play Xbox or Playstation or something like that. Katie and Kurtis left in separate cars but I did see them kiss before they took off and they headed in the same direction even though Katie lived on the other end of the city. Phone-date with her in the morning for sure.

That left Nate and me. We'd made small talk throughout the evening but avoided anything too serious. Finally we were alone, although I wasn't sure how to bring up the topic of the elevator make-out sesh.

He saved me from awkwardly bringing it up as I was loading up the dishwasher. "I need to apologize first of all for barely talking to you this last week. Things have been going on in Steel Industries that needed to be dealt with immediately."

"Is everything okay?" I asked. Him not texting me was the least of my worries.

"Yeah we got it under control. Look, what you saw in the elevator was just not what happened. She caught me completely off-guard and just pressed herself up against me." He looked disgusted. "I should have seen it coming, she was always in the elevator with me lately and made some inappropriate suggestions that I ignored. I was so distracted that day and when she kissed me I couldn't pull back. She had a death-grip on my tie and this all seriously happened a second before the doors opened. It was disgusting." He said the last part with so much feeling that I almost laughed. "I'm sorry. Really, really sorry. It should have never gotten to that point and I shouldn't have let it happen."

I was silent for a moment, letting it all sink it. I believed him, 100%. As far as I knew him, he wasn't the type of person to go for someone like Ashley, and him coming here and telling me what happened meant a lot to me.

"Okay, I trust you." Nate looked visibly relieved and shut the dishwasher after the last of the dishes had been fit inside. I scooted up on the counter (my mom would cringe but it was my favorite bad habit) so I was close to eye level with him.

"Do you want to keep seeing me?"  He placed one hand on either side of me on the counter, boxing me in.

I grinned. "Maybe. Are you worth all the trouble?"

He leaned in and almost kissed me. "I hope so." He closed the minimal gap between us, our lips touching.

I wanted him so bad. I wrapped my legs around his waist, his hands running under my shirt over my stomach (thank god I did a sit-up the other day). He broke the kiss for a second to pull my shirt over my head. I tugged at his sweater, my hands shaking. Nate helped me by not only pulling his sweater off but also the shirt he wore underneath.

I can honestly say he was the best looking man I had ever seen. His stomach looked like the sections of a Hersey's bar. A little bit of hair covered his chest that narrowed into a thin trail down to his pants. I couldn't help but run my nails over his pecs. Nate seemed to be more than ready to keep this going and I had no objections. I thought about mentioning that we could move this to my bed when Nate whipped off my bra and kissed his way down to my breasts. I fumbled with the button of his jeans, already feeling his erection through the material. He kicked off his jeans, his tongue running over my nipple.

Nate took his mouth off me long enough  lifted me off the counter to slide my pants over my butt. With one hand he pulled them off, while the other was tightly wrapped around me. Our mouths met in another passionate kiss, his hands pushing the crotch of my underwear aside. I almost came the second his fingers grazed over my clit. He knew exactly where to touch me, and it took me no time at all to reach what ended up being my first orgasm of the night.

"This…is not why I came here." Nate said breathlessly against my mouth. 

"I know." Was the only coherent thing I could say, my thoughts completely jumbled and only of him. I knew he hadn't come here for sex, but it was happening and I was ecstatic about it.I pushed his boxers down in a hurry and Nate positioned himself in front of me. He was seriously well endowed and I couldn't help but reach down and touch him. He groaned when my hand encircled him.

"Don't even start this." He practically growled at me before his mouth crushed down on mine once more. Effortlessly, or so it seemed, he lifted me off the counter and I held onto his shoulders to stabilize myself.  He lowered me onto his erection almost painfully slow before stopping. 

"Protection?"

I hadn't even thought about it. "I'm on the pill." I answered, eager to keep going. "And clean."

"Me too." He lowered me more, his penis hurting me for a second because I hadn't had sex in a while and also never with someone this big.

Without breaking contact he took the few steps to my kitchen table, pushed a pile of napkins and plates out of the way and lowered me onto it. He began to slowly move inside my, watching my face for any sign of pain, but I was too turned on to feel anything other than pleasure. I was ready to come again, and arched my back off the table as Nate started moving faster, his mouth trailing kisses over my breasts. I came again hard, and Nate followed soon after, letting out a loud groan and then lowering his forehead to mine, still inside me.

We were silent for a while. I had a hard time catching my breath and was exhausted after the excitement from the day and absolutely mind blowing sex (ON MY KITCHEN TABLE!).

"That was insane." Nate said, standing up slowing and pulling out of me. I suddenly felt self conscious about laying butt naked on my table and slid off it, my legs feeling like rubber.

"I couldn't agree more." I picked up my discarded clothes, sorry to see Nate pull his underwear on. "Want to come shower and have a sleepover?"

He laughed, bundling his clothes in his hand. "Sleepover?" I was embarrassed for a second until he bent down and planted a hot kiss on me. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

I couldn't wait to see him naked in my shower. 

Summertime Sadness

I spent Friday night in my sweat pants, cuddled up with Koda, watching re-runs of The Tonight Show (Jimmy Fallon has my heart). Katie came over in her sweat pants and I filled her in on what had gone on in the week with Jess. I left the part about Ashley and Nate making out in the elevator until the very end and Katie almost choked on her wine.

"You're kidding, right?"

"I wish. It was seriously so gross I thought I was going to throw up. Apparently he goes after all the new girls."

"Has he talked to you since?"

"He's tried but other than texting you I've ignored my other messages and turned my phone off."

"Sweetie, I'm sorry. That totally sucks. I liked him, I was hoping he would not turn out to be super shady."

I didn't feel like talking about him anymore so Katie told me stories about her first weeks teaching Kindergarten and how she had found one of the kids' dad on tinder.

"He swiped right on me, but doesn't know it's me because it doesn't have my actual last name on it." She explained.

She told me more about her tinder dates and how 99% of them have been total fails but she had gone on a date with one guy she really liked.

"Well, be careful, you never know what kind of creep will find you on there."

"I know, I know. I want to see him again but I kinda want your impression of him."

"Clearly I know nothing about men." I laughed and took a big sip of wine so I wouldn't feel sorry for myself. "We should had a last-weekend-of-summer BBQ this weekend. Like tomorrow."

Katie clapped her hands together, scaring Koda in the process. "Sorry, buddy. I love it!"

"We can do it here and invite Chris and Daniel, and Hannah. And that's pretty much all the people I know here which is so sad." I added.

I send Chris a text letting him know our plan, then checked outside to see if the old BBQ I had in the yard was even functional. The lid fell off when I opened it so I didn't think that was a good sign. And I'm no expert but I feel like if there is a giant hole burned in the back it's probably not safe to use. Hopefully my Oma hadn't used this, ever!

Katie left around 10 and promised to be back by noon so she could help me set up. She had invited a few of her friends to come tomorrow and I was excited to meet more people.

Daniel came grocery shopping with me in the morning because Chris got called into work for a few hours. I got along really well with him and we had fun getting groceries together. Katie showed up at noon with a huge bowl of pasta salad and a cooler full of booze. Daniel left to get a portable electric cooler from his house that we could set up outside.

I was trying to be enthusiastic about the BBQ but my phone, that had gone silent, was burning a hole in my pocket. I constantly thought I heard or felt it vibrate even though it eras evident that Nate had given up. His last text came in at 9ish last night and he'd gone radio-silent on me since. Probably for the best, now I could attempt to forget about this whole awkward mess.

Koda was loving the excitement and wary of it all at the same time. He was extra excited when Chris showed up because they were familiar with each other and followed either him or me around all night.

At 6.30ish, after we had sat around and drank most afternoon while occasionally preparing food, Hannah showed up with two girls I didn't know. One had seriously the coolest hair I had ever seen. It was super long, bright red and in gigantic curls. She looked like a mermaid and I instantly wanted to be friends with her. She introduced herself as Tash and explained she was a hairdresser. Mermaid hair now totally makes sense. The other girl was a little quieter and Tash introduced her as Tiffany. A couple of Chris and Daniel's friends showed up and hung out with Chris at the BBQ (he had brought his over which was much less of a fire hazard).

We played drinking games in the backyard and I made friends with Katie's and Chris' friends. Kurtis, Katie’s tinder-date who had showed up halfway through dinner, seemed to fit in with everyone really well. Not surprisingly, Chris was not overly impressed with him, but when is a big brother every instant-bffs with their little sister’s new date. I liked him, he was really good looking and very charming, I just hoped he wasn’t stringing Katie along or a player (although what can you expect from Tinder? I have absolutely no experience with it).

It got a little cooler when the sun was gone completely so the boys lit a fire in the fire pit I had in the back and we all moved our chairs around it to stay warm.

“I’m going to go grab a jacket, does anyone want anything from inside?” I asked, standing up from my spot by the fire. In all honesty I was going inside to check my phone and take a breather. I loved all of Chris’ and Katie’s friends, but I couldn’t get my mind off Nate. No one needed anything, so I went inside by myself with Koda following close behind.  

I sat down on my bed and cuddled Koda close to me. I hated feeling this way, but I was straight up sad. I just couldn’t shake it. It may have been the couple of drinks I had but I picked up my phone and looked for Nate’s number. I had just dialed it when the doorbell rang downstairs. 

Ew!

I definitely lost sleep over this whole Jess and Rheece situation. As mad as I was at her for telling Rheece where I Iived, I was even more worried about her because I was 100% sure he had not changed. I dragged myself out of bed on Friday morning, dreading heading into work because Ashley had made it less than enjoyable. I was also starting to wonder if I was ever going to see Nate again. I'd gotten very sporadic texts from him through the week and it had all seemed like very superficial stuff that included no plans to see each other.

Ashley was not there when I got to work and I was secretly relieved. I had a Chai Tea Latte (venti and non-fat, just the way I like it) on my desk from Spencer. I'm sure he was still feeling guilty about getting me stuck with his not so charming niece.

He breezed into my office shortly after 10 while I was writing a report on a possible harassment issue happening with an employee on the floor below us.

"I'm over this." He shut the door behind him.

"Good morning to you too!" I said cheerfully. "Thanks for the latte. What's wrong?" I asked innocently, batting my eyelashes.

"You know exactly what's wrong. She's still not here and it's 10! She's supposed to be here at 8.30! Have you heard from her?"

"We're not exactly besties." I looked at my desk calendar. "I've got an interview set up on Tuesday for a potential assistant. Internally I can't really find someone that would suit the position or is available to transfer here. I can still look at other Steel companies and see if we can transfer."

Spencer agreed but wanted to give Ashley another chance. I get that he was trying to do his brother a favour but this was anything but productive for our work environment. 

I did some more work, checked my messages again to see if Nate wanted to do anything because the weekend was right around the corner. I wasn't usually one for obsessively checking my phone but his distancing had turned me into one of this people. As suspected I had no new messages from him. I decided it was time to sent him a text.

S: hey, I feel like we barely talked this week. Want to get together on the weekend?

I got no reply and still didn't have one when I went to lunch. I walked past Ashley's empty desk (I miss Kathy), and towards the elevators. One dinged and the doors opened so I headed for that one. I looked up and mumbled, "What the fuck?"

Ashley was in the elevator, a man pressed up again her. They had obviously been getting hot and heavy on their way down. Classy, Ashley.

The man turned around and my stomach dropped. That was definitely Nate. Her hand was wrapped around his tie and her lipstick (it was so cheap and way too pink) was on his mouth. I almost threw up in my mouth. He backed away quickly.

"Oh my god! Ew!" That was really the only coherent thing I could say.

"Skye..." Nate started, but I turned on my heel and hurried towards the stairs. The last thing I saw in the elevator was Ashley's disgusting smirk that I could have slapped right off her face. My appetite was gone, but I couldn't go back to my office right now. I made it down the stairs in heels in record time, out the building and to a coffee shop that was just down the block.

I grabbed a tea and sat down at an empty table. My stomach was churning. No wonder he hadn't been texting me back, he was too busy with Ashley. I felt so gross about what I saw I didn't even know how to process it.

I pulled my phone out of my purse and saw a few missed calls from Nate, a couple of voicemails, and a whole bunch of texts. 

N: Call me back!

N: Please, Skye. 

N: Where did you go? Please talk to me.

N: I can explain to you exactly what happened. Call me back.

I didn't bother reading the rest. I waited longer than my hour lunch break before heading back in. I had a meeting at 1.30 so I had more than enough time to get back to the office. I needed my stomach to settle and my nerves to calm down before I went back in. Unfortunately, Ashley was sitting at her desk when I came in.

She gave me a fake smile and sweetly asked how my lunch break was. I'm not very confrontational but today I apparently was. I called her into my office and sat down behind my desk.

With a plunk she sat down on the chair across from me. "What's your problem?"

"I've got a few actually. I've asked you nicely before to change your attire and that hasn't happened. You haven't done anything here yet and you've been here for a week. I know you were hired out of pity." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Because no one would ever hire you for real. I suggest you get home, think about what you want to do with this position, and show up on Monday morning looking less like a cheap slut."

Her mouth dropped open. "You can't talk to me that way."

Probably not. "Oh yes I can. If you don't smarten the fuck up, I will fire you first thing Monday morning and give you such a shitty reputation that not even your uncle would give you a job anymore, understood?"

I didn't raise my voice the entire time I talked and I think I actually intimidated Ashley. She fidgeted in her chair and nodded.

"Another thing. I suggest that if you can't keep it in your pants while you're at work you quit right away. Nothing would make me happier than signing termination papers based on what I saw in the elevator today." Just saying it out loud made me want to shudder.

"Fine. I guess we're done here." She scraped back her chair and stood up.

"Oh, and, Ashley?" She turned back to face me. "I'm withholding your pay for your week here due to your lack of effort and because you literally have done nothing. Have a nice weekend." I added sweetly.

She turned on get heel and stalked out of my office. I heard the drawer slam shut on her desk and then she was gone. Spencer poked his head into my office.

"What was that about?" He asked, making himself comfortable in the chair that Ashley had abandoned.

"I may or may not have just bitched out your niece." I scribbled down notes on what conditions I had given Ashley so I would have the paperwork to back it up.

Spencer sighed. "I thought we were going to give her another chance."

"Spencer, she comes in late or not at all. She does absolutely nothing while she's here, dresses like a prostitute," Spencer winced. "Sorry, but we both know it's true. I caught her making out with some guy in the elevator today. I told her she needs to get it together or she is fired. And I'm withholding her pay for this week because based on the work she's done she might as well not have even been here." I finished.

I was expecting some sort of argument from Spencer, but he just nodded. "I know you're right. I'm sorry, this was a weird situation to put you in. I guess the hunt is on for a new assistant."

"Well I told Ashley she comes back Monday morning as a whole new person or she shouldn't come back at all."

"I'm sure she won't be back. I'll explain to my brother that she just didn't work out." He stood up and patted me on the shoulder. "You do good work, kid."

"Thanks." I smiled at him. "And sorry I said that your niece looks like a hooker."

He rubbed his face with his hands. "We both know what you meant. Alright, finish whatever you're doing and head home early. I'm doing the same if I can. This has been too much excitement for one day." He  paused on his way out. "Who was she in the elevator with?"

Ugh! "I'm not sure. I didn't recognize him." I lied. I couldn't even say it out loud.

"Okay. Oh by the way, Mr. Steel sent for you so maybe see what that's about when you're done."

I nodded knowing there was no way I would be going up to see "Mr. Steel". Once Spencer left I was alone with my thoughts again. I had heard my phone vibrate a few times but couldn't get myself to look at it. As soon as I was finished, I took the stair to the parade, got in my car, and headed home to snuggle up with Koda. With Jess going back to Rheece, and Nate making out with Ashley in the elevator, this week had been a write-off!

Moving On Out

"She sounds like a nightmare." Jess sympathized, her eyes glued to her phone.

The situation with Ashley had not improved at all. In fact, I was starting to think she came in every morning just to make my life at work miserable. We had a nice little chat about dressing appropriately for work that ended in her throwing a fit (I kid you not, it was an actual temper tantrum) that left me speechless and Spencer uncomfortable. The end result was that she dressed even worse. I actually saw her ass crack the other day because her jeans were so low cut she didn’t even have to bend over to show it off (Ps: JEANS! On a Wednesday! In the office! I can't even). If anything needed to be scheduled she forgot about it for sure, not to mention that she had forgotten to page people in and made them wait for an unnecessary 30 minutes. I was getting exasperated and she'd only been there for four days.

"She is!" We were eating dinner, but Jess had not put down her phone. "Okay, tell me what's going on?"

She looked up for the first time and pushed her food around her plate. "I've been talking to Rheece." I figured as much but remained silent so she could continue. "He wants me to move back in…."

I choked on my food and coughed to try and cover it up. "Really?!" I silently chanted to myself that I need to be supportive.

"Well, I've seen him a few times and he has changed." It was news to me that they had seen each other, and even more news that he had changed. " It might be a good idea to give it a try."

"Has he been to some sort of program? Like detox, or AA meetings, or like an anger management program?"

"He doesn't need to. He says he doesn’t want to drink anymore and he's been so sweet to me every time he talks to me."

I groaned inwardly. "Jess, are you sure he is ready for this? And more importantly are you sure you are ready for this?"

She nodded and pushed her half-empty plate away. "I'm sure."

"Okay, well maybe just take a couple days to think it over and then make your decision." I got up and grabbed our plates.

Jess stood up to help clear the table. "Well, that’s the thing. He's on his way over to pick me up."

The dishes I was holding clattered in the sink. "WHAT?! You told him where I live?"

"He…he wanted to come pick me up. I wasn't….I didn’t think…" Jess stuttered.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I couldn't help myself. Her getting back together with Rheece was one thing, telling him where I live was another. "He threatened me and he's threatened you too. And you tell him where I live?! So next time he has an outburst or starts drinking he'll know exactly where you are. And next time he sees me as a threat, he'll know exactly where I am too!" I practically yelled. Koda tucked tail and hid under the kitchen table.  Jess looked like she was ready to tuck tail and hide too. Her face was beet red and her chin quivering.

"I'm going to go get my stuff." She said, her voice shaking. I couldn't even feel bad for her.

"He hasn't changed, Jess." I said quietly, putting the dishes under the sink.

She looked fiercely at me. "Yes, he has."

"I think you're making a huge mistake, but that is yours to make. I don’t want him on my property, I don't even want him on my street. If I see him anywhere around here when he shouldn’t be here, I will call the police."

She nodded, turned on her heel and headed upstairs. I crawled under the kitchen table to calm down Koda, then finished the dishes and sent Chris a text.

S: Jess is moving out. Rheece is coming to get her…

C: She told him where you live?????????

S: Yup. Not impressed :(

C: On my way home from work, I'll come straight there.

S: Thanks, I'm making you a plate of food. XO

Jess stayed upstairs and was still upstairs when Chris arrived. He sat down at the kitchen table with me while I poured myself a generous glass of wine. A few minutes later Jess came down, bag in hand.

"I'm sorry, Skye." She said, not meeting my eyes. "I really do think Rheece has changed for the better, and if you can't support that we can't be friends anymore." Back to square one. She fiddled with her engagement ring that she must have just put back on.

"Don't do this. Skye has been nothing but supportive of you and now you're cutting her out of your life, exactly like Rheece would want."

To my surprise she glared at Chris. "You don't know anything about me, so you can't judge me in this at all."

"If you're the kind of person that turns their back on their friend for someone who is nothing but shitty to you, then I don’t think I want to know you." Chris said calmly.

I've never seen Chris mad before, but I could tell he was not impressed. "Jess, I think it's best if you leave. Good luck."

She nodded and walked out the door. We watched her carry her bag down my short drive way to her car. Seconds later a black BMW pulled up behind her car and Rheece got out. They talked for a minute before he glanced towards my house to where we were in the window, looked me directly in the eye, and slowly shook his head, his eyes never leaving mine. A chill ran down my spine and Koda growled. They got into their cars and that was the last we saw of them. Or so I hoped.

Monday Meetings

I didn't sleep at all Sunday night. I tossed and turned and worried until 4 in the morning when I finally just got up and showered and spent all my extra time curling my hair. During the night I had talked myself into thinking I was going to get fired on the spot to thinking that I was going to be made into a public example at the meeting. I was so anxious I felt sick. Nate (Chris definitely introduced the shortened version to me) had sent me a few text messages during the day but I couldn't think of anything to say back. I really liked him, there was no denying that. However, I wasn't prepared to lose my newly acquired dream job that I had worked hard to get the education for. 

I was a bundle of nerves on my way to work, too nervous even to get a coffee along the way and secretly glad Kathy hadn't sent me a text about it this morning. I hurried into my office after the world's longest elevator ride, ditched my bag at my desk, took a deep breath and went to knock on Spencer's door with shaky hands.

He opened his door and smiled at me. "Good morning, Skye. How was your weekend?"

I was caught off guard. Surely he wouldn't be asking me about my weekend if he was going to fire me, right? "It was good." I answered hesitantly, stepping into his office.

For the first time I noticed a woman maybe 18 or 19 sitting in the corner of his office. She would have been pretty but she was so inappropriately dressed that it was hard to look past the cleavage. I smiled at her, and she smirked back at me.

Spencer cleared his throat. "You're probably wondering why I called you here. This does have to do with our meeting later. Kathy is no longer with us."

I was surprised. "Why?"

He looked uncomfortable for a moment. "There has been some evidence lately that she was...um...getting too comfortable with another employee."

This whole idea seemed so absurd to me that I almost laughed. "Really? I find that a little hard to believe."

"I did too but the evidence is there. I know you really liked her that's why I wanted to let you know before the meeting. She won't be mentioned during it but we are making an example of the case for other employees. We thought this might be a good time to remind everyone of our relationship policy so this hopefully doesn’t happen again."

I felt terrible for Kathy. I knew she loved her job and I just found it hard to imagine her breaking the policy especially because everyone in this office other than the senior editors were a good 15-30 years younger than her. I was definitely going to miss her.

"As a replacement, a permanent replacement if she adjusts well, I have brought in my niece, Ashley. She has some experience as an administrative assistant and we will be helping her learn along the way. Ashley, this is my leading lady in HR, Skye."

He's introduction of me was adorbs, her limp handshake was anything but. I don’t know about you but I immediately judge people by how firm their handshakes are.

"Nice to meet you, Ashley." I said sincerely. Or hopefully it sounded sincerely anyways.

"Yeah." Was her contribution.

Spencer looked awkwardly from her to me. "Would you mind doing the paper work with her after the meeting?"

"Sure." No thank you. "Let me just get ready for the meeting really quick and then we can head there together."

"Wonderful."

I hurried into my office, hoping that Ashley was a better person than my first impression of her made me believe. I sent Jess a quick text saying that there are leftover from the weekend on the fridge if she was hungry when she got back from her shoot.

J: thanks! I'm starving, only ate veggies on location all weekend. I'll pick up Koda from doggy-day care if he will let me. Can't wait to see you. 

Loved having Jess back from her location shoot over the weekend. Ashley dragged her feet to the meeting and I caught a few people casting questioning looks at her. Spencer seemed to be oblivious to it. We sat at our usual spot and filled her in on what Kathy usually did at these meetings, which was mainly take note of the main points of the meeting so we could see of anything needed to be amended policy-wide. Twenty minutes into the meeting I noticed that Ashley was not taking notes but playing on her phone. I cleared my throat and she glared at me. Great! 

Once the meeting was done, Spencer suggested we go to lunch together after I met with a few more clients so we could "get to know each other better and feel more comfortable". He avoided all eye contact with me when asking my to do this, so he must have known I was less than impressed with this new addition to the office. 

Never had my lunch hour felt longer. I tried to talk to her and get at least a little bit acquainted, but all I got from it is that she didn't want to be at lunch any more than I did.

Before I went home at the end of the day I swung by Spencer's office, Ashley had already left for the day (2 hours ago…).

"How's it going, my dear?" Spencer asked, pushing his chair back from his desk.

I felt really comfortable around him and had from day one, but I still felt uncomfortable bringing this up. "Do you think Ashley is the best fit for us?" I asked, hopefully not too bluntly.

He took his glasses off and ran his hand over his face. "I don’t know. I know this isn't ideal, but we need someone to fill in for Kathy."

"Okay. What about interviewing other people?" I said cautiously. "Or possibly doing an internal transfer?"

"We'll still do that. Let's see how Ashley does. She needs a bit of help and my brother practically begged me to give her a job." Spencer looked pleadingly at me.

I sighed. "Okay, but she needs to dress more professional. Can you let her know that?" He looked at me. "Spencerrrrrr, don't make me do it." He smiled sweetly. "Ugh, fine. I’m going home, I'll see you in the morning."

"I'll bring you Starbucks." He called after me. Starbucks was not going make having Ashley around any better, but it was going to start my morning off the right way.

Breakfast Conversations

The first thing I did when I woke up Sunday morning and feel regret for not enjoying the date last night to the full extent that I should have. I wasn't sure if my previous experiences (or lack of experiences) led me to judge him so quick or if I was just nervous, but that was not the person I usually was. I picked up my phone and, after seeing it was not even seven yet, decided that sending Nathaniel a text would probably be best right now. 

S: I'm sorry for being so distant at the end of our date last night. I didn't even thank you properly and that's just not okay. Can I make it up to you?

To my surprise he sent a text back right away.

N: Don't apologize, just tell me if I did something wrong. And if this is you asking me out on another date then that is a definite yes.

I smiled, happy he wasn't mad about the night before. S: Deal. Want to come over for breakfast?

It took a couple minutes before he replied. N: Be there at 9!

S: Sounds good! Door is unlocked so just come on in.

I let Koda outside to do his morning business then decided to lay back down for a couple minutes and close my eyes. Before I knew it I heard someone knock on my bedroom door.

"Skye?" Nathaniel's voice came doorway.

I shot up in bed. "Oh shit!" I frantically searched for my phone in the covers to look at the time. It was definitely nine o'clock and I was definitely not anywhere near ready. "I'm so sorry. I must have fallen back asleep. Do you want to wait downstairs and I'll just get dressed really quick?"

"Sure, not a problem." Nathanial headed downstairs, Koda hot on his heels.

I got dressed in jeans and a black tank top in record time, threw my messy blonde hair up in a bun, and made sure I had no leftover make up from the night before on my face. I hurried down the stairs to see Nathanial brewing coffee and filling Koda's bowl with kibble. I gave Nathaniel a hug and a kiss on the cheek and started making the batter for waffles. He helped me cook the bacon and scramble eggs and it surprised me how quickly we got into a rhythm. In no time breakfast was done and my kitchen smelled delicious.

Over waffles, bacon, and scrambled eggs I decided it was time to fess up about my weird behaviour last night. "I am sorry about last night. I had such a good time and I really didn't show you that. Your captain asking whether you want the usual route made me feel like you take girls out on dates like that all the time which kind of made me feel uncomfortable. And in reality it shouldn't have because it's none of my business what you do and who you do it with."

"Skye." Nathanial took my hand. "I've never taken another woman on my yacht. You were the first person I have done that with, although I will admit that I go on my own on a regular basis."

I smiled, relieved. He didn't owe me an explanation, but I felt thankful for it nonetheless. "Well then this thank you needs to be extra big because I loved that you took me last night."

Nathanial was rubbing his thumb across my hand, and I was completely lost in his eyes when the doorbell rang. A second later the door flew open and Chris came in.

"Morning, babe. Came over to grab some coffee and see how your big date went last night." He noticed Nathanial sitting at the breakfast table. "And now I have my answer because your date is still here. Hey, Nate-Dog."

I suppressed a giggle at the nickname and poured Chris a cup of coffee and filled a plate with food. He had made himself comfortable in true Chris-fashion and winked at me. "So I take it went well if you're still here this morning."

"You're so nosy. And FYI, he came back this morning for breakfast but we did have a fantastic time last night." I answered.

Nathanial eyed Chris suspiciously before getting up and putting his plate in the sink. "I should get going, Skye. Thank you for the lovely breakfast." Formal Nathanial was officially back. He kissed me gently on the cheek. "I'll call you."

I nodded and smiled up at him. Formal or not, he was delicious. Chris pushed his chair back. "I'll walk you out, man. I'll be back in a second."

They disappeared around the corner and I could hear Chris' voice but couldn't make out what he was saying. He shut the door behind Nathanial and sat back down, eating as if nothing happened.

"What'd you say?" I asked, kicking Chris under the table.

"Not much. I saw the look he gave me when I sat down, so I just told him that I would rather sleep with him than with you which pretty much got the message across that I was in no way the competition he saw me as."

I burst out laughing and stood up to give him a hug. "That's hilarious. I totally adore you." I kissed him on the top of the head then went upstairs to grab my laptop to check my mail.

I had one from my mom and dad filling me in on everything that was going on at home, a few advertisements (hello, fall boots), and one from Steel Publishing. I read it and my heart beat faster.

"What's wrong?"

I looked up at Chris anxiously. "Steel Publishing is having a company-wide meeting to discuss the policy on relationships between employees, and Spencer wants to see me in his office first thing Monday morning before the meeting."

First date

I was giddy all week for my date with Nathanial. To top off my good mood he had sent me flowers on Wednesday and we had been texting back and forth quite a bit.

As promised he picked me up on Saturday night at 6 o'clock. I had been antsy all day and was ready to go an hour before he even got to my house. But he was on time which I really liked. For once he didn't show up with his driver, instead pulling up in a sleek white sports car. I answered the door probably a little too quickly when he rang the bell but I didn't really care.

"You look amazing." Nathaniel said, taking in my navy blue jersey dress and heels.

I grinned. "Thanks, you're looking pretty handsome yourself." He really did look delish in dressy jeans and a simple white shirt. Let's skip the date and have sex? Just kidding (sort of).

"Want to bring your dog?" He asked taking me surprise.

"Really?" I had thought we were doing the standard dinner date but apparently not.

"Yup. I planned a some-what dog friendly date."

I was so touched and showed him by planting a kiss on his cheek. Koda was more than excited to come. I got his leash and carried him to the car. Like a gentleman, Nathanial opened the door for me. Chivalry was so not dead.

We took off towards an area I had never been before. I talked about Koda and my week at work while Nathanial mostly listened. Soon we slowed down to turn into the Shilshole Bay Marina.

"Are we going on a boat?" I asked, excited. Koda had his nose pressed up against the window and was leaving a nice little nose print on the glass but thankfully Nathanial didn't seem to care.

Nathanial grinned at me. "We are. Want to see Seattle at sunset from the water?"

I think I literally swooned. How perfect was this for a first date!  The boat (yacht? I don’t even know) was flawless. Everything was white and cream coloured, with the name 'Susanne' in beautiful writing on the side. We walked up a ramp onto the main deck that had stairs to go on the upper and lower decks. I was seriously excited.

The first thing I did was ditch my shoes, I didn't think I was going to be too steady in heels on the water. Nathanial led to me the upper deck and it was high enough to give me a good view of the marina. He came up behind me and placed his hands on either side of me on the railing. I had butterflies in my stomach and my heart was racing.

"Ready to go?" He asked, trailing kisses over my shoulder, giving me goose bumps.

I nodded my head and Nathanial signaled to someone. We started moving out of the marina and towards the water. It was still relatively light out but lots of boats were heading in already. Nathanial opened a bottle of champagne for us. We spent some time exploring the bay, Koda perched on a seat on the upper deck with us, his nose pointed in the air, clearly enjoying the ocean breeze. After about an hour of zigzagging through the water, Nathanial said dinner would be served on the main deck.

Fresh cooked crab, scallops, shrimp, lobster, and salmon had been prepared for us. The entire time I had been on Nathanial's boat I hadn't seen a person other than us around but apparently there wasn’t just someone manning the boat, but also a chef. I was a little overwhelmed with the fact that this was our first date when usually my first dates include movies and a burger. Koda even had his own side dish of chicken and vegetables. Hello, spoiled!

Dinner was fantastic and the conversation flowed easily. He asked me questions about myself and seemed genuinely interested in the answers I gave. Nathanial shared that his yacht (I checked) was named after his grandmother whom he had spent most of his time with growing up. I wanted to ask where his parent's were but didn’t want to intrude on something that was private. After dinner, we got a blanket, settled on the upper deck loveseat with a bottle of wine and dessert, and prepared to watch the sunset that would be casting it's magic on Seattle.

"Koda must have been on a boat before." I thought out loud. He was sitting on my lap, his nose in the air again enjoying the ride. "And he seems to like you, he hasn’t barked once at you."

"He's pretty cute." Nathanial tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "Have I told you that you look absolutely stunning tonight?"

I smiled and leaned in for a kiss that sent heat straight through me. "You did, but I don’t mind hearing it again." I felt like a princess who was getting swept off her feet. He had been nothing but charming all night and I was seriously starting to move from infatuation to really liking him. 

He wrapped his arm around me, pulled me close to him and kissed the top of my head. "Perfect."

I couldn't agree more. The captain of the yacht came up just as the sun was setting behind us, bathing the city in an orange glow that Nathanial and I almost missed because we couldn't seem to stop kissing.

"Excuse me, sir?" The man cleared his throat awkwardly and I reluctantly broke away from Nathanial. "Will you be wanting the same route as usual or will you be adding any detours?"

Nathanial answered that the normal route would be fine while I froze. Same route as usual? As in the same one as all the other time's he's taken girls on here?  And what happened when there was a detour added? The thought wouldn't leave my mind as the evening progressed. We spent another hour on the yacht once the sun had set, enjoying the Seattle skyline at night time. Nathanial dropped me off at home and walked me to the door like a gentleman, ending the night with a kiss that made me want to invite him in for more. I couldn't shake the feeling though that, while this date was totally out of the ordinary and very special to me, Nathanial had done this many times before. On that note I said good night quickly and carried Koda inside. The last thing I saw  before I closed the door was the slightly puzzled look on Nathanial's face. 

Posting schedule

Hey lovely readers,
I am changing the posting schedule to Monday and Friday for now. I work full time and just started night classes again so I'm having a hard time finding time to write. We'll see how this works! Come back Friday and check for a new post!
Xo,
S.

Got Myself a Date

Nathanial rolled over, shirtless, sleep-rumpled, and so sexy. I thought for sure I was dreaming. "You're up early." He mumbled, his eyes searching my face.

I sat up and sent Koda scrambling over the covers from the bottom of the bed to shower me with puppy kisses (the puppy bed didn’t last long and this had turned into our morning ritual). I ignored Nathanial for a second to pick up my puppy for some snuggles, I have priorities after all. In the process I noticed my lack of clothing. All I was wearing was underwear that was so small it barely warranted the name, and a skimpy tank top. I snuggled back under the covers, cuddling Koda to my chest.

"How much do you remember from last night?" Nathanial asked, brushing a stray strand of hair away from my face.

I had no idea how to act. I didn’t know if we had had sex (I hoped we didn’t if I didn't remember anything), I don’t know why he was here, or how he got here, and I was still confused as to why he hadn't called me. "Apparently not very much. Why and how are you here?"

He grinned and looked much more carefree than he usually does.  "I called you, and you ordered me to come out if I ever wanted to have a chance to be 'your boyfriend'." He air-quoted that and I groaned, thank you drunk-Skye! So embarrassing. "You told me where you were and hung up. I headed over, you were mad at me, but happy at the same time. Very confusing." He winked and I couldn't help but giggle (seriously, I'm not sixteen). "I met some of your friends, that I think are all spread out over the house and still asleep. Cody picked us all up and we came here for another drink."

"Cody?"

"My driver." Nathanial clarified.

"Ah, I see. Did…did you put me to bed?" I asked, suddenly finding Koda's ears very interesting and looking anywhere but at the gorgeous man in bed next to me.

"Nope. You changed into whatever you're wearing in your bathroom, told me to undress, put your dog between us in the bed, and passed right out. Your friend Katie is actually sleeping on the floor right there and refused to sleep in the bed but wouldn't leave the room." Sure enough, Katie was curled up in a pile of blankets on the floor by the window still sound asleep.

I laughed, it must have been so awkward for him. What a random night. "Well, I'm sorry about the drunken inconvenience last night."

"You saved me from a night of work and starring out the window thinking about you."

I looked up at him. "Yeah, right. You promised me a call and that never happened. Well, until last night anyways."

Nathanial ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure how to go about this."

"Um, you pick up the phone, dial my number and call me?"

He kicked me under the covers. "I know that part. I haven't dated a lot, so I'm a little awkward in this aspect."

"Well, I'm the master of awkward so I wouldn't even worry about it. Just call me when you say you want to get to know me. I was starting to think I had just imagined your visit the other night." I felt shy all of a sudden. "If you're not sure about this anymore…"

"No." He firmly cut me off. "Let's set a date right now. I want to do this, I want to get to know you better. Saturday, 6 o'clock, I'm coming to pick you up."

"Sounds good to me." My late night and drinks were catching up to me. "Want to go back to sleep for a bit longer?"

"Guessing your hangover is kicking in?" Nathanial reached over to pet Koda who seemed to enjoy it. "Pretty good little guard dog."

"Yeah, he's usually not that friendly with strangers. I just got him a couple weeks ago from the shelter and he seems to be adjusting well." I rolled over so my back was to Nathanial. Koda climbed over me and snuggled up again. "Feel free to be the big spoon."

Nathanial chuckled and scooted closer, his arm snaking firmly around my midsection. I could feel the cotton of his boxers against my butt and so appreciated that despite his billions he wore normal-guy underwear. I cuddled into him, briefly wondered if I was still drunk to be this okay with having a virtual stranger in my bed, and promptly fell asleep.

I woke up a few hours later alone in bed. Clearly this all must have been a very vivid dream. Katie was still asleep in her pile of blankets. My headache had worn off considerably, but I felt like I needed to chug 100 bottles of water. Throwing back the blankets, I got out of bed, pulled on a random, hopefully clean, pair of shorts, and tiptoed around Katie and downstairs. I let Koda out first to do his business, and got some water for myself. Katie's friend Hannah was asleep on the couch with no blankets (glad to see I could be such a good host once I started drinking). I covered her with a blanket before calling Koda back inside and heading back upstairs. Jess' door was open so I peaked inside to see her sitting up in bed.

"Morning, sunshine."

She covered her eyes with one hand and flipped me off with the other. "Why are you so happy and not hung over?"

"I'm dying on the inside but you look worse than I feel." I sat down on the bed and handed her my bottle of water.

She gratefully accepted the bottle of water. "Is Nathanial still here? I vaguely remember sitting in a car with him."

So he really had been here. "He's not here anymore, but we talked this morning, and unless I was too drunk for this conversation too, we have a date next weekend."

Jess face lit up. "Really? That’s so exciting. I'm so happy for you!"

We talked for a while longer before I went back to lay in bed a little longer and do my routine, morning Facebook and Instagram creep session (you do it to). I picked my phone off my nightstand, and underneath it was a note.

Saturday, 6:00pm and what must be Nathanial's phone number.

I couldn't wait for Saturday!