The Date Planner

2. 13. Equation

We walk out of the conference room, hand in hand.

And I can already feel the winds changing.

We find Sarah in the hallway who was apparently waiting for us.

"Sarah, please cancel all of my meetings for the rest of the day. I think I've had enough for one day", she nods at her

"Now, I'm heading out for lunch with Jason. Call the car upfront in five. I hope you booked my place for the lunch....?", Justine drags out as she asks Sarah.

An immediate smile graces Sarah's lips.

"I'll get to it right away", she nods obediently.

She leaves us but not before subtly winking at me behind Justine's back. Almost as if she was poaching for me.

I give her a surprised look which changes to a blank expression within seconds when Justine turns around to face me.

"I'll just gather my things and we'll be on our way. Just give me a couple of minutes", she tells me.

Heading towards what I can only assume is her office, she leaves me standing in the middle of the hallway.

Standing here, I can only think about how it's becoming one hell of a day.

***

By the time we do reach Justine's mysterious place, I'm kinda wary.

It's a rich hotel with very few guests right now. The whole room is adorned in pinks and whites and golden shades. It's almost too much Justine for a second until you get used to it.

We're escorted to a very secluded table at the very back of the room where there's low lighting. Nobody can probably hear or see us this far up.

From the way the waitress treated us and lead us straight to Justine's table without a word, shows how much of a regular Justine is here.

We sit at the sofa edged into the corner of the room. I stay my distance just in case she feels uncomfortable or otherwise. The last thing I want for her to get uncomfortable around me right now.

Five minutes later, the waitress comes up with the menu. Justine slides it gently towards me though.

"I'll have my usual", she tells the waitress with a faint smile.

The waitress nods at her and heads off.

I look at Justine and flip through the menu once.

"So, you're a regular here, huh?", I ask her, skimming through the menu.

"Pretty much. I just love the ambience. It's good for some quite and peace", she tells me with a smile.

I look at her and all I can think about how she is just the utter definition of elegance, sitting so poised even on a sofa while I'm spread wide with my legs under the table.

"Stressed much?", I ask, casually not looking at her.

But silently gauging her.

"Something like that. When you've a kid and a company to take care of, sometimes you just want to be alone and have some time to yourself", she toys with the watch on her hand.

"I can understand. At least the company part", I add.

She huffs out a chuckle.

"I'm sure you do"

This time when she looks at me, there's this softness on her face. Something I've missed, it's like the old Justine in front of me. And it's taking everything in me to not embrace her right now and never let go.