The conference room, walled in by glass and dominated by a large, oval wooden table, was currently full of men and women, all supremely focused on a large screen mounted on the wall, and the man standing beside it, giving his presentation on profit margins for the first and second fiscal quarters. Charlie, standing along the wall with at least a dozen other assistants, made his notes on his tablet, and when it came time for Peter to present, he moved towards the front and pulled up their graphs on the big screen. It was a long and tedious process, and after them there was still five more departments to present. They pressed forwards, and at one o'clock when it finally came to an end, a collective, audible sigh of relief swept the room.
Charlie was collecting materials—folders and papers—from the desk as Peter spoke with some of the others, unaware that someone was making their way around the room towards him. There was a touch on his elbow. He turned and looked up into the smiling clear brown eyes of a man in a light grey suit. He was about Charlie's height at six feet, with brown hair swept back from a short forehead and a carefully shaved scruff on his jaw.
Charlie's own blue eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "Keenan!"
"Finally," the man said with a laugh that showed even white teeth. "I was trying to catch your eye the whole time!"
"I'm so sorry," Charlie said. "I was so worried about the presentation," he gestured at the now blank screen, "that I didn't notice anything else."
Keenan laughed. "You haven't changed. It's good to see you."
"You, too," Charlie replied. They exchanged a brief hug. "You look good. As always."
"So do you," Keenan said, glancing Charlie up and down. "You killed that presentation. But then again," talking a step closer, he lowered his voice and leaned in, "you always were the perfect combination of beauty and brains."
Charlies accepted the compliment with a gracious chuckle. "I didn't see you up there. What department...?"
"I'm a junior liaison with R&D," Keenan said. "For now, anyway."
"As ambitious as always."
"I was under the impression you were, too. What happened? How did you end up as an assistant?"
"It's a long story," Charlie sighed.
"Well, tell it to me over lunch."
"I—"
Peter, glancing out the corner of his eye, saw Charlie and the man he didn't know exchange a hug. While chatting with Doug from Legal, he kept his eye on the pair and saw the man step closer to Charlie, then the smile and laugh that followed. About ten feet away, he had heard most of the conversation. Now, as Charlie opened his mouth to reply to the invitation, Peter excused himself from Doug and came walking back.
"Charlie," he called. "We should head back. There's still a lot of work to do." He didn't wait for a reply or even an acknowledgement, but walked out, expecting to be followed. He did not look at or recognize the other man in any way.
Charlie gave him a frowning look, opening his mouth, but had no chance to respond.
"I guess you're not as free as you thought," Keenan said with a raise of his brows.
"Sorry," Charlie said, looking back at him, still frowning. "I should go. I'll find your extension and call you later."
"I'll do one better." Taking out a business card and a pen from his jacket, he set the card down on the table and quickly wrote on the back, then held it out to Charlie. "It's my personal number," he said. "Call me, and let's have dinner instead."
YOU ARE READING
To You and Back
RomanceWhen confused feelings and childhood crushes come back to haunt them in adulthood, Charlie and Peter must peel back the veils of their own repressed feelings to understand what is really real. After years of estrangement, Charlie finds himself in th...