More Than Fine. (Complete)

8- MTF The List

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     The Monday morning commute to work seemed to take forever. Funny how when you're anxious to get somewhere, time seems to slow. All weekend she was distracted with thoughts of Friday night. After the party, they had stopped by Mr. Bellanti's apartment again for her to pick up her things. That time she was more at ease in his apartment than the first, and really appreciated its upper east side location, just blocks from Central Park, as well as its luxurious furnishings and spaciousness for a New York apartment.

     He invited her to stay a bit, before taking her home. She'd agreed and the fun they'd had together at the party continued with their conversations going even deeper. She opened enough to share some about her parents and their relationship before the car crash. He shared about his college days, but wasn't quite to the point of sharing about family. Being the perfect gentleman, he even drove her home. She sighed remembering it all.

     Evie was thrilled with the outcome, and seemed more excited about Gia's night than she had been about her own date. Evie kept insisting that he surely meant for it to be a date, but the thing was, when he had first invited her he expressly said it wasn't a date. Even still, if she were being honest, it felt like one. And she continued to wonder at how comfortable she felt around him, in spite of her penchant for pushing men away.

      But the fact remained, he had not called her all weekend. Evie told her that he probably wanted to give her the weekend to think things through, and then of course there was the fact that if they were to date they would need to tell H.R. at the office. Was that really what he was thinking? Logically, she knew she shouldn't get her hopes up since he had not said anything to cause her to, but she also knew that something had definitely shifted in their relationship, and she was looking forward to exploring it further.

     When she finally arrived at her desk, she felt nervous, as she anticipated seeing him at their morning meeting. Sitting down, she was disappointed to find a note attached to a printed list. The note said that he had another meeting this morning, and rather than reschedule with her, he made her a list of tasks which could also be found as a document he emailed her.

     She didn't see him the entire day, or the day after when she found a similar note and list. Then later Tuesday, he sent an inner office message saying the morning lists seemed to be working, so they would stick with that for now. All that day he was either gone, or in his office with the request for privacy. By Friday it was glaringly obvious that he had been avoiding her after the previous Friday. Earlier in the week she had been hurt and embarrassed that she'd even considered there might be something more than friendship developing between them. Now she was just angry. He had given her fairly simple tasks all week, so she wouldn't have to bother him. He had complained about the way Mr. Nakamura had treated her, but somehow this felt worse.

      When Brian Pearson showed up for a meeting with Mr. Bellanti, that was the last straw. In the weeks prior, he had her join in on most meetings, but this week she had not been invited to a single one. It was like he had just given up trying. By the time she saw Brian emerge from Mr. Bellanti's office, she was having to struggle to hide her irritation.

     "Gia?"

     When Brian called her name, she forced a smile and looked up, only to be caught off guard by Mr. Bellanti standing next to him looking sternly at her. Her smile faltered, but she corrected herself before answering with as sweet a voice as she could summon. "Yes? Oh, hi Brian. Good meeting?" The words felt forced, and she kept her eyes away from the man next to Brian.