Temptation

Chapter Three

Alice's eyes widened and she struggled to reply as she bit her lip.

"I'm sorry. Are you sure you want me to answer that?" She retorted.

"Yes. I want to know." He replied quickly.

"Um, okay," Alice furrowed her brow. "If I'm going to be honest with you, she's never shown up to any of the shows you've done."

"She has her excuses. They're valid." Tom defended Diane.

"Yeah, that's fine but every time? It's as if she doesn't try to make the time to come see them. You put in all your effort into these shows and they're incredible. Doesn't it hurt just a little bit whenever she can't make it?"

"Yes, it does, but like I said. She's a very busy woman, Alice."

"And you're a busy guy. I bet you ten bucks you make all the time in the world for her and if she asks you to go to some work event, you drop everything to go." Alice chuckled.

She watched as Tom reached for his briefcase. He went rummaging inside and Alice leaned forward trying to see what he was doing. She watched him pull out his wallet and hand her two, five dollar bills.

"What are you-"

"You were right." Tom interjected.

"I'm not going to take your money, Tom. It was just an expression." Alice scoffed.

"Take it." His voice was soft and deep.

She reached out to his hand and grabbed the money. As she pulled back, her hand brushed against his and she tensed up, taking a deep breath as she glanced up at him to find Tom staring at her intently. She placed the money into her backpack and then looked back at Tom.

"Anything else?" Tom inquired.

"Whenever she surprises you here at work, she never just spends time with you, even if you guys don't speak. I mean, I like it sometimes when I'm with my friends and we don't talk. We just enjoy each other's presence. We don't have to talk to know we're having a good time. When I see her, she's just glued to her phone and her work and when she leaves, it's usually because of something at her work. It's not really a surprise to you if she doesn't even care to spend the time with you." Alice explained.

Tom listened to her speak and began processing everything she was saying. He had to admit that she was right. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat, furrowing his brow as he continued to listen. Alice began to stutter as she saw him adjust himself, worried that he was getting defensive. Her hands began to shake and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to recollect herself. Seeing this happen, Tom relaxed in his seat and let his arms fall onto the armrests.

"Are you alright, Alice?" Tom asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay. It was, um, nothing. Just the way you were...it's nothing." Alice replied.

"Okay. Do you have anything else to say?"

"Sometimes when you leave the office and she's here...and I'm here...she asks me why I'm even your assistant, basically alluding to the fact that you don't even have a heavy workload like hers. I grade your papers, I get you food when I know you've been overworking yourself in this office, you meet with your students and help them out, you single-handedly direct and produce a production, a Shakespeare one too! You do a lot of work, Tom, and you care a lot about it and your students. When she asks me things like that, it leads me to believe that she doesn't even take the time to understand what you do. And please don't get mad at me again! I'm rambling at this point and none of it really should even matter and-"