Say Please

Team Meeting

The next morning, I walked through the doors with a new spark in my belly. I wanted to see Chan again. I think I needed to see him again.

I opened my computer to an instant message from the man himself.

Chan: Team meeting in fifteen. Get ready for some fun!

It looked like the butterflies would come sooner than I originally thought. I gathered up a pen and notepad and headed through the door to the editors section. I knocked on Chan's door, unsure of where else to go. He glanced up at me with a warm, inviting smile.

He looked different. There was something about his appearance that wasn't so... intense.

"It's the lack of contacts," he giggled, pointing to his dark brown eyes.

"Oh, uh, sorry," I apologized for staring. I kicked myself for making it that obvious.

"It's fine. I know I look fairly different without them. Sometimes I switch up the look, but I prefer not to wear them. You just happened to show up for your first day with my stare extra icy." His tone was casual—something that was quite comforting.

"Where's our team meeting?" I asked, changing the subject for my own sake.

"Our conference room is down the hall. I'll walk with you," he said, standing from behind his desk. He smoothed his olive button-up, and I couldn't help but gaze at his hands that smoothed the fabric downward. The spark in my belly grew slightly, although I refused to let my thoughts scream at me. It was time to work, not fantasize.

As he walked toward the door to his office, his knuckles grazed my hip. He pulled away quickly and mumbled something under his breath—something apologetic. I cleared my throat to stay something, but no words escaped. With my luck, my innermost thoughts would come out and say something stupid like "it's okay keep touching me."

Rather than continue any conversation, we walked into the small conference room where Lyra—a brooding woman with black, wiry hair—and three other nameless faces sat.

"Hey everyone," Chan beamed, "this is a super informal team meeting. It's mainly a meeting to help Skye see how our team works and the process of everything."

"That would be really helpful, actually," I shrugged, slightly embarrassed that I was unaware of the content of this meeting.

Lyra piped up. "Well Chan and I are the editors. We read through so many dull and uninteresting novels and collections to find the needle in the haystack. We're the ones that ultimately make the decision to keep or throw a text. But we might ask opinions of other departments to picture the overall marketability."

"Hey, I'm Doug," an older, balding man waved politely. "I'm in the sales and outreach department. Once most of the details are finalized, I'm the one who reaches out to different book sellers and such to put the physical copies in stores. I don't do much other than the end stuff!" He ended with a big smile.

I nodded and returned his smile. I turned and listened to the other two group members—one from the artistry department and the other from the warehouse. Both chatted to me while I half-listened. My body was too aware of Chan's next to me to focus on anything else. It was as if he were less than an inch away from me; I could feel heat against the part of my thigh that was exposed. However, whenever I attempted a glance, I found that he was at least a few inches from me.

I geared up for the internal battle I would have daily—to touch or not to touch, to flirt or not to flirt, to want or not to want. He was an easy person to want to be around. He was genuinely happy, easygoing, and gorgeous. I found myself plotting ways that I could wander into his office, what questions to ask him that weren't truly relevant that seemed relevant.

"Thanks, everyone. That's all I had scheduled for the meeting today," Chan wrapped up. He's team leader, too. How are we going to survive? "Skye, if you have any questions just ask us. For now, feel free to head back and continue getting settled. I will have a compilation for you to work with by the end of the day." He smiled brightly at me and left the room. I said goodbye to the others timidly as I sat at my desk, and let out a big sigh of relief once I was alone. The heat in my belly slowly faded, and I could tell my cheeks returned to their somewhat-normal shade of pink.

All I gained from the meeting was this: I wanted Chan. Whether or not my mind thought it was a smart idea, my body knew I did.