Diana

6

The week passed without too many events. So did the next one. She hadn't seen Jason since he left the restaurant like a storm, but some of his biker friends were at Jenny's bar every night. She was a little saddened that she hadn't seen him since. She was still upset, confused about him, and afraid to admit to herself that she really missed him. She told herself that she had only gotten used to seeing him wherever she turned her head, and that, like a painting that had been on the wall for a long time, when you put it down, you miss it because you can see its mark on the wall, where it hanged before. But she had only known him for a few days. It was crazy to think she missed a stranger.

At work everything was as calm as possible, in a newly established company. Smith didn't show up at the headquarters too often and when he did, he locked himself in his office with either the head of human resources or her boss Adriana, who was going to leave for Romania this weekend. She hadn't talked to her much until yesterday, when they've put together the details of the development department.

After lunch, where she eat a delicious pasta salad prepared by Jenny, as in every morning, Lucy, the company secretary, announced her that she is expected in the meeting room by Mr. Smith and Adriana.

When she entered the meeting room, a man was sitting next to Smith, about 40 years old, after his appearance, whose face seemed familiar to her but he did not know where from, so she gave up trying to put a finger on it and sat down in one of the chares to find out why she was summoned.

"Hello Diana! This is Ryan Seaworth," Smith points out to the new guy. "I won't be spending a lot of time in the company for the moment. So, whatever you need inside or outside the company, you can talk to him and he will inform me immediately."

"I understand!"

"And there would be one more thing. Tomorrow night, as you know, Adriana will return to Romania and I thought we could all have lunch before she left. So, we'll be waiting for you at my place. Lucy will give you the address you need to get there." He got up from his chair as a sign that the meeting was over and the rest of them followed suit.

When she returned home, she decided to enter through the back door. She was more tired than usual and wanted to talk to her friend Andy anyway. She wasn't trying to avoid Jenny, but if she'd entered the restaurant, she will have to stop and talk to Jenny, and she didn't know if she'd have enough energy left to have a long talk with Andy too. She had already promised the latter that they would speak today, so she couldn't disappoint her by not calling.

She almost fell asleep with the phone in her hand, listening to her friend telling her about the new guy that she met. When Andy told her how nice and polite the guy was, but didn't hear any remarks from her friend, Andy sent her to bed and they've decided to resume their conversation the next day.

Diana did just that, pulled on her satin pajama top and shorts, the only "extravagance" in her wardrobe, and decided to go to bed early that night.

The next day, dressed in a light summer dress the color of cherry, with wide straps, and her favorite black sneakers, she descends the stairs of the restaurant's kitchen. She was standing on the second step when she heard Jenny talking on the phone, as far as she could tell. It wasn't the fact that Jenny was talking on the phone, but who and what she was talking about, that stopped her in her tracks.

"Yes, Jason, stay calm, everything is fine. Diana is ok. Nothing new happened. Come back when you can." Jenny turned and was stunned when she saw Diana at the end of the stairs. She hadn't heard the door open, and she was taken by surprise, but she smiled and acted as if nothing had happened. "Hi! Where are you going so nicely dressed?"

Diana recovered from her astonishment and resumed descending the stairs, "For your curiosity: at Smith's. I'm going to have lunch with him and Adriana. Satisfied with the report?" she said wryly and walked past Jenny without looking back at her. Jenny remained silent, her phone still by her ear. She recovered quickly and ran after Diana.