Arlo John (boyxboy)

Chapter 2

Phone call after phone call, email after email, scanning through piles of data usually called for overtime. Today it certainly did.

Glancing down at my watch, I breathe out and lean back in my chair, exhausted after completing all of my work. The only thing left to do is go to sleep, wake up, and do the same thing all over again tomorrow. Great.

I grab my bag and quickly stuff my materials inside before hauling it over my shoulder as I'm suddenly stopped by Marcy, the woman who presented our proposal.

"Are you... you know," she begins, awkwardly touching the back of her neck. "Close with Dakota?"

I resist the urge to look disgusted at her inquiry.

"No," I say. "Why are you asking?"

"Oh," she says. "That's how it seemed from your interaction earlier."

Pushing in my chair, I shake my head. "It's not like that."

She remains quiet as we exit the office.

"Are you interested in him?" I ask.

"Can you tell?" she says.

I laugh. "No. I only assumed so from your question."

She tucks a strand of her dark-red hair behind her ear and glances at the ground. "I'm glad it's not too obvious then."

"You don't want him to know?" I ask, walking her to her car.

"Absolutely not," she says. "He's my boss. I'll just live with this one-sided crush for now."

"Hmm," I say as she takes out her keys. "I'm sure you earned some points with him today from your proposal. It went very well."

Jesus, I sound like a robot.

"You think so?" she asks, a small smile on her lips.

"Y-yeah," I awkwardly stutter.

Shit.

"Thank you, AJ," she says, calling me by my nickname as my cheeks grow warm.

"Yeah."

What the fuck am I doing? Repeating the same shit.

"Well, have a nice rest of your night," she says, sliding into her car. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you," I say. "Would you like to—"

Her car door shuts.

I fumbled the bag.

Happily waving goodbye, Marcy speeds out of the parking garage and I curse myself for being the idiotic loser that I am.

I've had this one-sided crush on Marcy for a few months now and I can't do anything about it because of how awkward and stupid I am when it comes to her. And now that I know her feelings are directed toward Dakota Storm, what chance in hell do I have?

None.

No, not even none. Negative none.

Dakota has it all. He's tall, not in the lanky way, but the strong, broad way. His dark hair is perfectly slicked back every day, and his brown eyes are so captivating that it's hard to look away.

I do not speak from experience. These are things I've heard.

Crashing down on my bed after my nightly routine, I stare up at the dark ceiling above me when I remember I was supposed to stop by Dakota's office before I left. Marcy was more important to me at the time so I'll have to deal with Dakota tomorrow.

I can't fathom a single item in which I could've left in his office the last time I visited it. Apparently that was the reason he requested my presence after work.

And the reason I even ventured to his office is one I'd rather erase from my memory. It's been three months since then and quite random for Dakota to suddenly inform me of the item I forgot. He should bring it to me if it's bothering him that much.

It's useless to ponder on these thoughts though and soon I drift off to sleep.

—

"This is for you," Turner, one of my coworkers says as he hands me a stack of files as soon as I take a seat at my desk.

"Awesome," I say. "Thank you so much."

He laughs at my sarcasm, and it sounds so goofy that I snort which sends him off into a fit of goofy laughter, as I continue to laugh with him.

Wiping my eyes, I glance up at the lanky fellow and he grins.

"Sorry, man. Boss' orders, you know," he says, signaling to the stack of papers. "I'd help ya out but I already promised Marcy I'd tidy up her proposal."

Jesus Christ. Another Marcy fan.

"You do that," I tell him.

"Yessiree," he says. "See ya, man."

"Right. See you," I say as he takes his leave.

Discouraged by the amount of files on my desk, I sigh and dreadfully make my way over to Dakota's office, remembering our last encounter. I'd rather not speak about it again but I won't leave you in the dark. Here's what happened.

Marcy had asked me to drop off her draft of the proposal and I'd foolishly do anything for her even if it meant venturing into Dakota's office. I should've known not do that.

Well, once I arrived with the draft, Dakota leaned back in his chair without looking down at the document.

"Why are you delivering this to me in Marcy's stead?" he had asked me.

I wasn't expecting an interrogation. "Uh, because I had a moment of free time."

"Did you?" he says. "And you decided to spend it with me?"

"No," I said. "I would never willingly do that."

Dakota wickedly grinned at me. "Excuse me?"

"I'm too busy to hang around," I said, attempting to redeem myself.

"Come here, Mr. John," he said. "You must learn to watch your tone with me."

"It was a slip of the tongue," I said. "My apologies."

"You don't sound too apologetic now, do you?" he said. "Come here."

I remained calm as I walked over to him and he sat up straight upon my arrival.

"How can I earn your forgiveness for my insensitive comment?" I asked, pretending to be sorrowful.

"You tell me," he said as his dark brown eyes bore into mine. "And then I'll let you know if I will forgive you."

"A kiss."

Dakota's eye twitched. "What?"

I snickered at his reaction. "I'm kidding."

"Arlo John."

"Yes sir."

"Come here."

I took another step closer and he rose from his chair.

"What?" I asked.

But Dakota didn't answer.

He brought a hand to my cheek and tilted his head, bringing his lips down on mine.

My foolishness knew no limits back then.

———
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