Chance Upon A Tempest

Chapter 12

As Jimin had requested over text yesterday, your plan, as soon as you get to work, is to go to his office and see him. So, as soon as you get to your office, you put your things down and make your way up to Jimin's office suite. You are not looking forward to whatever it is that you might have to deal with up in his office. Because Jimin has been so unpredictable, when it comes to his response to you, you know that it can go either way. He may want to focus on work only, or he may want to focus on being more personal with you. Thus far, you have not been successful at predicting which Jimin you are going to face on any given day, you decide to cross whatever bridge it is that you come to, when you come to it and not before.

Even though you say all of these things to yourself, you can't help but feel anxious on the elevator ride up to his office. You take a nice deep breath and when the elevator doors open, you step out into the well-manicured hallway of the partner suites and walk towards Jimin's office. When you walk through the open door of the outer office, you are greeted by Virginia, Jimin's administrative assistant. You greet her, "Good morning, Virginia. Jimin is expecting me this morning."

"Yes, he's told me already. You can just go right in. He asked me to send you in as soon as you arrived."

You thank her and do a quick knock before you walk in. In your cheeriest smile and voice, you say, "Good morning Jimin. How are you?"

"His face is blank, and he gives up nothing in terms of what he is thinking or feeling at this time. When he doesn't answer your question, you ask, "Where do you want me? At the table?"

He is no longer looking at you but is reviewing something on the computer screen. You decide to sit closest to the office door which is the couch. You say nothing else and are determined to not speak until Jimin does first. But you are thinking in your head, "He summons me up here a whole day before and now that I am here, he can't even say good morning. I don't get this man at all. It's probably a good thing that I don't have to worry about getting involved with this man. I've never experienced any man who was fickler."

You secretly regret not bringing your phone up with you. Since the last time you were in Jimin's office, you've promised yourself that you were not going to bring your phone with you whenever you were working with him, lest an incoming text led to him becoming vexed with you. So, as you've had promised, you left your phone in your office. But now that you are sitting in silence, in an office that you were summoned to, but have given no other indication as to what you are supposed to do here, you feel awkward and are in need of a distraction. You look at your watch and see that it reads 9:15. You think, "I should have stopped and got a cup of coffee first. I wonder if Owen left and made sure to lock up everything." Then you think, "I don't have anything valuable for anyone to take," and chuckle to yourself. You think about what happened last night with Tanner and how Owen reacted to it. You find Tanner quite appealing. The fact that he is hands down beautiful and that he appears to be a genuinely nice human being, you can't help but want to get to know him better.

In the midst of your reverie, you don't see that Jimin is now sitting next to you. Suddenly realizing Jimin's nearness, you are startled by it. You jump a bit and exclaim, "Holy hell! You scared me."

He still says nothing. Not wanting to waste any more of your time, you ask, "Do you have anything specific you'd like me to do or work on today?"

More silence. Then you add, "If you don't have anything particular, I would like to run and get myself a coffee. Would you like one too?"

When you turn to face him, you can see that his eyes are moving between your eyes and mouth, and then back again. When he slowly licks his lips, you feel a pull in your core that is so intense, that it borders on pain. Not really knowing where to look, you briefly make eye contact with him and then avert your gaze towards the case file boxes.