Arlo John (boyxboy)

Chapter 11

An invitation sent to the inbox of my email pops up moments after I arrive at work and I breathe out slowly before clicking to read the contents.

It seems Dakota invited Emmett Sanders to present new ideas and strategies to increase the percentage of our sales in the conference room at noon today.

I'm not particularly in the mood to sit through such a tedious presentation as I sort through the never-ending pile of documents on my desk that I'd much rather focus on instead. But Dakota deemed his guest more important than finishing my work.

I enter the conference room with two minutes to spare and notice Marcy, Josiah, and many others crowded around the long table despite the fact Dakota informed me that the proposal consisted of just three people. Josiah waves me over upon catching sight of me and I raise an eyebrow before sliding in beside him.

"I wasn't aware you were all part of this," I whisper to Josiah as Dakota stalks in followed by a broad man with dark, curly hair and a striking tattoo spread across his neck.

"It's become quite the production," he says, though I fail to listen to his words as I suddenly connect a thousand dots in my head after recognizing the man with the dangling cross earring nearing the front of the room.

It seems Emmett Sanders from JC is the same Emmett, or "Emmy" I met while speed dating. It also seems I've neglected to contact him after receiving his number.

Emmett scans his eyes across each of us and offers a wide smile, puffing out a laugh as if something humorous had happened, though sadly, nothing of the sort did.

When his eyes meet mine, his mouth twitches downward slightly which I find quite odd, but he quickly lifts the side of his lips, smirking as he turns his attention to the large monitor beside him.

"Thanks for the invitation, Dakota," Emmett says. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Emmett Sanders over at the neighboring building. I analyze the reports you all input every day."

All eyes are on him, none of which are uninterested and he takes notice of the attention, flashing another wide smile.

If Dakota had a brother I didn't know about, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Emmett.

"I appreciate all of your hard work so I've devised a few strategies to increase sales around here," he continues, clicking the screen to the next slide which depicted various graphs and images I again couldn't make sense of.

Emmett begins to ramble on and I quickly lose interest as I usually do, my mind wandering to the amount of work I'm going to have to complete later.

Deep in my thoughts, I jump straight up in my chair as my name escapes the mouth of our guest presenter.

"Yes?" I ask, attempting to appear unfazed.

Emmett laughs once and I raise an eyebrow.

"You're in charge of advertisements, correct?" he asks in which I nod in reply.

"Advertisements are crucial for sales, I'm sure you know," he says. "Send them over to me once you finish. I'll let you know if there's anything you can add."

"Sure," I say. "I'm proud of my work here as you know. I'd be surprised if there's anything you'd like to change."

He smirks. "Love the confidence."

Suddenly, Dakota rises from the chair he was leaning back in and steps beside Emmett, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Thanks for your time," Dakota says. "Your strategies will surely bring about positive changes."

Emmett nods. "Anytime."

The two tall men exit the conference room as the rest of us follow suit and I fully intend to hurry back to the pile of work on my desk until Emmett appears from the side of the door.

"AJ," he says, his eyes lowering down the length of my body before meeting my gaze.

"Emmy."

"I take it you didn't mean the words you said that time, eh?" he asks, sliding a hand to the back of his neck.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You said you'd give me a call," he replies. "And the one at the office the other day doesn't count."

I attempt an awkward laugh. "Yeah. My bad."

"That's all you have to say?" he asks. "No apology?"

I shake my head. "Accidents happen."

Emmett grins. "So they do."

With nothing left to say, I begin to turn away until he halts me.

"Care to make up for it?" he asks.

"How?"

"I'd love to take you out," he replies.

"AJ."

I quickly spin around as I come face-to-face with my boss who glares down at me, his lips pursed and I return the glare.

"What?" I ask.

"Isn't it time you return to work?" Dakota says, his eyes flickering to Emmett before returning to me. "I thought you hated working overtime."

"I do," I say. "I was just having a quick chat with my coworker."

Emmett lifts an apologetic hand and smiles. "It's my fault, Dakota. I'll make sure he returns soon."

"Stop by my office when you're finished here," Dakota says as he looks down at me briefly and turns his back, walking away.

"Jeez," Emmett says. "What's his deal?"

I shrug and release a deep sigh. "Beats me. But I really should get back to work now. Give me your number again. I'm sure we can arrange something."

Emmett grins widely as he scribbles down his number on a discarded paper, handing it out to me.

"Thanks," I say. "See you."

"Yeah," he replies. "See you soon."

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thx for reading (: