Take A Risk [Englot]

Chapter 2

The next weeks went by in a flash. Our team was working on the opening of the next exhibition and I had to create ten new public programs around this new artistic universe. We were all overworked and a little bit stressed out 3 days before the official opening ceremony. I was working with Heidi, my favorite coworker, on a specific program for early childhood and parents when Engfa called me.

"Hello Charlotte!" she said quite joyfully on the phone.

"Hello Engfa. Are you driving?"

"No, I'm in a taxi. Thanks for worrying. We're leaving for New York in 2 weeks but we didn't take any time to work on our presentation."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm trying to finish all the different programs before the opening..."

"Don't worry, don't worry. My schedule is full too. I was thinking, would you like to go out to dinner with me so we can prepare our presentation after work? I know it's after hours and that you have a family to get back to, but I couldn't find any free slot in my agenda before we leave..."

"Engfa, are you asking me out?" I joked.

She didn't answer.

"Engfa? You're still there?"

"Y... Yes! Sorry I got distracted."

"I'm ok to work after hours. I really need your help on this presentation, to be honest this is quite a challenge for me..."

"I'll send you the nights when I'm free by email. I promised that we're going to do great! See ya!" she said, hanging up.

Heidi looked at me with her mouth wide open.

"Don't! We don't have the time for that, we have still so much to get done!" I said before she could even speak.

She nodded and we went back to work.

The opening ceremony went great and during the first week of testing the public programs we did good too. Heidi who was in charge of our guided tours and workshops went back to us with really few adjustments to make.

"I'm exhausted!" she said on friday evening when she got back from her last workshop with teenagers. "Don't get me wrong, I love my job and this new exhibition is really cool, but those teenagers were kinda crazy...".

"Suits you well!" I said, winking at her.

"Hey! Don't you dare!" she replied, faking being shocked, throwing the stress ball that she always kept on her desk at me.

"Help me! Heidi's attacking me!" I screamed, laughing.

We were fighting, throwing the ball back and forth in our office, when Engfa came in.

"What are you guys doing? Charlotte, are you ready to leave?" she asked.

We calmed down instantly. I knew that Engfa never minded when we got a little bit crazy from time to time, she trusted us and knew that we were professional when we needed to. But I couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed when she caught us red handed playing like kids.

"I just need to turn off my computer and take my bag." I replied.

"I'll wait for you outside. Goodbye Heidi, have a nice weekend." she said, leaving the room.

Heidi turned her face towards me, her piercing eyes fixating on mine, her mouth opening in shock then smirking suddenly.

"Are you going out with the boss?"

"That's not what you think..." I started.

"Oh my god, you're going out with Engfa!"

"Heidi, no! We're going to work on our presentation for New York and..."

"Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are! Oh my god, Char! How are you going to survive this trip?" she laughed out loud. "Are you still having those dreams?" she asked, teasing me.

"Heidiiiii!"

To be really honest, a year ago or so, I dreamed about Engfa. And this dream felt so real until I had woken up. And in said dream she wasn't wearing a lot of clothes if you know what I mean. One drunken night out with Heidi and the rest of the team, I admitted to her that I had this dream and she spent a few weeks teasing me about it, even making me blush during team meetings sending me texts while Engfa was in the room. A few weeks later, Engfa announced her pregnancy and my fantasies disappeared and they didn't come back when she did six months later.

"Stop teasing me! I'm gonna be late!" I said, grabbing my bag.

"Well, good luck resisting her charms!" I heard her yell when I went out.

I rushed down the stairs, trying to calm down. Thinking about those dreams just now made me quite shy and bothered. I had forced myself not to think about my boss that way for the past year and it was going well until today... When I arrived outside I found Engfa waiting for me, leaning on a tree. Damn she could look so handsome sometimes. When she looked up at me, smiling, I felt something coiling deep inside me.

"Sorry for making you wait." I said, bowing.

"You're right on time, the restaurant is near. We can walk there, come on."

We walked together for a few minutes, talking about New York. We arrived at a restaurant that I had never seen before.

"It's a new place. I went there with Nawat last week. The food is good and the music is not too loud so we can talk about work without screaming."

The food was indeed really good and I found myself smiling, looking at Engfa's little dance as she ate her meal. She loved food. We worked on our presentation between courses and I was surprised to learn that she really had taken english classes for the past weeks. She had improved a lot and it motivated me to work even harder on my own goals. Engfa had a very positive impact on my life, I couldn't deny it. My mental health improved a lot since I started to see my therapist, but Engfa's arrival made my work life way better than it ever was. She was a great role model, with beautiful work ethics and I hoped to be as good as her one day.

I spent some time working on our presentation's graphic design, I knew that even if people were listening to what you had to say, having an eye candy presentation was always better. I was messing with the colors, not quite finding what I wanted so I asked Engfa for her advice.

"Teal or baby blue? The last exhibition has both..."

Engfa was looking at me so intensely that it made me shiver.

"Engfa?"

She snapped out of whatever she was into.

"You never cease to amaze me, Charlotte." she said.

"What? Why?"

"You're always willing to go the extra mile when you work on something. There's not a lot of people like you." she explained.

"Really? You're the same, even better I think." I replied, blushing at the compliment.

"That's not really my point. I know you don't like positive feedback. We talked about it during your first evaluation when I took the job. And I tried to refrain myself from doing so because I know it makes you uneasy. But you're a very valuable coworker."

"Stop... please!" I said, looking at my lap. I really didn't like receiving compliments from people I was looking up to. Maybe it was because I was raised by an ex-military english man.

I felt soft fingers on my face. Engfa was making me look up, her hand on my chin. She looked at me even more intensely than she did before, keeping her hand on me.

"Charlotte Austin, you are talented and a real asset to our team. Try and own up to it." she said firmly.

My heart was beating fast. I couldn't help and looked at her lips for a fraction of a second. I looked back up and I realized that she saw me. Her pupils dilated and she removed her hand from my chin. I looked away. I didn't know what to do with myself next. I could hear my heart pounding. My mind was racing, pictures of the dreams I used to have resurfacing.

"I'll try." I said, still looking away, coughing lightly to cover whatever was happening to me.

"You're good. And we're going to do well in New York. We got this." she said. "Do you want another drink?"

"It's getting late, I should come back home soon." I said.

"I'm sorry, I'm making you work late. I'll finish our presentation during the weekend, don't worry."

"No, don't. We'll do it together during the flight, we'll have way enough time to go through it."

Engfa paid for our meals, even though I offered to share. She waited for me to get into a taxi, not wanting me to stay alone in the streets. I waved her goodbye through the window and she smiled at me wide, her dimples showing up.

On the ride back home, I couldn't stop my mind from getting all over the place. Heidi was right. I still had a crush on Engfa. My god. Crush. This was a strong word. Was I really? Crushing on her? As I got home and went into the living room, I found Mew watching tv.

"You're home late." he said, frowning.

"I was working on our presentation for New York with my boss."

"Ah, right. Sorry I forgot. You didn't answer my text."

"I saw it when I got out of the taxi. I'm so exhausted that I spent the whole ride looking through the window trying not to fall asleep." I said, feeling sorry.

"This project seems really tiring. Are you sure you still wanna go to New York?"

"Of course I want to!" I replied, shocked that he was still somewhat against it.

I didn't feel like bickering. So I stopped our conversation, saying that I needed to go to bed. I didn't even ask about his evening with Miles. I hurried during my night time routine, wanting to be in bed before he joined me. My mind was tormenting me with complex feelings. I was kind of sad and angry because he forgot where I was tonight although this NYC trip was a big deal for me. I also was still thinking about Engfa, her words when she had her hand on my chin, her smile, her dimples, her lips... God I need to get back on track before we leave next week!

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Hi guys! Here's chapter 2, hope you liked it! Let me know, I loved reading your comments 🤍
Yesterday's live was so good! I can't believe Engfa went for it even though she knew Charlotte was playing. The way Charlotte was smiling after that little kiss was everything. My god I love them!