Life carries on, dee da dee dum. That's how life is. After our last encounter, I never saw Stephen again. He's probably working or maybe putting himself out in the dating world. As for me, I found stability. It's been a few months now already and luckily, the rumors about Stephen and I became something of the past. Tania is doing remarkably well with her bakery, and it almost seems like it's the only reason why people are visiting the building.
My heart aches for Stephen, and I wonder a lot about him, but roads end for good reasons. Sometimes there's an obstruction down the road and you have to make a detour which can lead to even better destinies. Well, not for me, though.
"What about people dressed as rockstars from the 80s?" Natalie asks. I glance at her, playing with the necklace around my neck. We're all meeting in the boardroom again trying to come up with our next project."Or plants?"
"We did an oldies theme two years ago during the time a few old musicians reunited," Jasmine tells her while making notes. I sit back in my chair and look at the faces around the table.
"What if we just do a selection on coats and what to wear with them?" Thomas asks.
"Why does it always have to be about something you wear and what to wear it with?" I ask a little annoyed and get up from my seat. "We need action, people. The only good thing we had this year was Stephen Jacobs as the sexiest man in the world under the category of middle age men. We need something to top that up. Something that'll be better than that."
"Why don't we create a quiz based on clothes worn in movies?" Natalie asks. Another empty suggestion. I'm so tired of empty suggestions. "We recreate the main character of the movie on our models, and the readers get to participate in the quiz. What makes it so hard is that we use our people and not the actual actors. We just do the looks, and those who get it right win a shoot here at All Beauty."
"The more you talk, the more confusing it gets," Jasmine answers for me. I look at Natalie and hold my breath to say something.
"That's actually not a bad idea," I add and look at Jasmine and then at Natalie. "But instead of getting a shoot at All Beauty, we take all the winners, draw a name, and send an agent to do a shot on them. We publish their photos and their love for movies in the papers, and boom, we have something readers can look forward to seeing."
"I'll start making a collection of movies," Natalie smiles happily.
"Make sure to include people like Melissa McCarthy, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, and Jennifer Aniston. If I may add, don't use obvious characters. Let it be fun and challenging. If you put someone with blonde hair in dungarees, everyone will know it's Meryl Streep from Mamma mia. Rather use a character of her like in Doubt or Lemony Snickets," I tell her and grab my file from the desk. "I want the report tomorrow at nine on my desk. If it's not finished yet, we will do a shoot on how to murder your employees and get away with it."
I wink at them before leaving. They know I don't really mean it, but that threat will implant some glimpse of fear in them that'll make them push for the deadline.
I walked into the deli straight to Tania, who seemed surprised to see me. Yes, I've been avoiding other places besides my office. The more I isolate, the better.
"Miss. Kendall," she greets me happily and looks behind me and then at me again. "I was hoping I'd see you today. Ariana and I would like to go to the movies this weekend."
"Sure, I'll talk to her about it tonight," I smile at her and lean against the counter. "Will you come and see me in my office later? I have to ask you something."
"Sure," she nods and bites her lip. "Is there anything else?"
"Yes, give me two of your special cheese buns. I'm not up to making dinner tonight," I tell her and play my fingers on the glass. "But bring it to me when you come see me. I'll pay you there."
She nods and points her face behind me. I turned around and looked at Stephen, who stood closer, recently shaved, and dressed in his uniform. Damn, he looks good. This is the first time in almost five months that I've seen him.
He smiles at me and looks at his daughter. I feel his hand rest on my back, and even that, I missed.
"Hi sweetheart, can I have three donuts, please? I'll come fetch it from you," he says to her and turns to me. I put my hands together in front of me and just watched him. "Hi, do you have a moment?"
"Sure," I nod and wave my fingers at Tania. He follows me out of the deli, down the little passage to the front where the elevator is. I press the button and stand back.
We wait quietly for the doors to go open before setting foot on it. Why are we this quiet? How will we talk after how I treated him. It's funny, but I still feel as strong about him as I did the day our roads separated. The doors go close, and I reach out for the top floor. I press it and stand back.
"How are you, Rose?" He asks and stands next to me. "It's been a while since I saw you."
"I'm doing very well," I smile at him. "How about you?"
"I'm doing great," he replies. His eyes are playing so softly on mine. "You are just getting more beautiful every time I see you."
"I prefer you with a beard," I tell him honestly and rest my hand gently on his cheek. He smiles at me like a little kid. "You are still... the sexiest man in the world."
"Under my age," he adds with a chuckle. I giggle awkwardly and take my hand back. Patiently, we wait for the doors to open. It shouldn't be long now. "Rose, in case you wonder why I haven't been in contact with you lately, I just figured you needed some space. Everything became so rough, and I get that your divorce was fresh, just to release the pressure a little bit from you."
"I figured," I nod with a heavy breath. "I appreciate it, Stephen. I kind of needed the time to be on my own. Honestly, I was afraid I would take advantage of you or end up using you as a rebound or something."
He nods with a little smile. I giggle and shake my head as I look down at my feet. My way of explaining things to someone is barking out the unnecessary, making it awkward as hell and not even making sense.
YOU ARE READING
Breaking The Ice Queen
Romance"You don't need someone else to tell you how beautiful you are. You don't need to look in the mirror to see if you are good enough. You should feel it when you walk down the street and the air brushes through your hair," my voice travels through the...
