Behind the Screen

Chapter 4

My eyes widened at the response I'd just gotten before I shook my head. I knew I shouldn't have even tried with one of these apps.

Before I could close out of the conversation, another message came through.

"I was totally joking by the way...sorry, maybe that was a little much."

I breathed a sigh of relief as I read, at least she wasn't that thirsty.

"You might have worried me a little bit :) but it's fine," I sent back.

I wasn't even sure if I was trying to flirt with her or not at this point. It had been such a long time since I'd done something like this, I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

"Sorry about that, not trying to get in your pants right away...don't worry," she quickly sent.

Okay so she liked to joke about this type of thing, noted. At least I knew that now.

I went back and got ready for bed before I responded again, I didn't want to seem too desperate. It probably wouldn't look that way, but again, I was overthinking.

By the time I was laying down and looked back at my phone, I had another message from her.

"I'm actually just relaxing tonight though, nothing too exciting."

She seemed pretty intent on continuing the conversation, which I was kind of appreciating.

"Same, just getting ready to go to sleep soon," I said.

"I'll let you go then, hopefully I didn't scare you off and we can talk more soon," she responded.

I smiled to myself as I read her message. I wasn't sure if it was a good thing that her words were having an impact on me already, but I had to admit that I was enjoying it.

"We can," I sent, "good night."

I set my phone down on my nightstand and sighed. Suddenly I didn't regret downloading the dating app so much.

                                      ***

When I woke up the next morning, I felt more refreshed than I had in a while. It seemed a little silly that a brief conversation had done that, but I think part of it was that I enjoyed the distraction.

It took me away from the problems I was having, even if it was short-lived.

I checked my phone before I got out of bed, and was pleasantly surprised when I had a message from my mystery girl. I needed a better nickname for her than that, but we'd work on it.

"Morning, happy Friday :)"

"Morning, we'll see how happy it is!" I responded.

"Oh you've got the jokes this morning now, huh?" She asked.

"I have a sense of humor every once in a while," I said.

I pulled myself away from my phone and got out of bed so I could get ready for work. I was fully expecting to have to stay late tonight, and I knew it was going to be a long day.

I made a quick breakfast once I was ready, and decided that I'd stop somewhere for coffee on the way. Before I left my house, I quickly checked my phone again.

"Good to know :) but I'm heading to work, catch up with you later," was the message that I read.

I walked outside and got into my car, sliding my phone back into my pocket. Time to focus on work now.

I stopped and got my drink on the way, and was at the office not long after that.

I said my usual good morning to Chloe when I got inside. I wasn't sure why I continued this habit, it only seemed to annoy her. I guess I was trying to get on her good side...if she even had one.

I got to my desk and started work for the day, waiting with bated breath to see if I would in fact have to stay late. I was expecting to, but there was still a very small chance that I'd get out of it.

At about 4:00, the email I'd been dreading popped up on my computer screen.

"Have a project I need you to stay for tonight, I'll be here working on it as well."

I rolled my eyes as I leaned back in my chair and sighed. Not only did I have to stay late, it was Chloe that I was staying with. There were usually two people that had to stay, and she usually was not one of them.

"Damn it," I muttered to myself.

"Katelyn."

I looked up as Chloe stepped in my doorway. Shit, hopefully she hadn't heard what I just said.

"Yeah?" I said.

"I'll have the paperwork we need in about half an hour and we should be able to get started," Chloe said as she leaned against my doorway.

"Yeah okay, I'll be here," I said unenthusiastically.

Chloe gave me a stern nod before going back over to her office. Hopefully the project we had to do was a quick one.

She came back over a while later with a pile of paperwork in her hands. It was about fifteen minutes before 5:00, and I could only hope that this would be over soon.

Chloe dropped the papers on my desk and began to explain all of the information that we had to get into our system. I tried not to tone her out too much, but it was a challenge.

"Make sense?" She finally asked me.

"Yeah, I got it," I nodded.

"Perfect, shouldn't take us too long," she said before turning and walking out of my office.

Before I started on the project, I quickly grabbed my phone out of my purse and texted Emily. I guess I was also kind of checking for any new messages on the dating app...but there was nothing.

"Have to stay late, we'll try something tomorrow," I sent to Emily.

I put it back into my purse and went back to work. Once everyone left, it was eerily quiet in the office.

Most of the other times I'd stayed late, there was at least someone here that I could talk to. With Chloe in the office next to me, the keystrokes and shuffling of papers were the only sounds that filled the building.

She was all business, there was no doubt about that.

Thankfully we were done with everything a little bit after 6:00, so it wasn't too bad. I sent all of the information over to Chloe and started to shut down my computer and grab my things.

"Ready to go?" She asked as she stepped into my doorway.

"Yeah, just grabbing all of my stuff," I said as I stood up from my desk.

We walked towards the front door of the building and out into the parking lot.

"Hey Chloe," I said before we went our separate ways, "can I ask you something?"

I'd finally gotten enough courage to say something to her, and I had to do it now or I'd chicken out again.

"Oh, yeah sure," she said, sounding like I'd caught her off guard.

"Um," I started, rubbing my hands together nervously, "why am I always the one that has to stay late for these projects?"

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again, rethinking her answer.

"Because you're good at your job," she said like it was the most obvious answer ever, "and because you don't tell me no."

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