Risk Taker [Englot]

Chapter 27

Meena was being pushed by her friends inside one of the taxis, saying very drunkenly that she wanted to take Charlotte and I away from Bangkok so we could spend our days making sweet love to one another. While her girlfriend, as drunk, was approving too. It sounded weird and a bit too graphic... yet I knew that these girls were talking from the heart. I really appreciated their blunt kindness. I was happy that Charlotte was surrounded by such good people. But it was already late... I had pushed the group outside earlier because it was past 1am and I was feeling responsible for Charlotte and Heidi, since we had to be at work in a few hours...

"That's nice of you, girls, but we have kids to take care of." I said to them.

"Yeah... Miles is coming home tomorrow evening..." Charlotte added, suddenly looking sad.

I took her hand in mine, telling her without a word that she was going to survive all this. I knew I had to find a way to get closer to Charlotte... without interfering too much... but I needed to make her feel like I was there for her. I walked her up to the taxi where Tina and Heidi were waiting for her and I held the door to let her in. I couldn't look away until the taxi had departed. Nudee was the one to pull me out of my thoughts.

"You're such a gentlewoman... Charlotte is a lucky girl." she said, grabbing my arm and guiding me towards the third car.

I arrived home a few minutes later and once I was curled up on the couch I couldn't stop thinking about Charlotte. We definitely needed to spend more time together, without that many people around us... I took my phone to text her.

E🥭 : Everything is going to be ok
E🥭 : I'm here if you need to
E🥭 : <3

When I woke up 6 hours or so later, I thought that maybe I should drink a bit less during the week... I checked my phone, hoping to find a text from Charlotte.

C🐰 : Thank you Engfa <3

Waking up was hard but seeing this text and thinking about our shared moment yesterday... it was worth it. I was just hoping that Charlotte and Heidi wouldn't talk too much about it at work... I had to maintain a certain façade towards my team... and they were both part of it. Today was team meeting day too... Since many people were coming back to work after a few days off...

I drank a lot of water and after a quick shower I headed to MOCA. I still had a few things to prepare for the meeting ahead, having to go over the full month of february and the upcoming deadlines. I worked for a little bit over an hour, hoping for the better. Just before 11am I went to the meeting room, setting everything up. The team members started to come one by one and when Charlotte arrived I couldn't help but shiver. I felt so many things at once and the blush gained my cheeks. I tried to hide it the best I could and started the meeting. Everything went quite smoothly, except the few glances we exchanged that made Charlotte blush too. I saw her get hyper focus on her laptop screen to try to get it back together. She was damn cute. I felt sort of relieved that she did because I was feeling kind of weak and I didn't want to fold in front of everyone.

An hour and a half later I called off the meeting and everybody left the room... Everybody but Charlotte... who was still looking at her laptop... I watched her for a few seconds, she was not reading anything, her eyes were gazing nowhere.

"Charlotte?"

"Yes? Sorry." she said, looking like she had just woken up from a dream.

"The meeting is over, everybody left..."

She looked around her, realizing that we really were alone in the room. She seemed lost and guilty. What was she daydreaming about? Did she plan on staying with me here after the meeting was over?

"You wanted to ask me something? You looked really absorbed by your laptop screen..." I asked, walking to get out of the room.

"Erm... Engfa, could you close the door please?" she asked suddenly.

Fuck. Even though it was lunch break already it didn't mean that nobody could come in here and find us doing... whatever she was going to ask for... Yet my body acted on its own and I closed the door like she had asked. Something deep inside of me wanted her to push me against the door and take me right then and there. I really had to fight against myself to push these thoughts away.

"We... we can't do anything in here, Charlotte..." I whispered.

"I know... The restroom on the 4th floor is better... and the archives room but you already know that... But! That's not what I wanted to talk about... Would you like to go on a date with me... next week?"

I was completely lost at first. Pictures of us having sex in the bar yesterday were colliding with the possibilities of Charlotte and I doing it in many different places around MOCA... I was supposed to be a risk taker and a strong woman but Charlotte rendered me weak and afraid. Then I realized that she had just asked me on a date. Like for real. She said "date". Wow. The tiger-flies were doing loops inside me. I was supposed to get the kids back on Sunday evening... P'Daad's launch was still a few days away, so maybe I could ask her to take care of Sun and Champ at the start of the week... I was going on a date with Charlotte... We hadn't done something like this since New York... I was so happy.

"Could Tuesday work for you?" I asked.

"Yes!" she said with a wide smile on her face, standing up joyfully.

She took her laptop from the table and walked towards me. The way she was looking at me was making me weak in the knees again. Was this the moment where she was going to ravish me against the door?

"Can you show me your dimples again?" she asked.

I was so surprised by the question that I blushed hard. I looked down, taking a breath and looked back up at her, smiling.

"Damn... Want to go have lunch with me in the archives room now?" Charlotte asked me with a husky voice.

I knew she was doing this only to tease me... That she wasn't serious... Right? Fuck...

"Charlotte! Stop it!"

I was saying no even though I wanted it, so bad. But I was her manager. We were at work. This couldn't happen. She put her hand on mine and kissed my left cheek. It was so soft. When she let go of me, she simply opened the door and walked away without a word. I stood there, not being able to move. My heart was beating like crazy. Charlotte was going to be the death of me, for sure...

I locked myself in my office during lunch, afraid my resolve would falter if I spent more time with her. I focused back on what I still had to get done and a few hours later I was finally done with everything! I sneaked out of my office to take a break and get some coffee inside my system to handle the rest of the day. That was when my karma struck again. As I was going back from the coffee machine, I stumbled on Charlotte in the hallway. Her smile was so beautiful... and her eyes so dark.

"Need some strength?" she asked, nodding towards my coffee cup.

"Y... yes." I stuttered.

"Want to have a snack with it?" she said, looking at me so intensely that I didn't know if she was supposed to be the snack or if I was...

"I..."

"Afternoon delight in the archives room?" she asked, taking a step closer.

"Don't!" I hushed, taking a step back.

"Not fun..." she said, sticking her tongue out.

"I'm your manager here... You know I can't..."

"I know... I can't wait for next week..."

With that she went past me and I found myself alone in the hallway with my coffee. My feet carried me back to my office where I sat feeling a bit shaken. I knew I had to keep being strong. I was sort of proud to have been able to resist the urge to touch her... No, stop! No thinking about touching Charlotte. Brain! This had to stop! I needed a diversion plan... to hack my crazy thoughts...

D👕: I just got back home
D👕: We're almost ready for the opening
D👕: I'm sending you the pictures if you wanna check
D👕: If you don't, no worry...
D👕: I'm exhausted
D👕: I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed

My sister saved me from my inner turmoil. I looked at the pictures that she had just sent me. The place looked good, though a bit bland. That's when my mind started to get back into pro active mode.

E🥭 : Ok, see you tomorrow morning for breakfast?
D👕: Deal!

I knew what I should do next. I went through my work phone and called a certain someone from Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.

"Hello Engfa!"

"Hi P'Faye! How are you?"

"Oh, you know... Still working on this summer exhibition. What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I need a favor."

"Oh? Is this about the internship again? You know my manager is not going to let these young recruits go that easily..."

"No, no, it's not about that. You can keep the interns... It's our own fault for missing the deadline... I need a personal favor." I said.

"Ok, let's hear it!"

"My sister is opening a pop-up store for her clothing brand in a few days. Do you know some young up and coming artists that are looking for a place to display their work?"

"Mmm... I can think of a few yes. There's one that goes by the name Yoko, she's a painter. Her art is both dark and... mmm... flashy. I'll hook you up."

"Perfect! Thank you so much P'Faye!"

"My pleasure. Is there anything else?"

"No, that was all I needed. See you next week for the meeting with City Hall?"

"Yes, of course. Wanna have lunch together before the meeting?" she asked.

"Oh, great idea. My treat! As a repayment for your help."

"Ah ah! Deal! See ya!"

We hung up and I sighed happily. I knew she could help me. I was sure that P'Daad never would have dared to ask me to help her with something like this. I felt quite satisfied to have had this idea and I hoped my sister would like that little surprise. I went on with the rest of my day and came back home, indeed finding her asleep already.

I took my time under the shower, letting the warm water soothe my back. I cooked dinner, making a plate for my sister in case she would get up during the night starving... Around 9pm, I sat on the couch, looking around me. Sun and Champ were with their dad. Charlotte was probably with her son... After the few nights I spent outside drinking and partying, tonight felt so quiet. I couldn't help but feel a bit alone. I rolled over, making myself comfy in my duvet and took my phone.

E🥭 : Hey...
E🥭 : Hope you're ok
E🥭 : I miss you being in my arms

Charlotte answered me a few minutes later. We spent most of the late evening texting until we really had to stop to go to sleep. I closed my eyes feeling all warm inside.

Tuesday and Friday went approximately the same. I shared breakfast with P'Daad before going to work. I wasn't behind on anything anymore so I started to get back into a normal mode at MOCA. I still tried and managed to avoid most interaction with Charlotte there. Then we spent Thursday night texting each other about everything and nothing. I was hooked.

On Friday morning, Yoko, the artist P'Faye had told me about, called me at work. She was pleased to know that someone would display her art. I told her about the pop-up store project my sister was working on and she invited us both, during the weekend, to visit the studio where she was working with a few other young artists.

I spent all of Friday evening texting with Charlotte again. I was supposed to go to bed early since Sun and Champ were coming back home on Sunday but I couldn't stop talking with her. She made me smile and giggle... I loved it.

The next day I exchanged a few texts with Yoko. She was waiting for us around 5pm to show us her studio. I got out during the morning to meet with a real estate agent, getting to know the current market. I wanted to get as much knowledge as possible before I really had to find a new place to live for my sons and I. Like I had feared, the prices were crazy high and I felt a bit defeated... I got back home for lunch and I texted Apo to check the time he was supposed to bring the boys back on Sunday. To say that our way of communicating was weird was an understatement... He kept on asking me intrusive questions and I tried my best to ignore them... After half an hour of texting I was forcing myself to breathe deep to calm down. At least I managed to get out of him the approximative time at which they were supposed to get here. After lunch, I checked the time again and again, until it was finally 4:30pm.. I asked my sister if she wanted to go shopping with me, pretending I wanted to buy something for my sons.

"Why do we need to take a taxi? Where are we going?" she asked as we rode across the city.

"You'll see."

The meeting with Yoko was surreal. She looked like she was from outer space. She was really young yet her way of speaking was so strange. She was like an old soul. We talked for a while about where her drive and creativity came from, while my sister, who was dumbfounded to be there at first, looked around the place, lingering on the art displayed on the walls and tables. At some point she turned to us and said :

"Those three paintings are absolutely amazing! I love the vibe! Did you really make that yourself? You look so young."

"Thank you so much." Yoko replied, blushing a little.

"I'm glad you like them, sis. Yoko and I have arranged a deal."

"A deal? You're going to show her art at MOCA?" P'Daad said with a smile.

"What? No, no, I'm not worthy of that!" Yoko defended herself, looking shy and apologizing to me.

"You know what, I wouldn't be surprised if you were featured in an exhibition in a few years, Yoko. You are indeed very talented. But that's not it P'Daad. Yoko's art is going to be showcased, you're right... But... in your pop-up store."

My sister looked at me, her mouth opened so wide we could have picked up her jaw from the floor. We had to explain it to her at least three times before she started to believe us. We ended up spending the evening with Yoko, talking about the store opening and possible future collaborations. P'Daad smile was so wide it warmed my heart. When we said goodbye to Yoko to head back home, my sister hugged me so tight that I almost went out of breath.

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