New York Series: Office Affair

Chapter 16

Francesca POV

The weather couldn't have been better today. The sun was already shining lightly, the birds were chirping and the park wasn't quite full yet. As a New York sightseeing spot, I had never seen the park so empty. Well, maybe it was the early hour. I had to smile at the fact that Ángel had ordered me to the tennis centre at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning in my training clothes.
I let my gaze wander through the park and wondered what made people spend their morning here today while I waited for him. As a New Yorker, I knew the park inside out, but I was more of a city dweller than one who spent my weekends in Central Park. If I ever felt the urge to do something in nature, I preferred a weekend trip outside New York.
Feeling slightly nervous, I waited eagerly for the man of the hour. Hopefully, he was considerate and had adapted his day's training to my lack of fitness. I was stretching my body in preparation for the sporting activity when my eyes met Ángel's silhouette.
He looked good.
He was wearing a white sports shirt with short black sports trousers and his socks were rolled up, so my gaze inevitably lingered on his muscular calves for a moment too long.
I was only familiar with this trend of rolled-up socks from the younger generation, but it looked just as good on him. When he saw me, he took off his sunglasses and his mouth twisted into a wide grin.
"Buenos días. Estás lista?"
His eyes sparkled with joyful excitement. I inevitably felt better, lighter. His manner was infectious.
"Please. I am sensitive. Don't be too hard on me." I waved him off and laughed sheepishly, only realising my poor choice of words too late. Was I ready for training? We'd find out in a minute. Ángel stowed his sunglasses in a small fanny pack and dug something out. He really did look like he did that a lot. At least I was convinced by his equipment. I would never admit to him that yesterday, after my coffee date with Rico, I had panicked and bought myself a smart sports outfit because I was shocked to realise that I didn't want to look him in the eye in stained, old jogging bottoms. I just hoped that he couldn't see that my black outfit consisting of leggings, T-shirt and shoes had never been worn. I had braided my hair. Thanks to social media, there were plenty of tutorials for sporty hairstyles for women. My for you page would surely be suggesting ideas for weeks to come. But it was worth it when I caught Ángel's eyes gliding over my body.
I didn't want to please him or anything.
But his opinion was somehow important to me.
"Here, I've got something for us if you're that sensitive. Christina has somehow received a marketing parcel with a new organic sun cream. She asked me to test it out and hand out the samples."
Right. Christina, his wife.
In return, he seemed to have told his wife about training with me. I hadn't told anyone about my weekend plans. Why would I?
I shook off my thoughts and forced myself into the present as I kindly accepted the sun cream. My fingertips fleetingly touched the back of his hand and a small flash went through me. I would have liked to hit myself in the head with my hand. Instead, I silently applied the sun cream and averted my eyes.
What was wrong with me? Menopause? Second puberty?
Why was I suddenly reacting so strongly to his presence? I thought I had left this crush behind years ago. I couldn't deal with it now, I had enough to do with all my other chaos. In the meantime, he had already applied cream and was stretching. I closed my eyes in flight as he bent down in front of me and his arse cheeks appeared in his trousers.
Oh Lord. I never thought I'd say this, but please let's finally start training.
"Ehm. I'm ready," I cleared my throat hoarsely and gave him the small tube back. I smelled my arm inconspicuously. The cream felt pleasant on the skin, but smelled a little sweet.
"Ok. Let's go then. We should be able to get round the reservoir pond once."
I stood rooted to the spot for a moment. I sincerely hoped it was a joke.
I quickly sprinted after him and caught up as he jogged on the spot.
"Were you serious just now?"
"Yes. That's about 1.58 miles. If we slow down, we'll need about 20 minutes. You can do it."
Ángel smiled and we jogged on. His belief in me made me feel warm inside. Even though I never jogged, I wanted to make it. We turned the first corner and while my heart was pumping fast in my chest and my lungs were demanding oxygen, I was determined to finish this lap successfully. This part of the park was really beautiful and New York was doing a lot to preserve nature. They had recently planted wildflowers for the bees. Suddenly my ears buzzed and I swatted the insect aside while I saw that Ángel was also struggling with insects.
What the hell?
We kept running, but one bee suddenly turned into a whole swarm that chased us. They persistently flew around our heads and bodies. Panic rose in me. I didn't want to be stung by a hundred bees now.
"Francesca, we have to run faster! I don't know what's going on!"
He swatted wildly at me and himself, trying to fend them off.
"Angel. What was in the sun cream?!"
While we were fighting back with our hands, the sweet smell came back into my nose. There had to be something in there that was attracting the bees.
"We'll never make it to the car. It's over a mile away!" I shouted in a panic, out of breath. Ángel groaned painfully for a moment as he was stung.
"Fuck. We have to jump into the water. Come quickly."
He pulled me by the hand and ran with me towards the pond, while a whole swarm of bees followed us to the water. With a running start and our hands intertwined, we jumped into the cool water. I couldn't suppress my scream when my body hit the cold water. Our bodies dived under the water and I let go of his hand and fought my way back to the surface.
Ángel gripped my shoulders anxiously. His eyebrows pinched together in concern.
"Are you all right? You're not allergic to bee stings or anything?" he asked, genuinely concerned.
His brown-green eyes looked at me with concern.
I returned his gaze and couldn't help but let out a loud snort.
How surreal was this situation, please?
Ángel let go of my shoulders with relief and started laughing too.
"Franca. I can assure you, this has never happened to me before."
After taking a moment to compose myself, I answered him honestly.
"Everything's fine with me. I'm just a little wet."
"Good. I'm not allergic either. I somehow still feel completely dry."
We both laughed again. I let my head slide into the water, it was quite pleasant here.
Ángel swam a little towards me and suddenly my fingers were tingling. I splashed him with water. He had said, he still felt dry.
"Did you just splash me."
Whoosh. Laughing, I swung another load of water in his direction.
He was still far too dry, I thought.
Ángel swam towards me, laughing, and pulled me under the water. We wrestled with each other and probably wouldn't have stopped if a loud voice hadn't made us stop.
"HEY. YOU! GET OUT OF THE WATER NOW!"
Ángel and I immediately lowered our hands and looked at the angry police officer.
Crap. It was obvious that there was a police officer nearby in New York.
I was about to make a spirited defence when Ángel calmed me down.
"Let me talk to the man. Maybe we'll get away with a warning again."
It was forbidden to swim in the pond, and as a nature reserve, New York City took this very seriously. From the policeman's angry expression, you could probably believe that the police strictly enforced the no-swimming rules. We got out of the water without comment and I quickly lowered my gaze, but couldn't stop myself from grinning. However, Ángel was able to persuade the officer to give us a warning and we assured him that we would swim elsewhere.
If only he knew.
Laughing and wet, we made our way round the park to his car, ignoring the stares of the other park visitors. Hopefully nobody at the newspaper had noticed. Ángel and his family were well-known in New York, if only because of his company, and I really didn't need this office gossip on a Monday morning.

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I had invited Ángel over for a coffee. I lived not far from here and he lived with Christina outside the city. I had offered him a shower and Carlo's clothes. In return, he wanted to make a reservation for breakfast. I was drying my hair when I heard clattering from the kitchen.
"Where have you got your spices?"
"Wait a minute. I'll be right there!" I shouted, switched off the hairdryer and answered the phone, which rang at the same time.
"Hello?"
In my haste, I hadn't paid attention to the caller ID.
"Hey, baby. What are you doing?"
It was Carlo.
"I'm at home," I said curtly, feeling a little caught out.
"Found it!" was all I heard from the kitchen and I winced guiltily.
"FRANCESCA. What male voice is that in the background?" Carlo grumbled and I briefly thought about just saying that it was the TV. But I couldn't lie to him any more.
"Ehm. Ángel is here," I said curtly without explaining.
"Ángel, as in your EX-CHEF?! What's he doing in our flat on a Saturday morning? What are you doing?"
"Firstly, this isn't our flat. You don't pay rent and SECONDLY, what's with the jealousy all of a sudden Carlo?"
"What are you doing now Francesca? I asked you a normal question and I thought we were a team."
"A team? Don't make me laugh! If you weren't constantly working or whatever it is you do, you would know that I'm training for the charity run. I don't care about anything. I don't have to explain myself to you. I don't even know where you are. I'm hanging up now Carlo and don't even think turning up at my door tomorrow evening" I hung up and switched my mobile phone off straight away. Carlo wouldn't leave it at that and would just keep calling me. I was terribly angry with him and threw my mobile phone on my bed angrily . He left me alone again for the whole weekend, hadn't even asked if I had any plans or wishes and then he came to me like this.
I stormed towards the kitchen, a little angry, but my frustration fizzled out when I saw what a feast Ángel had prepared.
"How did you manage that in such a short time?"
He had set the table, squeezed fresh juice from my oranges and prepared French toast with scrambled eggs.
"If I want, I have my ways. Here. Sit down."
With raised eyebrows, I sat down and watched as he tidied up the kitchen.
"And if you don't want to do something?" I asked playfully, biting my lip nervously.
"Then I'll find excuses."
Why did I suddenly want Ángel to make excuses for me?
"Where did you get that wisdom from again? That sounds kind of stolen."
He looked at me with those haunting eyes that sometimes shimmered dark green.
"You know me, don't you?" he said gently, sitting down opposite me. Meanwhile, his voice scraped across my skin like sandpaper. A small lump formed in my throat.
I suppressed the urge to bite my lip one more time.
That would otherwise give the wrong impression. Instead, I tried to lighten the mood. The air felt so heavy.
"I miss your weekly words of wisdom," I sighed, releasing some physical tension.
"Yeah, yes. I can still remember how you used to roll your eyes. You don't have to flatter me just because I made you food. Besides, you know you always have a place with me. So now, have a taste before you smear more honey around my mouth. I've had enough of bees for now."
I returned his smile and brushed a strand of hair behind my right ear.
"I know, thank you. I don't need any more bees for now either," I said calmly, even though my heart was beating a hundred miles.
Because what I really wanted to say to him was: I know I have a place with you, but I can't.
Because of Christina.
Because of me.
Because of the chaos with Carlo and Manuel.
Because of my heart.
Ángel was just being nice to me, but my heart interpreted too much into every kindness, which is why it was better not to spend so much time with him from now on.
My heart was confused. I could no longer tell the difference between politeness and genuine interest.
I was already neck-deep in chaos and I didn't need to drown in it by giving in to the sudden desire of my pounding heart and spending more time with him.
I don't know if Ángel could hear my thoughts, but we ate in silence and he said goodbye after thanking me again for the shower and the clothes. Before he left, he asked me again if I was really okay and I hugged him to reassure him that everything was fine.
The hug had been unusually stiff.
He wished me a good weekend and then I tiredly closed the door.
We hadn't arranged a second training session. That left me  feeling kind of sad.