I Love You, Danielle.

Chapter 2: What feelings?

When he got to work, it was no surprise that the first person he'll see was Danielle. After the kiss, he thought he'll be able to keep things professional, but this kiss made him feel tingly that he started acting weird around her. It's not like the other million kisses he had with her. This one was different. But how?

Danielle approached him.
"Hi Ben! Wow, you look exhausted. What happened?", she asked.
"Oh! Ha, well I was up watching tv last night because I couldn't sleep. I guess sleep is starting to hit me now!", he laughed nervously.
"Uhm, alright. Do you want me to get you some coffee?", she looked curiously at him.
"Oh no thanks I'm fine.", he said wiping a drop of sweat on his face, "is it hot in here or is it just me? Oh look at the time, I better get to my dressing room. I'll see you later!", he laughed nervously.
He ran away in a blink of an eye after talking to Danielle as if he was being chased by someone. Danielle watched him in confusion.
"What just happened? Why is he so jumpy all of a sudden?", she thought to herself.

Ben ran into his dressing room and immediately shut the door behind him. He tried to catch his breath but struggled to do so because his heart was pounding rapidly and his hands were sweaty. He sat on the comfy chair and attempted to calm himself down.
"This is bad. This is really bad.", he whispered, "I-I can't have feelings for her! It's just not right. She's married too! Oh what do I do?."
He stood up and walked around the room. All of a sudden, he heard a knock on the door.
"Hey Ben, are you in there?"
It was Sabrina. He made sure he looked like nothing happened at all.
"Come in!", he yelled.
Sabrina entered with Rowan.
"Hey, we saw what happened earlier. Are you good? You seem a bit jumpy.", Rowan said.
"Oh it's probably just because I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I'm fine, really. This'll all go away tomorrow, that's for sure.", he replied.
"You don't seem so sure. We're here to see if you're okay. That and to let you know that Danielle wanted to talk to you.", Sabrina said.
Ben looked down to the ground, shaking, but looked up with a forced smile. Rowan and Sabrina looked at each other, confused.
"Uhm, sure! Does she want to talk somewhere else or do I tell you guys to bring her here or something?", he asked nervously.
The moment Rowan opened her mouth, there was another knock on the door. It was Danielle.
"We can talk here if that's okay with you.", she said with a smile.
Rowan and Sabrina stood up.
"We'll give you two some privacy", Rowan said, walking out the door.
"Yeah, I want food. Gosh I'm so hungry.", Sabrina whined.
Ben and Danielle giggled as the girls walked out of the room.

"So uh, what's up?", Ben asked nervously.
"Oh nothing much, you?", Danielle asked with her arms crossed.
"W-why are you looking at me like that?", he said looking away from her.
"Ben, I know we leave each other alone when the other has something in mind. But I have an indescribable feeling about this one, and I feel the need to talk to you about it.", she said, sitting down next to him.
He felt the walls closing in and he was struggling to breathe. He began sweating as his face turned red.
"I don't think it's appropriate to talk about it right now, or at all. Especially with how things are. I don't want anything to change. I'm a creature of habit, and you know that.", he sighed.
She placed her hand on his shoulder, which made him jump.
"We've been best friends for over 20 years, Ben. We've been through so much that we're pretty much an open book towards each other. We've always told each other everything. But, if you're not ready to talk about it, I respect your privacy. I want you to know that I'll always be here if you need anything.", she said softly.
Ben started shaking and breathing heavily. He didn't know what to do. One side of him thinks she should tell her, but the other doesn't wanna complicate things between each other.

Danielle looked at Ben worriedly as he stared off into space.
"Ben? Ben, are you sure you're okay?", she asked.
"Oh, uh yeah, yeah I'm fine. It's fine. I might tell you when I feel like I should but uh, don't worry so much about me. I'll be fine.", he smiled forcefully.
"You better. We need a happy Ben for a happy day.", she giggled, "If you need to talk, my door's always open."
"Well, your dressing room is right across mine. Don't worry I will. If anything, I'll slip you a note when it's closed.", he laughed.

Ben stared at her as she got up and walked out of the room. Her brown, long hair swayed from side to side as she walked flawlessly to the door. She turned around to smile at him as she closed the door and Ben couldn't help but admire how beautiful she is.

After the door closed, he tried to snap himself out of it.
"What do I do?", he thought, "She's married, I shouldn't be thinking like this."
He sighed deeply and covered his face with both his hands.
"If I don't tell her now, I'll be more of a mess than I already am. But if I do, something bad will definitely happen and I don't want to ruin anything between us.", he gulped, "But then I can't stop thinking about her. Should I tell her?"

Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry I abandoned this for over a month. I didn't know how to follow on the previous chapter, so this one was probably all over the place. But now I know what to do with the next chapter so I'll try to update more often. Anyway, let me know what you think! xx