Love Is Blind

Danishes and Suggestions

Waking up the next morning without Lacey's warmth beside me wasn't quite what I had wanted, and it most definitely wasn't as pleasant as it had been when I did wake up next to her. Groaning, I shut my alarm clock off with a lazy reach over towards my nightstand.

Struggling out of bed, I maneuvered around my room with ease. Getting the clothing that I would need for the day. I yawned and ran my free hand through the mess that was my hair. Just as with every other day of my life, I headed to the shower with sleep still clinging to my eyes and fogging my mind to the slowest speed known to man.

After a blissfully warm shower, albeit not as long as I would have liked for it to be, I pulled on my clothes tiredly. Still only just beginning to wake up, I mechanically brushed my teeth and tried, failing like always, to tame the mane on top of my head.

Upon losing yet another battle with my hair, I dabbed on a bit of cologne and then headed out to the kitchen. Ignoring the growling that my stomach made, insisting I feed it before I left, I slid my shoes on and grabbed my cane, which rested up against the wall by the door like always.

My walk to work was chillier than it had been, and although my coat did a pretty good job at keeping most of the nipping air out, I still sped my feet up a little more and held my briefcase against my side to try and make myself a little smaller, to keep in more heat.

Once arriving, I shoved into the revolving door so hard that it actually bumped up against my back as I walked forward. Even before I fully made it into the lobby area, I could hear Marv laughing and on any other day, I probably would have glared. Instead, I just shrugged it off and muttered, "Oops?"

As I passed, I felt satisfaction wash over me. Marv didn't greet me because my casual behavior towards his laughing at my dumb misfortune wasn't normal. Normal was a quietly uttered comment about how he had fallen out of his chair last week reaching for the phone as I passed.

"See you later, Marvin!" I gleefully shouted in his general direction, heading towards the elevator.

The quiet ding from the light above the doors indicated that I should step in or be forced to wait until the next car came down. Cane sliding across the carpeted flooring of the elevator and over the metal lip outside of it, I stepped in and leaned toward the panel of buttons, pressing my floor number.

Silence filled the ride up and the second that I arrived, I practically bolted out of the car, no matter how impractical and potentially dangerous that could be. Sighing in slight relief, I relished in the warm quiet, but not silent, floor I worked on. Making my way to my office, my fingertips crossed over each and every name on my way there.

Opening the door allowed me to know Lacey was already in the office. Some point in the last few weeks, I had given her the spare key I had, asking her to lock up. Of course, she had kept it, and if she happened to come in early, all she had to do was unlock the door and get down to work. Since it was unlocked when I got there, she was already inside and probably busy with whatever filing she had scrounged up for herself.

"Ms. Webber, you're here quite early today, aren't you?" I teased as I made my way to my chair,

"Had to be," She explained in a faux formal voice, "My evil and demanding voice made me bring him coffee and a Danish! I had to spend forever guessing what type of Danish he liked just to bring it here."

I stifled a laugh and then reached my hand out carefully. Upon locating my coffee, I dropped my hand just a bit lower until I felt the napkin against my pinky finger. Picking it up, I brought it to my mouth and took a hearty bite. Through my mouthful, I mumbled out, "Well, your 'evil, demanding' boss thinks you made a great choice. Was it just a guess or were you stalking me enough to know that cherry is my favorite type of Danish?"

Lacey giggled a bit, a soft, girly sound that made my heart flutter as I swallowed the gooey dessert, "I totally stalked you. I've been watching you for years just so that when the moment came where I would have to buy you a Danish, I would know the correct type to buy for you."

Letting out a small laugh, I smiled to myself, "How sweet of you, Lacey."

"Hopefully as sweet as the cherry Danish you're devouring. You're probably making such a mess."

Shrugging, I mumbled past another large bite, "Wanna know my motto? I can't see it, so it isn't there."

Lacey bellowed out a laugh, much richer than the feminine giggle from a few moments before, "Does that mean I'm not there?"

Shaking my head, I finished off the Danish in a thick swallow, taking a long swig from my steaming coffee before I answered her inquiry, "No, actually. I know you're here. That rule only applies to messes and other common annoyances."

"'Other common annoyances'?" Lacey questioned, her voice sounding befuddled as to what that could be referring to.

"Yeah. Things like... Annoying family members that always want to pinch your cheeks until they're raw and red. Overdue bills for things you don't want to admit to paying for. Paperwork."

Lacey laughed again, "So, what you're telling me, is that if you can't see a mess, a loving aunt, a bill for the hooker you bought last week, or paperwork to publish your book, that it doesn't exist?"

"Pretty much," I confirmed, but added on quickly before Lacey could speak again, "And, I did not order a hooker last week. Or any week for that matter. Although, I cannot lie and say that I haven't had someone in a bed with me in the last week or so. Though, I did not have to pay for them. Unless, of course, they skimmed from my wallet while I was sleeping in a comfortable haze of afterglow."

"No. I did not take any money from you, Jacob. You know that," Before I could explain what I thought had been an obvious joke, Lacey spoke up again, "And Jacob, if you don't mind, can we please not talk about our relationship in the workplace?"

"Lacey... Wasn't the whole point of trying to date so that we wouldn't make it awkward when we were at work?" I asked, a little bit confused and honestly, feeling a bit upset by her suggestion.

"It isn't like that, Jake... I just... Until I know if we're gonna work out or not, I don't want to go around flaunting it to every single person in the office. You know?" She hastily added, "It isn't anything against you. I just want to be sure before we go completely public, okay?"

"Okay..." I replied sullenly, feeling a little bit hurt. Sure, we had just begun our relationship and there was no telling if we would work out. I just wish Lacey had found a better way of wording how she felt.

"Good. Thank you for understanding my side of things, Jake," The smile in her voice was evident, and for once, I was one hundred percent glad that Lacey couldn't see just how fake my return smile really was.