The road to love (editing!!)

Chapter 10 - Hands-free (edited)

Jessie

I sat in traffic again on a Monday morning, but today it really was not bothering me at all. Why? Because a certain gorgeous guy who asked me out on a date was in the lane next to me. I could feel his eyes on me, so I turned my head to smile and wave. He grinned, then gestured to his phone on his dash and pressed a few buttons. It was obviously hooked up to a very fancy hands-free kit which ran through his radio system, as it was illegal in South Africa to drive while using a cell phone . I heard my phone ringing next to me, so I answered it through my earphone hands-free kit. Not everyone had a fancy-shmancy car system, you know.

"Hey pretty lady," I heard his voice in my ears and I felt my stomach do a flip. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm fine thanks and you?"

"Not bad, not bad at all actually. So how's your week looking? Busy?" He looked over at me while he spoke and I found it the weirdest thing to be speaking to him like this.

"Oh, you know." I smiled at him. "Got this really irritating client who is having me run around on their advertising campaign for their new complex launching next month, but otherwise the work is fun."

"Are you being cheeky, my lady?" He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Me? Never!" I rolled my eyes at him and saw my traffic start moving a little, leaving Dean somewhere behind me. "And you, what's on your agenda."

"My dad wants me to go to one of our sites to check out how they're doing."

"Isn't that Joe's job?" I asked, noticing him pull in next to me again.

"Joe's on another assignment and dad's got a meeting today, but someone needs to go see why we are having so many troubles on that site. So, Jes, tell me... how are you with ties?"

I whipped my head to his side, completely confused. "Ties?"

"Yeah, I don't know which one to wear to the site today," he says, holding up 2 ties for me to choose between, one blue with grey lines and one black with a blue tip. "I don't really like wearing them, but dad insists we do when we go to a site. It's an image thing. So, which one do you like?" He held them closer to his body and my attention was momentarily drawn to his chest, almost making me drool.

I pointed to the blue one with grey lines and he grinned at my choice. I smiled back at him. Suddenly the traffic started moving again, faster this time and I realized that we'd have to say goodbye.

"Have a good day, Dean!" I smiled and waved before I turn onto on my off-ramp.

"You too, Jessie. Don't daydream about me too much." I heard the laughter in his voice and was about to say something back when the line went dead as I kept on driving towards our office. Well, that chat just made my traffic run interesting again.

Dean

I climbed back into my car after my visit to the site. It seemed he was right. The site manager here was busy with some underhanded stuff that he tried very hard to keep away from my eyes. Unluckily for him I grew up in the building industry and could spot his mistakes a mile away, all while keeping a straight face. I was eager to get back to the office and get this dipshit manager fired for negligence. He was breaking so many health and safety violations, that I was worried we might be shut down if the inspectors get a whiff of this. Better get Joe on this case quick. He was real good at fixing this type of problem. Natural born builder, that one.

My phone rang and I pressed answer, speaking through the speaker system. "Dean here"

"Hey D!" I heared Bianca's voice over the line, all chirpy. "Why haven't you RSVP'd to my dad's charity fundraiser yet? You're making me look bad, best friend."

"Morning Bianca. I'm fine thank you, how are you?" I asked jokingly.

"No time for that Dean, I'm trying to finalize a major event here. Are you coming or not?"

"You make me come to the fundraiser every year, B. Why would I stop now?"

"OK, great. So I can put you down for you plus a date?"

I groaned at the thought of having to find a date for the event where Bianca's dad auctions off his special reserve wines for a worthy cause. Usually it was a lot of fun and I'd made some great contacts every year, but every year I struggled to get rid of my clingy dates afterwards. Not that there wasn't enough single ladies at the event, I just didn't like one-night-stands anymore. Who was I going to take that wouldn't be... clingy... ah!! A light went on upstairs and I smiled at the thought of spending another evening with Beatle girl.

"Dean? Are you there?" Bianca's voice came over the line.

"Um, yes Bianca. Me plus a date."

"Oooo goody. Another bimbo for me to make cry afterwards."

I grinned at her words. "Not this one, B. She's just a friend."

"OK, ok, spoil my fun. See you next Saturday at 3 pm at the farm, D! Love you!"

"Love you too, B" I said before the line went dead. Well I was looking for a reason for a date, wasn't I? I started the car and drove back to the office, eager to call a certain redhead with an invitation to a wine farm. 

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Sorry I took so long.  Been having serious headaches the past few weeks.  It hurts to look at a computer screen!  Hugs!