The Experiment © [Completed]

Chapter 4 - Start of Something New?

RJ walked Dei back to her cubicle half an hour later. He couldn't believe how light and easy their lunch break had been. He was expecting an hour of awkward silence but they ended up talking about casual subjects and laughing a lot.

Dei laughed like there's no tomorrow and her laughter was so infectious that by the end of their lunch break both of them were clutching their tummies and had tears in their eyes.

He never had that kind of easy conversation with any girls before, even with Christine, his ex girlfriend. With Christine it was always either intense make out sessions and the deed or intense discussions about their relationship. But they were together for three years and he could not get enough of Christine then.

The few dates he had after that relationship were pretty much the same. Less talking and more action ... in bed, on the couch, or on the backseat of his car. He didn't know much about those girls except that they were all over him.

Dei was different. Although she blushed a lot, he didn't feel her being flirty or trying hard at all. She actually was just being herself and he really enjoyed her company so much. After their time together, he stopped dreading about the project. He started thinking he'd actually enjoy the experience after all.

"Thank you. I had a great time." Dei said as she stood by her cubicle.

"Yea, me too," RJ said smiling at her.

"So... See you at our wedding?" she joked.

RJ bit his lip and smiled again. "Yep, see you at our wedding."

He heard that suppressed scream again as he walked away and he glanced back and saw the girl, Mara, almost hyperventilating with glee. He shook his head and smiled.

+++++

"I see the lunch date had been awesome," Ken remarked as he smoothly walked into their cubicle and sat on his chair, moving it closer to RJ and giving him a teasing look.

"Seriously, Ken, don't you have work to do? You've been bugging me since morning." RJ said, not looking at him.

"Hmm... Something's different here. Aren't you gonna tell me it wasn't a date?" Ken asked him, leaning back on his chair.

"It wasn't a date," RJ said simply.

"Riiight... We saw you by the way, walking past Starbucks. The glow on both your faces was unmistakable. And you were smiling like an idiot, thought you should know that," Ken said, chuckling.

RJ glared at him, warning him to stop.

"You like her," Ken pushed.

"No."

"Don't kid yourself, RJ."

"Ok. I like her because she's cool. She's easy to hang around with. But I don't like her like her!" RJ said, throwing his hands in the air exasperatedly.

Ken chuckled again. "Good enough," he said as he moved his chair back to his station.

A PM box from Matt suddenly appeared on RJ's screen.

You're chatting with Matt Bellasai...
Matt B: RJ, how was your lunch date?

RJ sighed and typed in his reply.