At First Sight

5.

"Fine." She walked around me towards the elevator.

"Wait," I grabbed her arm. "I just wanted to see how the meeting went."

"It went fine," she shift her weight from one leg to another.

Today she had on a simple white dress, but that image of her in that navy blue dress from the club is still running laps in my head.

"She's going to introduce me to the kids when they come in, so I was just gonna go grab some lunch," she said.

"Funny you mentioned that. I was coming to ask you if you wanna grab a bite?"

She sighed. "Darryl, I told you-"

"I know, don't think of it as a date. Think of it as a friendly gesture. Welcoming you to the company."

She narrowed her eyes. "You take all your new employees to lunch?"

"Yes, actually. I like to get to know the people I hire because I think of them as family."

"Fine."

I smiled, and she rolled her eyes.

"What were you planning on getting?" I asked, opening the door for her to walk out first.

"I don't know, just something quick to eat."

"Are you a fan of sushi? I know this amazing sushi bar."

"Oh, my god I love sushi," she said, stepping into the elevator.

"Sushi it is then."

We rode down to the first floor in silence and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Her skin look as smooth as I remembered it and her almond-shaped brown eyes sparkled. She had her hair in a messy bun today, loose strains flying around her face. She is so beautiful.

It's something else about her though that I can't quite put my finger on. I know this is very unprofessional of me, but I can't stay away. The elevator doors opened up.

"This way." I lead her out the back door of the building where employees keep their cars.

"You are doing well for yourself," she said, admiring my Cadillac.

"I do alright." I opened the passenger door for her to get in.

"Thank you."

She picked up one of Hope's bears off the floor by her foot. "You have a child?"

"A daughter."

"Her mother?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Dead." I started the car.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know..."

"It's cool." It's hard for me to talk about Aya, she was everything to me. I looked over at her and she was staring out the window, sitting so close to the door. Maybe this was a bad idea...

We drove to the sushi bar in silence. When we got there, she picked a table by the window in the back.

"So how old is your daughter?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Four, almost five."

"What's her name?"

"Hope. You'll see her running around at the company from time to time."

She smiled. "That is so cute to name your company after her."

"Actually, she's named after the company, plus her mom liked the name. She named the company for me."

"So you've been doing this for a while."

"Since I was 21."

Her eyes widen. "How old are you?"