Back again

Chapter 6: Lunch with the boss

Listen to "Perfect Strangers" by Jonas Blue ft. JP Cooper for this chapter

----------------------------------------------------------------

It was 2:15 when I reached the mall.

15 minutes late. I know. Trust Jared to delay you at the last minute. He had hid my shoes, and I had to find them. Last minute treasure hunt wasn't exactly my favorite sport. But then, I don't play any sport anyway.

As I reached the mall, I saw James' black Audi outside. He stood out of the car, leaning on the front door. He had a simple grey t-shirt and black jeans on.

Not that I'm complaining, he looked super hot in it.

As soon as he saw me, he stood up straight and flashed me a smile.

"Ready to go?" He asked

"yeah" I smiled back, he opened the door for me.

"You look nice" he said after getting into the car.

Now that, my dear, was over exaggeration. I wore only a white top and blue jeans, with my black ballerinas. My brown hair was tied up into a pony-tail. If anything, I looked normal.

"uh.. Thanks" I said.

James rode the car through the sun lit streets of LA and after turning several corners he finally stopped at a Italian 'looking' restaurant.

Honestly speaking, I half- hoped he would take me to taco bells or burger king, even though he said he wanted to take me to an Italian restaurant.

After parking the car, we walked into the brightly lit restaurant. The place had walls of glass, and was surrounded by trees. It looked a lot like your 5 star beach resorts at any place in California. Just that, this didn't have a beach over looking it, it had a big lawn instead.

Natural, works for me.

One of the waiters showed us our table and we sat down. As if on cue, my phone started buzzing. I took it out and looked at the ID. Vincent.

Amazing! Just amazing!

Ignoring the call, I turned to James. But my phone kept buzzing on and on. Each time I ignored it, it buzzed again.

"I think, you should pick up the call" James said.

I took it out and answered,"what?!!" I snapped.

"Are you busy?"

"Yes!"

"where are you?"

"Out for lunch with a friend"

"How many friends do you have?!!"

"That's none of your business, Reed"

"Last name? Seriously?! Why are you so mad at me?"

"Because you kept on calling me!"

"It's not my fault! You didn't pick up the first time!"

I started imagining him, giving me his signature cheeky grin.

"I would have! Eventually! And how does it even matter to you anyway?" I defended myself and hissed.

"I thought you wouldn't pick up my calls again. I was scared you wouldn't. And I didn't want that"

I sighed,"Okay, I'm sorry. But call me back a bit later then. I'm a bit busy right now." I looked at James. He glanced at his watch and then opened the menu card and started shifting the pages.

"Okay then, I'll call back in the evening"

Just like always, I thought.

I kept my phone and James flashed me a smile.

"Who was it?" He asked

"A friend"

"Oh"

He signalled me to open the menu card and asked me to choose. The waiter walked in, and we placed our orders.

"So, you skipped office to finish stuff at home"

I sipped on my glass of water and said,"yeah. Laundry, dusting, grocery shopping.."

"Why suddenly?"

I guess I could've choked on the water,"nope. Nothing. It's been pending work."

He mouthed an 'O'

"So what was work like today? How did you get out of office this fast?" I asked, crossing my arms on the table. James did the same.

"Oh! Finished stuff, and came out. I'll go back home after lunch and attend to the other emails"

"You'll work from home?"

"Yeah, unless you want to go somewhere after this" he gave me a friendly smile.

"oh no. It's okay. I'll head back home after this. My friends are at my place, helping me with stuff. I need to go back"

"Oh.. Okay" he said, a sort of disappointment evident in his voice.

"Except for office, we haven't really gotten to know each other, so I decided maybe we could grab lunch together and, well, you know..." He swayed his hands.

I laughed,"Yeah, I get it."

"You like sports?" He asked

"Yeah, but I'm not a huge fan of it"

"Okay. So what kind of music do you like?"

"Michael Jackson"

"Really?"

"Yup! Ever since I was in 5th grade"

"I like him too."

"Great" I smiled. And for a minute I thought he had zoned out.

"James?" No reply. "James?"

"Huh? Yeah?"

"You zoned out"

"Oh! Umm.. Yeah.. I'm so sorry"

The waiter brought in the food and the awkwardness disappeared.

Hail the power of food!

And just like that, the entire conversation went on well.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Hey peeps!

Brace yourselves. Vincent is coming *grins* (I hope you got the GoT reference)

Keep voting and commenting :)

And thanks a ton for all the support!

[Next update tomorrow (Friday) or Saturday - IST]

Peace <3