Autumn - In Love With My Boss (An Office Romance)| Completed

Chapter 19 - Autumn

Traffic noise creeps through the open window of my dark room, as I lie in bed, wide awake, staring at the ceiling.

I kissed my boss. I kissed my boss. Oh god, I kissed my boss!

This mantra has occupied my brain, I can't divert my thoughts, I'm obsessing over it. What was I thinking? Well, nothing, obviously. I was caught up in the moment, drowned by the clear blue of his eyes, engulfed by the smooth velvet tone of his voice. All those weeks, months of longing for Mr. Charming suddenly got the better of me, so I just did what I have been dreaming of during those countless lonely nights. I kissed these perfect lips. Not only that, but I caressed him, too. His strong muscles, the well defined abs, his hard, chiseled, so masculine chest. Oh, just the mere thought of it has me shiver all over. It felt so good, so right to touch him. He, on the other hand, just let it happen, he didn't stop me nor did he return my affections. Instead, he made fun of me. To top it all off, he had a date on the very same day, I even got to meet that lovely lady. Congrats Autumn, your embarrassment level has reached record status.

I am so incredibly stupid. He dates, frequently, always different women, and let's face it, he likely takes them all to bed. He's single, he is amazing looking, and why wouldn't he take advantage of those characteristics? No woman in her right mind would ever reject him. None ever. He is just too mind-blowingly sexy. Of course he doesn't want me, the little grey mouse who can't even afford proper clothes for work.

Yes, that lady's remarks did sting. They shouldn't, since her outfit was far from being appropriate either, but at least you could tell the clothes were high-end. And I was right, he prefers blondes. Every man does.

Over on the nightstand, my phone buzzes. Again. I know who it is and I have no intention of answering. It's Mike. He's been harassing me with calls and text messages all day. As it seems, his little sex toy let him down, too. That didn't take very long. The grin on my face is ridiculously wide, but I can't help it. Justice served, at least in that regard.

The next morning I bury myself in work, trying to avoid my boss. I can't face him, I don't know how to deal with this situation. He hasn't said anything either, has just left me alone. Good, this way I don't have to explain what had gotten into me yesterday. He might just have decided it's better to not dwell on this and move on, forgetting it ever happened. I'm so relieved he doesn't grill me about it, or worse, fire me. At least, I hope he won't.

So, I keep working away silently until lunch. I know that Mr. Marlow always goes out for lunch, so I wait until I'm certain he has left the office, since I don't want to accidentally run into him, and then I go, too.

My way leads me to a large sporting goods store. I'm so excited when I enter that I don't realize the shop assistant is talking to me.

"Can I help you, Miss?" he repeats.

Finally, his words reach my ears. "Oh, uhm, maybe. I just want to pick up my ice skates, the blades were replaced."

"Sure," he says with a friendly smile. "Follow me."

He leads me through a ridiculous amount of aisles before we arrive at a small counter at the back of the store. It's silly, really, but I'm so excited about getting my beloved skates back.

"Be right back," he says and I watch him disappear into what I assume is the storage area.

It doesn't take long until he returns, my white skates with baby blue blade covers in his hand.

"Here we go." He places them on top of the counter, a little bit too carelessly for my taste.

"Careful," I squawk, afraid he might damage them.

The store employee grins. "It's all good, nothing happened." His brown eyes inspect me closer. "You really love them, don't you?"

"Yes," I grin back, so looking forward to trying the new blades out. "Figure skating is my one and only true passion."

"I understand," he nods. "Mine is fencing. I spend most of my paychecks for classes, equipment, books, anything fencing."

"Fencing," I repeat surprised. "That is very uncommon but pretty cool."

"Yeah," he winks. "I get that a lot."

His attention focuses on some paperwork he has to fill out. I'm glad because this way he doesn't see that his wink made me blush a little. God, I wish I were more confident around guys.

"Hm," he remarks. "Looks like you brought them in several weeks ago, and you're only now picking them up." He raises his sandy-haired head again. "Didn't you miss them?"

"I did," I admit. "But I was really busy, lots of work."

"Oh. If you don't mind me asking, what do you do?"

"I work for Malloy and Kinsley."

He whistles approvingly through his teeth. "Wow."

I laugh. "Actually not so exciting. I'm just an assistant."

"Hey," he raises his hands in mock defense. "I work at a sporting goods store. So any other job seems pretty exciting to me."

We both laugh.

"I was just thinking," he goes on. "Why don't you come to practice sometime?"

I guess he sees my astonished look because he quickly adds, "Not like a date or anything. It's just, since we both share a passion for sports, not the same kind of sports, obviously, but anyway, I think it would be fun. You can learn something about fencing and maybe you can show me how to skate sometime."

Surprisingly, I'm happy about his offer. Normally I would think twice before agreeing to something like this, but he seems really nice. Plus, he is as crazy about his hobby as I am about mine. So, why not?

"That sounds great," I smile enthusiastically.

"Awesome." He hands me the bill and waits patiently until I have found my wallet in the depths of my purse and pay.

"I wrote my cell number on the bill, so don't toss it," he winks again as he gives me my freshly fixed skates. "By the way, I'm Cody."

"Autumn," I respond.

"Hope to see you soon, Autumn."

I nod smiling, and leave the store, happy about my skates, happy about the prospect of maybe, only maybe, making a friend.