Forever

chapter 25:(raya)

"I hate you Simone." I ground out, my cheeks still burning from her earlier comments.

"That hot guy over there is undressing you with his eyes right now Ray.if I were you, I'd tap that."

"Are you sure?I'm almost certain that you love me." She grinned widely, still overly happy.
The two of us were walking to the Starbucks down on the first floor.Apparently Simone wanted to go there to talk, despite knowing that it was frequented by many of our coworkers.

"Our friendship hasn't progressed to that point yet Simone." I respond matter of factly.

Its only been a month or two since our heart to heart at the cafe.But already she was treating me like I was her bff.

"In any case, what's got you so happy? I know it can't be work."I stated.

She put a finger to her lips and smiled, as we walked inside the Starbucks and miraculously found a seat by the door.

"I met a guy." She gushed.

Of course.

"And for once, it wasn't arranged by my father."

"Oh! That's good!" I responded genuinely.

Maybe this time she might not get her heart broken again.

"I can't believe it, Raya, he makes me so special!" She continued, holding her hands to her face , her cheeks coloring a noticeable pink.

" I'm really happy for you." I responded smiling , reaching across the table and squeezing her hand.
Even though she's been a pain in my ass, she still deserved genuine happiness.
Everyone does,no matter how I might feel about them.

And what about you?

Shut up conscience.

"What about you?" Uh oh "anything going on with you?"

"There's nothing to talk about." I responded, leaning back in the chair.

There was no way in hell I was going to talk to her about this.This...thing with Will, whatever it was.

Its not like we actually knew each other.

You didn't give him a chance to know you.

It was all just a bunch of random encounters...

Random only happens once or twice...

We are two complete strangers.

Even if I kept feeling an ever growing pull towards him.

Simone looked at me with an expression as if I had "idiot" stamped on my forehead.

"You seriously mean to tell me that there's nothing going on in your love life?! Absolutely nothing? What about that guy that sent you those roses?"

Damn.

I forgot about that.

Time to bullshit something...

"That wasn't anything remotely romantic. He spilled his drink on me and wanted to apologize." I responded casually, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"He spilled a drink on a gown that expensive, and only bought you flowers? That's insane!" She nearly shouted in an offended tone.

I chuckled.
"Well, actually he offered to take me to dinner, but I turned him down."

I wanted to slap myself as soon as the words left my mouth.
Why the hell are you defending him Raya? Get a grip!

"Was he ugly?" Simone stated blandly.

"What?! No!"

Why are you so offended?! Stop!

"Then why didn't you accept his invitation? He was attractive, and clearly a nice enough person." She stated matter of factly.

I sighed heavily.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Simone should be the last person I should be talking about this with. She was staring me down now, studying me, probably trying to figure out why I didn't want to talk about it.

"Well then, why don't you hook up with that guy in hall?"

I nearly choked on my own spit.

" No! No way!"I objected firecely,gesturing widely," That guy is off limits! He's with the group from Zenith, Simone. If this merger happens, he might just be our boss!"

"Or he might not, depending on who they decide to keep on." She answered matter of factly," The way I see it, its a win win situation. You hook up with him, and you never see him again, or you hook up with him, and you might just get to keep your job. Best case scenario, you can keep your job and have hot office sex."

Lord thank you for making me a black woman, I'm practically combusting right now.

"You have no filter do you?"

"Not if it means getting my friend laid." She grinned, a mischievous look in her eye as she looked back at me.

This is not going to turn out well.....

A/N poor Raya, she's got one more person meddling in her love life now! ; __ ;