Must Date The Chef

|| 19.

"What are you doing here?" I ask Chi who waltz into my office without knocking and a package under her arm. "You didn't knock."

With her, I don't have to pretend to be busy so I push the laptop aside to send her the meanest glare I can muster at this point. She flips her long, invisible weaves that have been substituted for a low sleek bun and I nearly tear up from laughing so hard. Chi tries to maintain a straight face but a snicker escapes her. Giggles spill from her pouted lips and it has me laughing harder.

I straighten up, all traces of laughter wipes from my face. "Who's laughing with you?" She freezes. "I didn't ask you to come in."

She fakes a yawn and lowers herself to one of the two empty seats in front of me. Her fingers drum on the surface of the big box she placed on the table after sitting and I pretend not to know she's waiting for me.

"Open it."

Biting the tip of my pen, I bring my fingers to the bow on the box and when I have her attention, I lean back in my swivel chair. She grunts, her fist descends on the table and her cheeks grow a faint red. I wink, tugging on the string of the bow hard enough to heighten her curiosity without unknotting it. When she bangs her fist on the table again, I give in after an eye roll and tear off the packaging to reveal a rectangular box.

I don't try to guess what's inside, the few times I did, I was never right. Smoothing the front of my jacket, I bite the insides of my lips, eyeing the box with more interest than I let on. That guy is full of pleasant surprises.

"You know we have Aaron to run these type of errands, right?" I reiterate the question I have always asked since Chi took it upon herself to become Paul's errand girl.

"Yes, boss." She nods. "Open it."

A small smile flits to my lips at the mention of boss, the image of a certain handsome cook who has made it a habit of sending me gifts plays in my mind. I blink, trying not to smear the eyeliner I judiciously applied.

The first thing that comes into view when I open the box is a smaller box of chocolate, a brand different from the one King gave me. I never told him about giving the chocolate to Chi or how those flowers beautified the dustbin at the entrance of my house until the refuse dumpers came to do their job. Something tells me Chi did the telling on my behalf, at least on the chocolate part but I don't ask, she can't keep a secret for long.

Days have gone by, two weeks precisely, we haven't seen each other or had another chance to talk since that fiasco in my office. I can always demand his presence but a part of me is waiting for him to make the move that shows he wants me for more than random kisses. The gifts are a sign he still wants me but I want to know just how much and I want him to do that in person.

My smile grows as I take out the chocolate, I know they won't last a week and my brows furrow at the sight of a cloth-like object and an envelope inside the box. Chi clears her throat as if to remind me of her long-forgotten presence and I hide the note I extricated from the envelope behind me.

"What?" I bark even though she didn't say anything. She rolls her eyes and shrugs, I mutter a string of apologies, my attention already redirected to the gifts on the table.

"Curiosity kills the cat," I mutter.

"Satisfaction brought it back," is her quick reply. I roll my eyes and shake my head.

We both know she won't leave here until she finds out what that cloth-like thing on the table is and to be honest, I don't mind showing her. Until Paul and I can put a label to our feelings, we will have to analyse every gift I receive from him together.