The One Who Got Away is Back

Present 5 ♡ The Fashion Revolution

Walking on eggshells at work was exhausting. By the third day I seriously had doubts about whether I'd be able to survive this for long. On the one hand there was Mr. Diapers, following Miguel around like by being in his presence he could acquire some of the charm and sex appeal that Miguel oozed from his pores. And on the other hand there was me, trying to behave professionally around our CFO without revealing my baser and definitely NSFW thoughts about him.

I caught him grinning at me a couple of times in a way that made me wonder if he could read my mind.

I need help, I texted in the group chat with my closest friends.

Over the years it had expanded from just Ayrton, Vera and I to also include Leti, who I reconnected with while I was in New York, where she lived with her husband and kids, working full time as the agent of Casual Friday Funeral. Eventually Page also joined in the ranks and although she and Leti didn't get along that well at first, now they were such good friends that the rest of us felt like outsiders. With Ayrton in L.A., Vera in a random zip code every night, Leti in the big apple, Page and Jace living in Seattle and me in the South of Florida, this group chat was the key to maintaining our friendship. No matter where we were, we stayed up to date thanks to it.

The first one to reply was Ayr, Who do I need to kill?

Whoa, hold your murderous horses, came from Vera.

It's Miguel, isn't it? Page surprised me by replying all the way from the Seychelles.

Leti put five wide eyed emoji and typed, Wait what? Hot papi is back in your life?

Page helped me tell them all the story of last weekend, which produced many reactions and all of them with eggplant emoji. It made me giggle, and I was lucky the bathroom at work was empty while I had this text conversation. At my work bench there was too much of a risk that someone might look over my shoulder, see me typing Miguel's name followed by the tongue emoji and report me to HR for inappropriate conduct.

Girl, it sounds to me like he's thirsty.

That text came from Ayrton and it triggered a round of agreement among everybody else.

And he's rich, he continued. Why don't you chuck your reservations out the window and jump his bones?

I sucked in a sharp breath.

By all means, that was the obvious answer to my conundrum. Just enjoy the moments I could get with him. But something stopped me. Something that was creating pressure in my chest the more I pictured what it would be like to let go in his arms. Fantastic at first, but as soon as reality hit and things started to get sour, tearing Miguel away from my life might be one of the most painful things to ever happen to me. And this was coming from someone who hadn't spoken to her parents in seven years. I just didn't understand why I felt so deeply for the guy and it terrified me.

I answered the safe way, It's a bad idea to get tangled with someone at work.

It works for me, though, Vera said, and I smacked my forehead. Duh, she'd been dating her bandmate for how long now? Eleven years? Ridiculous.

It's different, I texted, but when they asked me how, I was unable to give an answer. That was when the teasing started, and I told them I had to go back to work and put my phone away. I sat at my desk feeling like I'd been scolded.

What were the reasons why we couldn't work, aside from my fear?

I glanced off to the side where I saw Miguel in his office. Clear glass panes isolated the noise from the main area, but hid nothing from view. He leaned against his desk as he talked on the phone. During the day he'd discarded his suit jacket and had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. For someone who had no prior experience in fashion, the man dressed impeccably. Shirt and suit were the exact same shade of navy blue and the ensemble was so perfectly tailored that it made me think it might have been hand made in Italy. The muscles in his forearms were enough to raise my temperature as they worked when he ran a hand through his hair. Hmm, why was it that this would be a bad idea?