Boston's Man-Eater

XXXVIII

"How are you?"

"I am very well, thank you. To what do I owe the pleasure of this abrupt visit?"

"It seems like communication between us has come to an abrupt stop, so I decided to come over myself and check in with you."

"I see..."

"Is everything okay?" I questioned with concern.

"I had a virtual meeting with my shareholders from Stockholm at 3 AM, and I haven't gotten any rest since."

"Oh." A pity.

"Take a seat."

So I sat at the left, assessing the chic outfit that was a white blouse, cream skirt and a Louis Vuitton scarf adorned on her neck.

Where did the bra trend go?

Her hair was plaited back into a French braid, and it was obvious that she had high heels on her dainty feet.

She watched me like a hawk from behind her cat-eye glasses, lips painted into a deep red color.

"Kyle," she repeated, and I reached the roses over the glass table with a polite smile.

"These are for you."

She tore her gaze away from my eyes, and gathered the flowers into her hands.

With her fingers feeling one of the petals, she snapped it off, and slowly smelled it with her eyes back on mine.

"You know what white signifies?"

"No."

"A new beginning, and other things in between."

"Which things?"

"Would've been beneficial to the both of us if you were a little less ignorant. I appreciate the gesture."

The tension...oh-so-unbearable.

"You're welcome."

She shifted to the left of her desk, and got a hold of the black telephone that was beside neat stacks of magazines and her stationery.

I noticed the large Cosmopolitan cover framed on the wall that had a vibrant Tess.

Her smile was so rare.

"Zoe, please get me a white vase—thank you."

With the telephone set down and fingers laced on the desk, she burned her intimidating eyes through me.

My heart stirred at the intensity, and I felt ill with discomfort.

I was sure that it had been a minute or so, and the conviction that my face was flaming was great.

"Thank you for the visit, Kyle."

I'm not done yet.

"I came here to talk."

"Really?" She quizzed passively.

"Yeah really."

"Well, that's rather surprising considering all you've been doing is staring at me for 3 minutes."

"You were staring at me."

"Regardless of that, how may I be of your assistance?"

"Back to formalities, are we?"

"We never left."

"What are you doing, Tess?" I finally asked.

"Well I just had a meeting with a few of my investors and accountant, then I decided to review the first collect I'm to submit to LVMH, and now I'm here—talking to you."