Only You

47

"Welcome back!" Mr Baker shouted when he saw us walk in the office "we've missed you around here" he smiled

"good to be back" I smiled, I'm not sure how truthful I was being, but that's what you say when someone says 'welcome back'..right?

"Think about what you want to do for lunch and let me know" Michael dropped me off at my desk and kissed my cheek before he walked to his office

I went about my usual routine before deciding I wanted some coffee, I stood up and went into the breakroom to serve myself a cup. I walked in to see Nina and Marissa in there chatting

"Hey girl welcome back!" Nina exclaimed when I walked in

"Thank you" I smiled

"where were you?" she asked as Marissa stood next to her looking down at her cup of coffee, she makes it pretty obvious that she doesn't like me

"Oh, Michael took me for a little getaway" I responded cheerfully

"aww that's so sweet!" I snuck a peek at Marissa, seeing her roll her eyes "oh here he comes" she added quickly, prompting me to turn towards to the door to see him walk in 

"Good morning mister Stuart" Nina quickly straightened herself and spoke in her usual professional tone 

"Good morning" he responded "Thank you for covering for Katie while we were away Nina" he walked up next to me

"My pleasure" she smiled "so are you two dating? if you don't mind me asking"

"Yeah we are" he responded before I had a chance 

"I thought you didn't like relationships" Marissa chimed in

"Well I guess when you find the right one, its different" he snapped back "anyway I came in here to stop you from getting coffee cause I bought some for us. Yours is at your desk, Ill see you later" he kissed my cheek before turning towards Nina "have a nice day" 

"Can I ask you something?" I spoke after taking a sip of my drink

"of course" Michael responded

"what did Marissa mean when she said she thought you didn't like relationships?" its probably not important but it caught my attention

"Well before you, I wouldn't date" 

"like at all?"

"I mean I dated someone a long time ago, but it didn't end well so from that point forward I told myself I wouldn't date to avoid putting myself in a place where I could get hurt again"

"What happened?"

"I was head over heels for her, I did everything I could and more to make her happy and have her feel loved. It turned out she was using me to make her ex jealous and once he came around she dropped me"

"how long were you together?"

"Only 9 months, but she knew how to string me in" 

"so no one else has caught your interest enough to date them?" it just doesn't seem possible, he's an incredibly handsome man; I know that women eye him, he can practically have any girl he wants but he hasn't dated anyone?

"nope. I'm not going to lie and say I never hooked up with anyone" wasn't expecting that, but also kind of was "but I never wanted to date any one"

"hmm" I couldn't manage to think of anything else to say

"ready to go?" he broke the silence 

"yeah, I guess we do have to get back to work" I chuckled while getting up out of the table we sat at

The afternoon flew by so quickly, I hardly had a chance to sit. I was all over the place doing different tasks; but those are my favorite days because the day is over faster. 

"ready?" Michael came around the corner

"yes please" I let out a long sigh "I'm exhausted" he chuckled watching me drag myself out from behind my desk

"well lets get home then" he took my hand in his, guiding me out of the office

"can we order take out today? I don't have the energy to make anything"

"I would make you something but I'm sure it wouldn't be edible" he insists he's not a cooker, but I'm sure if he tried he would surprise himself

"take out it is" I responded as we stepped onto the elevator "can I ask you something?" 

"of course" he looked down at me as I rested my head on his shoulder

"what changed?" I know I'm being vague, but I want to know if he knows what I'm talking about

"what do you mean?" the elevator doors opened as he spoke, we stepped out hand in hand and made our way towards the car

"you said you didn't want to date before, what changed?" 

"does it worry you?"

"I wouldn't say worry, but I don't want us to be a year into dating when you decide it isn't what you want" 

"I guess I should have explained that better" he stopped in front of my side of the car and held both of my hands in his "it's not that I absolutely didn't want to date. I did want to be with someone but was scared because of what I had gone through with my ex. I just didn't want to go through that again so I didn't allow myself to enter in a relationship" 

"okay you did explain that better, but still. What changed?"

"you" 

my head jolted backwards almost in surprise at his response. While part of me expected the response, the other convinced me that it was something else.

"are you surprised?" he chuckled

"a little" I admitted "I just worry that its a temporary change"

"Katie listen. Before I moved down here, I really felt that I had nothing" he paused, probably thinking of how to word his thoughts "I mean, beside my family of course. All I did was work, even on weekends. Whenever I did go out it would be to clubs, where I'll spare some details, but I didn't even have true friends" 

I remember him mentioning before that his closest friends had all moved away. I know he still keeps in contact with them, just not as often as they used to.

"When I was asked to move down here I didn't expect much, but I swear when I walked in on my first day and saw you sitting there, I knew that I was in for a rollercoaster. I can't explain to you exactly what I felt that day, mostly because I hardly can understand it myself, but all I knew in that moment was that the feeling I felt was different. The more I got to know you, the more I knew that you were what I was missing"

"I love you" my fears slowly faded

"I love you more" he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine while reaching over and opening my door for me

As I took a seat, my eyes caught glance of something on the windshield. I paused with one foot in the car and one foot out

"Baby what's that?" I asked, I looked up to see Michael looking in the direction I was pointing

"get in, I'll check" I pulled my other leg in, allowing him to close my door and walk around to his side of the car where the little white paper sat under the windshield wiper

I watched as he plucked the paper from under the wiper, he stared at it for a few seconds and looked over his shoulder before opening his door and taking a seat in the car with me

"what is it?" I asked curiously, preparing myself for his response

"It's him"