The Thrill

41

Once both Emilio and I had gotten dressed, him in a dark, fitted suit while my choice of clothing happened to be a just as dark navy blue dress, we both get into a shared car, a driver in the front seat.

'When did he say we have to be there by?' Emilio speaks as he takes a look at his watch.

'At eight.' I mumble, my attention more drawn to the surroundings.

'So we're late.' He confirms, his eyes lifting up to mine as I turn back to him.

'Who's fault is that?' My eyes pierce in his direction as he rolls his eyes.

The journey wasn't too long. The restaurant was actually only a few minutes away from our house so we arrived in what felt like a few seconds.

We both stepped out of the car, Emilio holding the door open as my feet fell to the pavement. We made our way into to the restaurant, searching for Zane anywhere in sight.

'There you guys are.' A familiar voice calls out from behind, almost startling me. I turn back, meeting face to face with Zane's charming smile as he offers his hand to both Emilio and I.

'Sorry for being late. We-' I apologise, almost giving up the fact that we'd come in together as I back track on my words. 'I mean I... lost track of time.'

'It's fine. I just got here myself.' Zane informs as he looks down to me, pausing for a short moment. 'Let's go find our table then.'

He starts to walk towards a women behind a desk, letting her know of his name as she looked for the reservation.

'Follow me.' She speaks, guiding us between the maze of tables as she slowly reaches ours. She gives us all one last smile, sharing a few words of persuasion about our order before taking her leave.

'I've invited Milan here since she's kind of the reason this contract could happen at all.' Zane chuckles as his eyes flicker from Emilio and then to me.

'She's a good assistant...' He seems to state to Emilio but his eyes focus more on me.

'Thank you... I never thought I'd ever hear you say something like that.' I laugh, slightly taken aback by his declaration.

His gaze shifts back to Emilio who was already looking to his with narrow eyes. 'I hope you don't mind.' Zane states once again.

'Trust me. I don't.' He lifts his brows sternly in his direction before turning towards me with a look of mischief. 'You've got yourself quite an assistant...' He smirks, his eyes travelling down my figure, unnoticed by Zane.

'I guess I have.' Zane adds on, his eyes now also moving to me. With both men facing my direction, discomfort starts to build up within me, clearing my throat as I shift my position.

'Let's order then.' I change the topic in a hurry as they both look down at the menu in front of them. A few moments pass before the waiter comes by to take our orders, each of us giving our choice of meal before they set off once again.

'I don't have much time. I have a few things to do at the office.' Emilio voices into the room, taking me by surprise, considering what our last conversation was about. He didn't even bother to tell me he had yet another late night ahead.

'We won't be too long.' Zane assures. 'So I wanted to actually discuss a few details regarding our deal.' He starts, as the food arrives moments later.

We thank the waiter before she takes her exit. Zane's phone begins to ring, disrupting the conversation.

'Sorry, I need to take this.' He apologises before walking off into the distance. I watch as reaches a distance far enough to not be able to hear what I was about to say.

'What do you mean you have work to do after this? You're going to be late again?' I turn to Emilio as soon as Zane had left our presence.

'I can't do anything about it, Milan.' He defends, his head leaned against the top of his seat as he avoids my eyes.

'I'm so tired of this, Emilio. It's been weeks of you just spending your nights at work. You're literally the boss, you can take a break if you really wanted to.' I sigh in exhaust, wanting him to just listen to my one simple request.

'So do you really even want to...?'

'Of course, I do! I won't be late, okay? I'll be back before you fall asleep, my love.' He persuades, but I was far from convinced.

'Sorry about that.' Zane makes his return, taking a seat besides me. 'So as I was saying-'

———

The dinner comes to an end, the three of us sat around the table ready to make a leave.

'I'll pay for the dinner, you two can go ahead.' Emilio offers as Zane argues him on the topic.

'No, it's fine. I planned the dinner, I'll-'

'I'm not arguing with you on this.' Emilio cuts him off, his hand already at his wallet.

'Thank you, Mr Estrada...' I look over to him with warm eyes as Zane also thanks him soon after. We both begin to make our way to the door, standing outside in the middle of the dark street.

'Will you manage to get home on your own, Milan?' Zane asks.

I remember how both me and Emilio had come together tonight but Zane knew little about that.

'I'll be fine.' I say, hurriedly turning in the direction of where the car was parked.

But with the sudden speed, the back of my heel gives in causing my body to tilt backwards as my feet lose balance. Zane happens to react quick, my body falling directly into his arms as my hands grip onto his shirt instinctively. His hand sat on the bare skin of my back which the dress had exposed, holding me up in support. I notice his eyes lingering on my face a few seconds too long as I pull myself up using his shoulder. The moment lasted for possibly only a few seconds at most but felt like minutes... And I wasn't sure why.

'Are you okay?' Emilio rushes to me in concern, almost barging Zane out of the way.

'I'm fine...' I speak with my voice low as my eyes stay fixed on Zane, his eyes doing the exact same. My blinks become slow as I lose myself. His eyes stuck to me like strong glue only making it harder for me to look away. But one of us had to snap out of it eventually.

'I have to be somewhere.' He states, giving me one last look before walking down the dark street as he gradually blends into the crowd.

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