The Thrill

53

I groan as I pat against the vacant space in the bed searching for my phone with half-shut eyes. Finally feeling the cold object against my palm, I quickly grab at it and lift it closer to my eyes, the bright light waking me immediately.

I tap against my messages, hoping for a response from Emilio and but there still wasn't any. The last time I'd heard from him was after he'd landed but nothing since then.

'Maybe he's busy...' I convince myself, hoping it was nothing more. I guess he didn't exactly owe me a text but it would be nice to have one.

I get out of bed, knowing today would be no different than any other.

A week or so had passed since the incident at the office and so far, there was no sign of Danielle anywhere near the building. And I couldn't be more grateful.

By now, Maria, Amanda and Catrina had left so there was really no one to talk to about this whole situation which only made me even more tense about how to handle it.

I go through my usual morning routine before getting into my outfit in less than a minute, not exactly caring for the way I looked today. I grab hold of my phone and any few extra bits I considered important and head down the stairs.

Whilst trying to squeeze into my heels, I begin to unlock the door, a hand at my feet and another at the handle. But as I go to step out, there was someone already stood by the steps of the house... Danielle.

'Great. You're up.' She pats her hands together, pushing me back inside the house as she steps in herself.

'What are you doing here? I've got work, Danielle.' I don't bother to give her the usual energy I would've.

'Just text him, he'll understand.' She advices, referring to Zane.

'Why?' I question warily, not sure of her intentions.

'Just... Please.' She begs, giving me a look of plea.

'This better be important.' I begin typing at my phone with a sigh to let Zane know I wouldn't be in today. But just as I was about to send the text, the thought of the last time I'd got off work comes into mind... And how he'd asked if I was okay.

'Hey, something came up today so I can't come in. And yes, I am okay.'

I click send, a smile lurking on my lips before I tuck my phone back into my bag.

'You're dressed so we might aswell go out to eat or something.' She suggests, waiting for my approval.

'Sure...'

———

'So where are we going?' I question from the passenger seat of her car.

'I haven't thought that far ahead yet.' She admits as she tugs on her lip.

'Well you better come up with something.'

I look out towards the window by my side, watching as Danielle drove the two of us to God knows where. The only reason I had agreed to this was because now I really wanted to see what Danielle was planning here.

'Let's just stop here.' She points towards the approaching cafe, slowly bringing her car to a stop.

'Great.' I huff, jumping out of the car as soon as she had parked. And before you knew it, the two of us were heading into the cafe side by side.

———

'It's on me, order whatever you want.' She encourages as we both stood patiently in the queue.

'It's fine, I'm not really hungry so I'll just get a coffee.' I shrug before looking back ahead. Awkward was the only word I would use to describe the moment. Yep, this was definitely awkward. Not only was Danielle extra nice today but it felt so much worse knowing how she truly felt about me.

Once we had both ordered what we wanted, we find a table close by to take a seat at.

'So why did you want to do this- I mean, it's so... unlike you?' I take a sip of the warm coffee in front of me as I lean back into my seat.

'We haven't seen much of each other lately so I thought this would be nice!' She grins with enthusiasm.

Liar.

'Um- so how have you been?' She clears her throat to fill the silence after her blatant lie, following up with something else.

'Good... But I'm more interested in you.' The corners of my lip curl upwards as I straighten myself in my seat. 'I heard some shouting from Zane's office yesterday... What was that about?'

'Oh- Nothing!' She laughs to herself which clearly didn't amuse me as I maintained my straight face. 'Zane was just getting on my nerves, you know how he can be.'

'Yeah...'

'But did you happen to hear anything by chance?' She giggles to herself again in attempt to hide the guilt filled voice of hers.

'Nope. Not really. You opened the door by the time I got there.' I lie just as confidently as she would.

'Oh- Okay!' She smiles, seeming overly excited by my statement.

'Why, was there something I wasn't supposed to hear?' I laugh a little as I take another sip of my drink.

'No, not that. I was just asking since you were so close. You must've heard something.' She pushes a little harder for an answer and I wasn't sure if she exactly believed me.

'Nope. Nothing.'

My phone pings with a notification as I go to check what it was. The name immediately catches my eye... It was Zane.

'You've been taking a lot of days off recently. Maybe I should pay you a little less.' His text reads as I roll my eyes.

'Do that and you won't see me tomorrow.'

'You got me there.'

'Of course, I did.'

'Who you texting?' Danielle peaks over the table as she notices the phone in my hand.

'Oh, just Zane. He's asking why I'm not in today.'

'Leave him!' She bursts. 'I mean- leave the texts alone for now, you're here with me.'

'Whatever you say, Danielle.' I say as I tuck the phone back into my bag.

——————————————

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to vote and comment! Also follow my Instagram
(@ miraa.stories )