The New Classic

Chapter Fifteen

I stepped into the office, ready for a new week, bright and early. Well, technically, it wasn't bright since it was raining like crazy for the past few days in Seattle.

"Good morning!" I greeted Lea and the comical expression on our receptionist's face almost made me want to laugh. She was no doubt surprised by my chipper tone this morning when I was usually a grouch when I came in to work everyday.

I don't know what was different about today, but all I knew was that I felt good inside. So far, there had been radio silence from my mother's end, Mira and I had enjoyed a girls' night out on Friday and the past week had been pretty slow at work. Actually, scratch that. I knew exactly why I was in such a good mood today. Despite not having a shit ton of workload last week, there had been a noticeable presence missing in the office. And I would be lying if I said I didn't notice it. I'd gotten an email from Neil, waiting for me in my inbox this morning, telling me that he'd be in to discuss any new developments regarding any of our clients.

Giddy with a feeling I couldn't really put my finger on, I settled down in my little office, making sure that I had all the documents ready to show Neil. With a quick breath, I walked briskly towards his office, rapping my knuckles on his partly open door.

"Hey Neil, I have -

I swallowed the rest of my sentence as the door was pushed open, the sight in front of me making me blink twice, just so I could make sure that I was seeing things right. There was a woman - a very beautiful one, at that - in Neil's office. And she was halfway in his arms. Like they'd been in the middle of hugging and had only stopped on my account. Both of them pulled away from each other as Neil smiled at me warmly.

"I can come back later. It's nothing urgent." I managed to say, trying to forget about the way my heart was sinking in my chest.

I shouldn't be feeling this, right? Neil and I weren't a couple. He had the full freedom to have any woman he wanted - especially with looks like that and money like his. I really hoped that he hadn't been cheating on this woman. If they'd even been a thing when we slept together. Because nothing would gut me worse than that. No matter how much I griped about men in general, I still respected Neil. A lot. And that respect was about to be tested, it seemed.

"Oh, no it's fine, Aaliya. Dipa was just leaving."

Dipa. What a pretty name. And Indian too, from the looks of it. I already hated how I didn't hate her despite a part of me seeing her as competition for Neil's attention. Especially with her kind eyes and bright smile.

"Tsk tsk." Dipa shot a look to Neil. "Where are your basic manners, Neil? Won't you even introduce us?"

"Right, of course," Neil laughed. "My bad." Based on their body language and the way they were communicating with each other, I'd say they knew each other pretty well. "Aaliya, this is my -

"Neil," Lea interrupted suddenly. "There's an urgent call for you. The client says he wants to talk to you and you only. Should I send him through?"

"Yes, of course." Neil sent me an apologetic glance, all introductions already forgotten. "We'll talk about this later, yeah? After I see what this call is about."