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"Oh you totally have the hots for him," Trevor said as we walked out on to the sidewalk.
"Trevor!" I said quickly, preparing to deny everything.
"So I'm not wrong?" He asked.
"No I didn't - I don't know, just go to work would you?" I asked him with a smile.
"Just calling it how I see it," he responded, "hey good luck with your bitchy coworker today."
"Thanks," I said with a sigh, "probably going to need it. I'll see you later."
He waved at me as we walked off in separate directions to go to work.
I got to the office a little earlier than I had yesterday, and when I stepped in the elevator, Natalie came in right after me. Of course she did.
The smell of her perfume filled my nose as she stood next to me in silence. Her familiar scent briefly transported me back to the days where we would spend virtually every moment together.
I caught myself daydreaming before I was able to shake out of it. Don't even think about that, I thought to myself.
I glanced over at Natalie and debated on whether or not I should even say anything, but I was trying to make this less awkward. And it couldn't get much worse than it was right now. She wouldn't even look at me.
"Morning," I said quietly.
She looked over at me out of the corner of her eye, and she didn't look very happy.
"Morning Madison," she said back dryly.
This was going so well, it still didn't seem like she was going to make this any easier.
"Natalie, are you ever going to be willing to have a conversation about this? I don't really want this hanging between us when we're going to be working together," I said.
I watched her as her facial expression remained stoic, she was obviously trying to tune me out. If she wasn't going to talk, maybe I could at least say what I needed to and get her to listen.
"Look, I just don't want you to think that I was the one that was completely ignoring - " I started to say.
Of course Natalie decided to speak up just in time to interrupt me.
"Mads I told you there was nothing to talk about," she said through gritted teeth as she turned and took a step towards me.
My stomach dropped at the sound of her calling me Mads. It was a nickname that only Natalie had called me, and I hadn't heard it in years, nor had I expected to hear her say it now.
"What - did you just call me...?" I stammered.
"I - no, Madison," she said as she quickly regained her businesslike facade.
She glanced down at our proximity and took a step back just as the elevator reached our office.
Not only had that attempt to talk not helped anything, I was pretty sure it had made it worse.
I sighed as we both walked out of the elevator and she hurried out in front of me and walked in quick strides to her office.
She might not be willing to have a conversation with me, but damn it I was going to tell her what I needed to at some point.
***
As the day went on, the uncomfortable feeling between Natalie and I didn't get any better. I tried to just concentrate on the work at hand, but it wasn't easy.
She guided me through a number of different office policies and procedures like it was business as usual. I had no idea how she was doing it, but she clearly wasn't taking this as hard as I was.
When 5:00 hit, I was determined to stop her on our way out and get everything off my chest. She got out of the building quicker than I did, but luckily I wasn't far behind.
I saw her heading towards the same car and guy that she had gone to yesterday, and I yelled after her to try and stop her.
"Natalie! Hold on," I said as I jogged to catch up to her.
She had the door open and was about to get into the car, but I grabbed on to her arm. She shook free of my grip and turned to glare at me. The man in the driver's seat looked over at me and raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"Hi, sorry," I said as I gave him an awkward wave, "just need Natalie for a quick second."
Good lord he was attractive, what was with these people?
"Give me just a minute Eli," Natalie said to him before she turned back to me again.
"Take your time babe," he said from behind her.
So it was a boyfriend. Naturally she would have a boyfriend that looked like that.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not talking to you about this Madison?" She asked me angrily.
"I don't care if you're willing to talk, I just need you to let me finish what I need to say," I told her.
"Go ahead then, make it quick," she said as she crossed her arms in front of her.
It almost caught me off guard that she was actually going to let me speak.
"I just - like I said earlier, I don't want you to think I just ditched you back then...or anything like that," I paused for a minute, hoping that she would jump in and say something, but she never did.
"I didn't know you thought that, and I'm sorry if it seemed that way," I continued.
Natalie stood there for a minute looking at the ground, seeming like she wanted to say something. I couldn't read her expression, but it wasn't quite her usual cold stare. She finally looked up and her icy blue eyes met mine.
"Are you done now?" She asked.
"Yeah, I guess I am," I said, feeling defeated.
"Great," Natalie said as she got into the car with Eli.
I stood there and watched them drive off, feeling like our chance to mend things had definitely passed for the time being.
