The CEO's Hoodie

Chapter 5

Arabella's POV

"And then he introduced himself as Dominic Torres."

To that, Shay ends up in hysterics. Again

"Your face must have been priceless." She manages in-between laughs.

"This isn't funny Shay! I wanted to rip his head off! He looked so sure of himself and so cockily confident that ughh." I sigh frustrated.

"Well, on the bright side.." Natalia lingers on her sentence, "Okay there's no bright side really, but hey, at least you can now return the hoodie to it's rightful owner!"

"This is so embarrassing! What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, you can either pretend as if the hoodie incident didn't happen, or you can return it back and clarify that whatever happened was a mistake that won't intervene with your work." Shay supports in a much more sober tone compared to her previous teasing one.

But was it really a mistake? "Honestly, this is so messed up." I reply, releasing a deep breath while fiddling with my fingers. "Thanks for coming at such short notice by the way." I say to them guiltily.

"Sure girl, what are best friends for anyway?" Shay,
says, as she hugs me tightly.

"Okay ladies, even though I would love to stay a little longer with you, I promised Alec to meet him for coffee."

"So that's what you call it now? Coffee?" Natalia asks with a smirk.

"Yeah right, coffee." Shay adds with a wicked grin, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Just shut up the both of you." I say laughing.

- - -

Ten minutes later a text notification from Alec informs me that he's waiting for me outside.

As I step outside, I hold my coat tightly and securely to my body and enjoy the warmth that my big grey scarf provides in the frigid, moody weather.

As strong wind has my hair flying widely in all directions and my body shivering, I spot Alec, who gives me a smile as soon as our eyes lock. As I get closer, he engulfs me in a big, warm hug.

"Hey you. Ready to go?" He asks.

"Yeah, let's go before we both freeze to death."

Despite the cold, our walk wasn't as bad. It had been short and mostly filled with comfortable silence, where at some point Alec had held my trembling hand in his own, a gesture that was quite sweet.

Stepping into the familiar, small coffe shop, the all too eminent smell of hot chocolate hits my nostrils instantly, causing me to breath in deeply. Its homey and welcoming aura, as well as its vintage and timeless interior had grasped my attention from the very beginning. Big, wooden libraries occupy half of the space, with a few tables scattered around. When the weather is warmer, tables are put on the outside as well, the exterior being decorated just as beautifully as the interior.

As soon as we get ourselves comfortable in a table, Gretta, one of the two owners shows up smiling. Handing a menu to Alec, she looks at me curiously.