Souled [Editing]

Chapter 10

Meredith and her friends all crammed into a booth, talking excitedly over and to each other. As the night wore on and the drink levels got lower, the conversation got louder and louder.

"All of you found your One?" Meredith asked, glancing at each girl while sipping her wine.

"I still haven't," Ally piped up.

Meredith gave her a high-five and laughed. "It's better before."

"Haven't you found yours?" Ally asked, directing all the attention on Meredith.

"Oh yes she has!" Olivia nudged her shoulder drunkenly. Olivia had always been a little bit more of a light weight.

Meredith's face heated with chagrin and she put her face in her hands. "Oh, God."

"So who's the guy?" Gina asked, immediately invested. "Or girl. I am not here to judge."

"He is my boss," she murmured as she took another sip, hoping they didn't hear it.

"No way. Nate Tucker?" They all knew who her boss was. They pressed her about her career on the ride down and they took their time to google who the owner was after a comment from Olivia. One Google search would bring Nate's gorgeous face to the top. "He is just so..."

"Yummy?" Ally chimed in.

"Yes! Yummy."

Meredith sighed and Olivia giggled next to her. It was hard to forget Nate when it was all anyone wanted to talk about. It was like they heard her silent promise and were hell bent on breaking it.

"Have you run into Bobby yet?" Gina asked.

That sobered Meredith up some. She cleared her throat, "Yeah. I have."

"When?"

"Today...at lunch."

"You went to lunch with him?" Olivia asked, horrified.

"I didn't want to go in the first place. He cornered me into it."

"He's always been good at getting girls into corners," Olivia said against the rim of her glass.

Ally gasped and hit Olivia's arm. "You are so bad."

Olivia shrugged. "It's true. But seriously, Meredith. You need to stay far away from him. He can sweet talk a rock into doing anything."

"I will."

"Good. You don't want to end up like last time."

They warned her before and they were warning her again now. This time she'd listen.

Nate was bent over his drawing table trying to figure out the plans for the Vincent project. He had already sent everyone home. It was Friday and they were all more than ready to leave. Heather popped in at five asking if she needed to stay behind. He told her to go ahead and go home. She left obviously feeling disappointed, but at the time he didn't really care. He needed to finish the design and Heather would be nothing but a distraction.

Only his office was lit up and the rest of the floor was dark. The light was lonely and he was quickly becoming frustrated. He threw his pencil down and took a step back. He was so close to finishing but something wasn't working right. It was like there was a block in his brain. He muttered something unintelligible and started pacing.

He laced two fingers behind his head and walked from the wall to the door and back again. He let his mind think about absolutely anything to allow his creative processes to release. His mind went immediately to Meredith.