HOW TO BE SINGLE | SIDEMEN

NINETEEN

n i n e t e e n
" sorry "
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Simon's stomach rumbled. He'd forgotten his lunch again and, when he'd gone to buy some he realised he'd also forgotten his wallet. He'd picked up the sandwich, scanned it through and cursed as soon as he realised his wallet was not where he thought it was. He'd apologised to the cashier and sheepishly exited the store, pride hurt.

He took another swig of his water in an attempt to quieten his hungry belly. As he put the cup back down, he realised Catherine was stood at his desk, waiting for him to swallow the water he held in his cheeks.

Simon's eyes widened slightly, realising how idiotic he looked, and he quickly swallowed, sitting up straighter in his chair.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, and then reprimanded himself for the rudeness of his question.

Catherine didn't seem bothered. "No, um, actually I just came over here to apologise for snapping at you earlier," She said, glancing down for a moment before meeting his eyes again. They were calm now. A cool brown, silky and effortless as they looked right at him.

He almost forgot to answer and rushed to say, "It's fine, I get why you were upset."

Catherine sighed. "I wasn't upset. I was angry. There's a difference." She sighed again, pulling her hand through her hair. "Sorry."

"It's ok, you don't need to apologise."

"Right, yeah, but I do. I also could hear your stomach rumbling and wanted to know if you were up for going to get a coffee and a slice of cake to make up for snapping at you? I know you mean well, but I get defensive very easily."

By now, Cal was looking over, bewildered as to why Catherine was asking the new guy out for coffee instead of him.

"After work? Sure," Simon replied, surprised at her offer but surprised that he was pleased about her offer.

"No, let's go now. We've done our share of work and more today thanks to those idiots being late, again. Besides, if they dob us in, I'll dob them in for being late." She winked playfully.

Simon almost fell from his chair. Catherine was the least playful person he had ever met. A workaholic through and through. But she had winked at him nonetheless.

He pulled himself together and responded, "Great, yeah, let's go then." He was far too quick at logging off and shutting down his computer, gathering his things and pulling on his jacket.

Whether that was from practice of impatience in wanting to get out of the office, or if it was because he was actually pleased to be going out for coffee with his very beautiful co-worker, it didn't matter because they were walking into the elevator before anyone could object.

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