Killing Me Softly

Encore

Getting to the office the next morning, Mariah was still reeling from the night before. Her mind had been a constant state of panic and curiosity regarding Tessa. On one hand, the woman was captivating, beautiful, funny, and talented. On the other hand, she was a woman. Not that she had a problem with her being a woman, it was just that she had never been attracted to one before. And she was attracted to Tessa.

Mariah was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realize Devon and Hilary had walked in the door. She smiled as she thought about Tessa touching her shirt, her wrist, or the way she put her hand on Mariah's lower back. All simple gestures, that had ignited a new desire within Mariah.

"Mariah?" Devon raised his voice since Mariah had not heard him the first time he had spoken.

"Oh, sorry I didn't hear you come in." Mariah blushed, her mind still fixated on Tessa's hands.

"It's okay, I just asked how last night went." Devon sat his briefcase down on his desk, as Hilary shifted uncomfortably beside him.

"Oh, it was great. She is amazing. Her guitar work is just beautiful, and her voice is edgy but sweet." Mariah remembered how Tessa smiled at her from the stage as she sang. "She has stage presence, makes you feel like she is singing just to you."

"Well you sound like you have a crush." Hilary finally piped up, using the opportunity to take a jab at Mariah.

"I..." Pausing to gather her thoughts, Mariah cleared her head of Tessa's image.

"Well, that proves my point." Hilary scoffed.

"I have a video. I'll airdrop it to your phone Devon." Mariah, refusing to engage with Hilary, pulled out her phone and began sending Devon the video.

"I am here for the candy boxes. Did you finish them?" Hilary with her hands on her hips, was still trying to get a rise out of Mariah. Without words, Mariah pointed to the two boxes sitting on the work table. "I hope you followed the instructions I sent."

"I'm sure they are perfect Hilary." Devon interjected.

"It's not like I could mess up putting together the boxes and dropping candy in them." Mariah smiled at Hilary. "But I'm sure you will find something."

Hilary turned to Mariah, a look of smugness on her face. "Oh, I'm going to need you to pick up the place cards from the printers today. You will also need to go through them and make sure there are no errors."

Mariah smiled, knowing when to pick her battles. "Are they ready now, because I need to run a couple of other errands this morning and the printers is on my route?"

With a huff, Hilary looked at the boxes. She needed to prove a point, so she made her next play for superiority. "Devon, I need some help, and I know you are really busy this morning."

"Mariah, do you mind helping her get the boxes down to her car?" Devon smiled at Mariah begging her to not be too snarky and start something that he would eventually pay for.

Mariah got up and picked up the boxes off the table. "I'm going to go ahead and run to the printers and do the rest of my errands."

Devon nodded as the women made their way out of the office.

Mariah made it back to the office before lunch, having completed all the tasks she had set out to accomplish including picking up the wedding place cards. Devon sat at his desk, shuffling through papers and listening to music on his computer.

"I see you got to the music I prepared for you yesterday." Mariah giggled. "I'm sorry about earlier, boss."

"It's okay, she is under a lot of stress, so maybe go a little easier on her." Devon laughed, knowing his soon to be wife was difficult on the best of days.