Kindled Hearts

6// Overall

Wayne's eyes peered at Nicole's frame. He was seated right at the cant of the paper strewed chestnut table, a good distance between them, yet Nicole could taste the fury in his eyes, so raw it bristled her insides.

How had she not seen him?

Wayne Bajuu wasn't the kind that could sit still and not bend some necks. His gusty energy stringed attention and at times Nicole thought he had the ability to suck all the air out of a room.

"Could you all please excuse us," Wayne's voice sliced through the tensed atmosphere.

Nicole gasped at the ease of command. It oozed routine. Like the type that existed between a boss and his subordinates. Her ears tinkled with the shuffling of feet.  She threw a glance at the retreating figures. Drooped shoulders, muffled whispers. All clear signs of an impending doom.

"I don't appreciate your use of words," Wayne huffed after beats of silence.

Nicole bit back a scoff as she regarded the man before her and for a little while her mind drifted away, back to their not so excellent date. How she stormed off without a chanced glimpse.

"Kinder words don't usually pass the message," she managed a stable pretense in her voice or at least she hoped. His eyes, dark like the long nights of October, pinched at her nerves.

Wayne leaned on his chair, his arms crossed onto his chest. "What, pray tell, could this message be?"

She breathed and then said,"Your magazine should be inclined more to quality rather than quantity. It's not about stacking pages with different kinds of design pieces. It's about being able to convey the uniqueness of a design. A magazine shouldn't be a gallery."

Nicole watched his countenance, her hands at her sides, teeming with sweat. She saw how his face lit with delight and how a crinkle appeared at the wick of his mouth before overrunning with laughter.

Her heart flopped at the deride distinct in his laughter. She hid her hands behind her back and curled them into fists.

"You think you can come in here dressed in an overall and tell us how to do our work," Wayne hissed and reared from his seat, his orbs cast at Nicole as he made small steps, round the table towards her. "What you did back there was disrespect, my staff worked day and night trying to make this magazine a reality and here you are calling it myopic efforts."

Nicole tugged her lips shut as the distance between them grew smaller. He stood at an arms away, too close. She wondered if he could hear her ragged heartbeat.

"I know a customer worthy magazine when I see one , yours just doesn't meet the cut,"  Nicole retorted, taking a few steps back.

"Someone that runs away when a sticky situation pops up is no smart aleck," Wayne grunted and swooped his eyes over her clothing. "And sure as hell, I ain't taking advice from a janitress."

Nicole's cheeks bloomed with embarrassment. It was obvious that he was talking about their date. For a second, she looked away, unraveling a loose thread at the edge of her hip. She didn't appreciate that he brought up the subject. Perhaps he was right.
She was frail at facing issues, real life problems. Running had always been an easy way out.

When she fleeted her eyes back to his, her resolve fluttered at the intensity of his gaze.  His brows were perched. Thin lines captured his forehead, almost swimming to his dark hair that needed a bit of trim. "You should have stayed," he whispered, a raspy tone to his voice.

Nicole's breathing hitched and she searched for a response but when she found one, the door to the conference room creaked.

"Am I interrupting something?" Faith's voice called out behind Nicole.

Nicole bristled and moved away from Wayne. She spoke, "No, I was just leaving."

She skirted towards the door, stealing a glance at Faith. Flared noise, wan expression, her resemblance to a voodoo witch way too acute.

"Wait."

Nicole cricked at Wayne's voice.

She turned to him, relieved that his gaze was now fixed at the large pane that overlooked the busy streets of Nairobi.

"I expect a revised version of the magazine by the end of this week," said Wayne.

A smile danced at Nicole's lips. " Yes, I will do that."

Her face beamed as she walked along the empty hallway but uneasiness still towed at her heart. Working with Wayne Bajuu won't be no easy task, at least not for the flutter in her stomach.