Socializing

Chapter 9. Half Confession

"Yeah," he replied, and I walked in.

"Would you like a latte?" I asked. "It's on the house."

"Is it now?" He said smiling. Lord, his smile...

I shut the door before he could say anything and sat down. As he took a sip of the latte, I could see that his left knuckles were worse. Scarred.

"What really happened after you dropped me off?" The words came pouring out before I could filter them.

"I went back and beat the crap out of the guy," he said putting his cup down.

"Why?"

The expression on his face changed so fast I nearly missed it. There was certain darkness in his eyes that quickly vanished then he sighed and looked away slightly. Had I offended him?

About three years ago, Ana and I applied to work for Luke right after we finished college so that we could save a bit to travel and eventually return to school. We worked for about a year and then Luke fell ill and had to stay home while he recovered. That's when Adrian came into the picture. He had just finished studying Architecture in London and decided to help with the cafe since he already knew how it worked, having started it with his father.

I often noticed the way he would look at me when he talked or the way his eyes lingered when Ana and I were having our breaks and I assumed that he was doing his job as a boss; keeping an eye on us. Neither Ana nor I knew whether he had a girlfriend or any sort of partner for that matter and I was not about to ask. Besides, it was none of my business.

I, however, stared at him quite a lot especially when Ana was off. He'd sit in the office the whole day working on his personal projects and running the cafe. I knew when he took his breaks, what kind of coffee he liked, and how he bit his lower lip when he was thinking hard about something. 

His brow would have faint lines on them whenever he was typing fast and he was ambidextrous. I found out when he got tired of writing once and switched his pencil to his right hand and kept on scribbling or when he'd cut sandwiches with his right hand instead of his left.

Sometimes he'd catch me staring and I'd just smile and look away. Of late, my insides have been all mush and my usual staring has subsided.

"You know why Donna," he whispered.

Tell him how you feel Donna. The worst that could happen is that he doesn't feel the same and it will always be awkward whenever you see him. Come on Donna...look, he's biting his lip the way he does right before he catches you staring at him.

"Oh," was all I could manage to say. "I'll get back to work now."

"Sure," he said quietly and went on typing. Ana is going to kill you.