A Charitable Scandal

The Starless Night

"Oh?" he asked as we made our way to the door.

"Frozen yogurt!"

"Frozen yogurt?" His question carried a chuckle that battered down the defensive walls I had put up around my logic and reason. I kept telling myself, he's my boss, he's my boss, but with every subtle smile and every light laugh, it became harder and harder to remember that he was my superior and not a friend, or more specifically, dating material. There were rules put in place specifically to stop this sort of thing and I wondered who, out of the two of us, was more endangered by breaking those rules. But it was only frozen yogurt, right?

"Yeah," I said with a nervous smile as I directed him towards the shop I had planned to take Emily to. "I kind of had a craving. Is it not okay?"

"No, it's great. Good choice."

We crossed the few blocks over to the store, filling the cheery night air with stories about anything other than work. I told him about my latest addiction to the show Beige's Taxonomy, while he described the fascinating photographs he recently saw at a gallery. Our words kept chipping away at my armor and no matter how much I told myself to turn around and not look back, I kept moving forward, telling myself it was all in my head and there was nothing to fear. I just wanted to enjoy the attention. Attention that was strictly platonic, because it was just frozen yogurt between friends, between a boss and his employee...

My hands were shaking when I grabbed my cup at the store. I then busied them with forming an elaborate concoction of frozen yogurt, fruits, nuts, candies, and syrups. I paid for our treats, though Alec still offered to cover his despite the recent trip to the hospital that I had cost him, and then we headed out to the tables seated on the plaza.

Trees twinkling with little lights dotted the large open space. Store fronts illuminated the border of the paved courtyard and quaint tables with matching chairs were scattered about for the various stores' customers. The usually bustling plaza was quiet with most people staying indoors to avoid the chilly autumn night. Which meant, Alec and I were practically alone when we took our seats just outside the frozen yogurt shop.

Despite this, I felt somewhat more comfortable outside. Being out in the open felt far less controversial should someone walk by. It all simply depended on the viewer's perspective. To the wandering eye, being out in the open certainly appeared casual, but as we sat there, the only ones seated out on the plaza, it all suddenly felt incredibly intimate, to the point that my hands regained their tremble and a blush colored my face and ears.

"Cold?" asked Alec, whose own nose was starting to show a bit of redness on its tip.

"What?"

"You're shivering and you are looking a bit wind-whipped. Do you want to go back inside?"

I wanted to tell him that, if anything, I was burning up, but I felt that may cross the already well tread line that was separating our relationship between professionalism and flirtation. "Thank you, but I'm fine. I think it's actually kind of pleasant out here."

"I like it out here too. I usually go up to the mountains every other weekend, so I've grown a pretty thick skin when it comes to the elements."

My ears perked up at this new bit of information that Alec carelessly shared as he dived into a cup of chocolate yogurt and raspberries. I'd worked at Quinto's PR department for seven years, all of which included Alec serving as my superior in some form or another. Not once during those years had I really gotten to know him as anything other than a kind boss, a dedicated employee, and a professional voice of reason. Yet, in just a week of working together, side by side, I'd learned that he had a habit of star gazing, visiting art galleries, and apparently some form of hiking or camping.