Research: Romance

double trouble

"So, you didn't get any answers?" Desi surmises, frowning at me over the screen of her computer. The bagged meal I had brought for her lunch was sitting untouched off to the side. The smell of her pesto pasta wafted strongly around the room as I ate mine on the couch. 

I had spent most of Wednesday morning writing the first few chapters of the novel, which went surprisingly well. The love interest had yet to show himself, but there was no rush to reveal him quite yet. All that mattered was I was writing, and it was a glorious feeling after so long. Especially given my timeline to produce this novel was dwindling by the day. A worry shared by Desi, even if she didn't say it out loud. 

Her current worry was that I had lost my mind. 

"All of that...trouble, and you didn't get an answer?" Her eyes narrowed as if there was some duplicitous reason. "Hmm." 

"No, don't hmm, Des." I stuck my finger at her, raising my eyebrows in warning. "Do not break out the hmm." 

"Hmm..." She echoed again, this time to herself, which was far more dangerous. "I don't like it." 

I spun the pasta around my fork, focusing on getting the maximum amount of sauce. "It's fine. I have it all under control." 

A knock at the door was enough to make her drop it. For now. 

Desi got up and crossed the room, opening the door for Henry who walked in with an armload of paperwork, a latte, and at least a dozen cookies. Desi watched him curiously, adjusting her glasses mindlessly when Henry passed her. He didn't bother greeting us, instead he just started to arrange things on Desi's desk as if it were his own. 

 Munching on my food, I tried not to smirk when she checked him out from behind. That is until she caught me watching. Desi flushed red and scowled at me. I wiggled my eyebrows, slurping from the straw of my drink for emphasis. 

"Thirsty, Des?" I offered her my drink cheekily. 

She glowered deeply, cheeks burning.

This random bit of conversation has Henry turning around to look at us. He scans me, finds nothing strange (me grinning like the cat that ate the canary when Desi and Henry were in a room together was a usual occurrence), but when he scans Desi, he lifts an eyebrow. 

"Why are you so red?" 

"Sunburn." She responds dryly, marching back to her desk and sitting down with a huff. 

"You went outside?" Henry asks, like he can't believe what he's just heard. His eyes widen when he watches her cross the room. "I assumed you spontaneously combusted if you crossed the threshold." 

Desi doesn't care to respond. Instead, she grabs one of the cookies from the desk and rips off its packaging. 

"Those are promotional!" Henry interjects, trying to swipe it from her, "Don't--"

She sinks her teeth into it angrily, tearing a chunk off and chewing aggressively. She looks at me like it's my head she's chewing, but the glare doesn't faze me in the slightest. Smugly, I take another drink then continue to eat my lunch in satisfaction. 

"Animal." Henry's face curls in disgust as he gestures to her maniacal chewing, "At least tell me you were on a leash out there. People could have got hurt." 

She directs her glare at him, "Is there a reason you're here? I take it wasn't just to waste my oxygen?" 

"We both know you don't breathe anything but fire, darling." He winks at her.