Unlikely Places

Chapter 10 Tingly

         

It was Tuesday afternoon and I needed a break. I had received an email for a new work assignment yesterday morning with a bunch of jumbled information attached. Sorting out the mess had taken far longer than it should have. It wasn't until later that afternoon that I had discovered why. An intern had mistakenly included data from another project.

I had had to syphon out all of the useless incorrect information before anything had begun to make any kind of sense. It had taken me half of today to re-review and remove the skewed data. The numbers in the margins were now finally starting to talk to me.

So here I was halfway through a second day only just getting started on the job I was supposed to have begun yesterday morning.

Talk about a waste of time.

Frustrated, tired, and hungry I pushed away from my desk and headed into the kitchen. Cissero trotted behind me. I absently pet his head as I opened the fridge door. I pulled out the pitcher of fresh citrus ginger tea and poured myself a glass.

I sighed as I sipped. The unproductive day was bothering me. Since meeting Pierce, seeing who he was and how he was, and even worse, his questioning my ability to do my job, I worried about my lack of progress on this project. Granted it wasn't my fault but that didn't matter to me.

I pictured his disapproving cold face and his direct forceful gaze. The familiar electrical sizzle swept up my spine at the mental images I conjured of him.

My reaction to him I had finally concluded, was one part fear, one part agitation, and one-part unknown. I still hadn't been able to put my finger on the other emotion I felt when he looked at me, I just knew it was unlike anything I had experienced before.

Whether it was good or bad was undetermined.

I stared out the kitchen window as I replayed the last few minutes, I was with him on Saturday night.

One moment he had been giving me a hard time about stuttering which had of course only made me stutter more and in the next... well the next that was where it had gotten a little weird. That was where the unknown emotion filtered in and my uncertainty took over.

Pierce was a dynamic individual. He was charismatic, bold, cocky, arrogant, and a whole host of adjectives that I could use to describe an alpha male.

He was similar to my friends but he seemed to be on a whole other playing level. Every single one of those words when in reference to him, intimidated me. I was the complete opposite of him in every way imaginable.

But despite that fear he also made me feel... tingly.

My cheeks burned as the word popped into my mind. The tips of my ears felt hot. It sounded... sexual. As had been the dream I had had of him the night we met.

I rubbed my sweaty palms down the sides of my pants before opening the refrigerator back up and reaching in to pull out various ingredients to make myself a couple of sandwiches.

Along with the tingles, thoughts of Pierce brought with him jitters and butterflies and a jumbo-sized cup full of uncertainty. So much uncertainty.

Like for starters, he was my boss. He had full say over an important aspect of my life. He could take away the job that I loved. The way he treated me at times, I couldn't help but worry if it was something that he was already considering.

Then there was the fact that he had come to my home. Come and not said why. His ignoring of my repeated attempts to find out, bothered me.

On the one hand I knew I should only worry so much because despite the cold mocking person he had been, he had taken care of me. But there was no denying some of his behaviors were questionable. He was such a contradiction. He was a frustratingly enigmatic man.