Savage

SAGE

I woke up feeling refreshed and revived. My mind was at ease compared to yesterday.

I had a new perspective on my life and all the possibilities which I hadn’t discovered yet. The sun streamed in through the windows, inviting us into its warm light.

I couldn’t wait to feel it on my skin. I hopped out of bed, startling Olaf in the process.

He jumped on the floor in a hairy mess and moseyed out of the room as if his life never flashed before him. I laughed at that.

I ran behind him to scoop him up in my arms for a nice, snuggly hug. He smelled like freshly sun-dried linen from sleeping in my laundry after being washed, as always.

I put him back on the floor and headed for the bathroom. I couldn’t wait to submerge myself in the heated water.

The morning was chilly as usual, and I had to pick up Ronnie and my breakfast at our favorite cafe. I saw a message from her after hugging Olaf, and she was headed to the office early today again.

This client has everyone at the office working overtime. I’m just glad I am not a Lead. The pressure is on them to get everything in place for the presentation next month.

While in the shower humming to myself, my mind began drifting towards Roman. He had a unique quirk that pulled me in.

I don’t know if it was the way words dripped out of his mouth in that calm, self-assured tone. Or the accent behind it. Or him disappearing and appearing out of nowhere.

It was like a drug that had me hooked. I don’t know how deep of a catch I was, but I loved being enthralled by his presence.

He filled up the room, just by walking in, without speaking. There was a heat that radiated off his body and onto mine when he was around me.

I wanted to pull him closer to see how hot he was. My body felt hot thinking about him until I noticed a scorching heat coming off my chest, breasts, and thighs.

“Ow, ow!”

The water was running too hot. I dashed out of the shower and into my closet to dig for an outfit.

I pulled out dark brown pants and a muted green top to wear. I did the best I could do for my hair, grabbed the keys from the coffee table, and headed out the door.

Mr. Heinrich invaded my mind the entire car ride from my home, to the cafe, then to work. I let it happen freely.

I had a smile on my face that I didn’t want to let go of. I felt so carefree. When I stepped into the department I went to Ronnie’s office.

Her head was immersed in her laptop, with her mouse clicking away rapidly. She had her drawing tablet in her lap and scattered pieces of paper with scribbles and drawings all around her.

She was deep in her work. I didn’t want to disturb her so I left the bag on her desk and made my way to the door.

“Did you make up your mind yet?” She caught me by surprise. I jumped and turned.

“You scared me,” I said, holding my chest.

She started rummaging through the bag and pulled out a sandwich. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“You looked busy. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“So you would rather starve?” She inquired while taking a bite of her sandwich.

“No, and to answer your question, yes, I did make up my mind. I was about to head to his office.”

“He’s there. We came in at the same time, surprisingly.”

“Oh.”

She nodded enthusiastically with her mouth full. “Be gentle with him.”

I left her eating and went to his office door. I straightened up myself before knocking.

“Come in.”

His office was quaint. All beige walls, a large hardwood desk that was at the center. It was in front of gigantic glass windows, which overlooked the cityscape.

His laptop had papers stacked on top of it and his monitor was lit up, which looked like he was hard at work like Ronnie for this presentation next month too.

“Good morning, Mr. Heinrich.”

He stood up the minute he saw me.

“Guten Morgen, Miss Sauvignon.” He made his way in front of me.

“If you’re too busy I can come back.”

“Not at all. Please have a seat.”

He escorted me to the chair in front of his large wooden desk. He sat on the top of it right in front of me.

I could feel the heat coming from his body in waves, because of how close to me he was. I basked in it, smelling his intoxicating scent.

“I have an answer for your dinner date.”

He leaned forward to listen intently to what I had to say.

“As much as I would love to take you up on the offer, I have to decline.”

“Why is that?” His tone was cool, but his jaw clenched a little.

“I wish not to disrupt our working relationship. If we allowed our boundaries to cross and nothing worked out, then, I would be the one left with nothing in our exchange. It’s too much of a risk.”

I held his gaze. He held mine.

“You would have nothing to worry about. We would have kept our relationship to ourselves without it affecting our work. I would have made sure of it.”

“I can’t risk it, Mr. Heinrich.”

“Sage,” he caught me off guard with my name. “Call me Roman when you’re in my presence.”

“Okay…Roman.” I smirked at that.

“Is there any way I can change your mind?”

His eyes never once left mine. “Unfortunately, no.” My eyes never left his.

“You’re a resilient little one.”

“If the circumstances were different then it would be a yes.”

He peered into my soul with his icy blue eyes. I think a few minutes went by before he said anything.

I heard something vibrate on his desk, which distracted me for a moment. However, we did not take our eyes off each other.

“I am sorry you said no. I did not want it to have to come to this. I have some work to finish. If there isn’t anything else you wish to talk to me about I wish for you a pleasant day.”

Yet, again, he threw me off with his mood swings.

“Yes. I need to get to work. Thank you for your time.”

I got up and straightened myself, then made my way out of his office. He fell behind me in unison with my footsteps.

I couldn’t tell if he was watching my ass or not, but I can feel his presence. Before he closed the door he stared into my soul again. His features were chiseled in ice.

That was intense. Then it closed and the wall was up between us. I felt like I was under some kind of spell.

I walked away from the closed door and headed to my cubicle. By the looks of these emails, today is going to be a busy one.

***

Today was hectic. I felt like I didn’t get a chance to breathe. I was so happy when Ronnie texted that we should head to our cafe for dinner after work. I needed it.

Ronnie slurped her chocolate latte like it was her last. “Oh my gosh, that was so good.”

“You’re so dramatic.”

“You are correct. It feels good to be outside. Too much work. Jane is a dull girl today.”

“We need a vacation,” I chirped up.

“You plan, and I’ll come. You know I’m no good with planning anything.”

“Except how to rule the world.”

“You are right again, Pinky.”

We laughed as the waitress brought our meals to us. It always leaves such a huge good-natured feeling to laugh with the people you love. Spine tingling.

Mr. Heinrich…Roman, wasn’t the only decision I had made about my life.

“I’ve been thinking,” I began. “I know that creativity is a part of my life, but I wondered so many times in what way.”

“How so?” Ronnie perked up from her meal.

“I don’t have a sense of fulfillment from graphic designing. Not in the way you are exhilarated by seeing your designs on billboards and business cards.”

“I’m listening.”

“Graphic designing is not my passion. It never has been. I love that it has opened doors for me. However, I think I want more out of my life than just sitting and designing. I need to move around more.”

“I get you. What did you have in mind?” Ronnie’s stare never wavered as she bit into her meal.

“I was looking into shoemaking classes. I love shoes and I want to learn how to make them. You know I love my feet, not necessarily other people’s feet. But I want to make their feet look good.”

Veronica laughed. “Babe, I understand. Is it that you want to quit though?”

“No. Not as yet. I still enjoy designing. I am just not passionate about it and I still need to make ends meet. So fuck no on the quitting. I need to explore other creative options for myself and use my hands in a physical sense.”

She gave me a side-eye. Like the ones, Soraya gives me when I say something with a sexual tone to it.

“So you wanna feel up the people dem foot. How did I do with the Patois?”

I smiled. “It has gotten better. I can’t believe your auntie refused to teach it to you.”

“Yeah she’s a bitch sometimes, but she makes a great curried goat.”

We laughed again. Basking in the beautiful beat of our friendship.

“You never told me what you decided with Mr. Heinrich,” she slid that in so smoothly.

“I told him no. I can’t risk it.”

“How did he take it?”

“I’m not sure. I think he took it. Don’t know if it was well or not, but he took it.”

“I got a bad feeling about this,” Ronnie stated staring in front of her blankly.

I panicked a little.

“By the way, have you seen my little bottle of YSL Libre that you gave me yesterday? It’s missing from my desk, Ron. Who the hell would take it? I only got like a few sprays out of it.”

She shook her head no. We finished eating our food and asked the waitress for a takeaway bag for the rest. We paid our bill and drove to my apartment for a movie night/sleepover to wind down after such a manic day.