Chapter five: One-on-one Date

Chapter five: One-on-one Date

Jessica

Stepping out of the elevator, there were many employees wearing very sophisticated clothes, one that made me feel very out of place. I rubbed my arms awkwardly as I walked up to the front door, another woman who is a little younger than one sitting on the ground floor. She looked up at me with a straight face.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes," I responded, showing her the pass key.

"I am here to see Mr. Craig." Her face dropped just the slightest.

"And your name?"

"Jessica Silver." She nodded and reached for her phone, dialing some number.

"Mr. Craig, Jessica Silver is here to see you. Shall I send her in?"

A slight crackle sounded before I heard Jeffrey's voice on the other line. When she dropped the call, she pointed me to the huge double doors down the end of the hall, the ones I apparently hadn't noticed. The letters J and C were printed on either door, causing me to question even more how rich Jeffrey was. I mean, the limousine was one thing and then there was a sports car, now he had a company. This was definitely not mentioned when he was taking me home the other night.

I pushed open the doors, my heart racing with each step that brought me closer to him. He turned around in his black leather chair as soon as the door opened, his gaze landing on me and I swear he could hear the beat of my heart from across the room.

"Hello, Princess."

I stood there, in both awe and awkwardness, taking in his attire. His blue and white striped button up was tight against his torso and arms, adoring every muscle and detail of his figure. It was buttoned up to the collar, hiding his eagle tattoo and his sleeve were rolled up to his elbow, another collection of tattoos on his tanned forearms. His black blazer rested on the back of his chair.

"Hello, Princess." His voice was like angelic music to my ears.

"Please, have a seat."

He indicated to one of the armchairs that were in front of his desk, I sat down, staring at his lips, his eyes. I imagined his body under the suit, goodness, I could hardly look at him without wanting him.

Behind his desk were tall windows that looked out into the city, the skyline visible from my seat. It was incredibly beautiful and I couldn't believe Jeffrey was this successful. I didn't even know the kind of business he is into.

"How have you been?" His question made me snap back to reality and look at him.

"I….am f..fine," I shuttered, sounding so stupid.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Well, the fact that you are joining me for lunch is probably the highlight of my day so far." He grinned. I blushed, tucking a curly strand of hair behind my ear and looking down at my hands.

"I am glad that you asked me to come." I smiled up at him, seeing the dimples on his cheeks deepen.

"Where do we have lunch?"

"Right here," gesturing with his hand to the right. I turned my head to see a small table by the window, a gold table cloth laid over top of it with a tiny vase holding a white rose. He pressed a button on his work phone and put the call on speaker.

"Juliet, please send my lunch request." He stood from his chair, motioning for me to do the same.

A man in a black suit entered the office, carrying two trays with round lids. He placed them before us as I unfold the napkin on my lap. Taking the lids off revealing a beautiful meal. Shrimp Alfredo with steamed broccoli and buttery mashed potatoes. Jeffrey reached down beside him, picking up a bottle of champagne and pouring me a glass and also poured another glass for himself.

"Cheers." I clinked my glass with his, taking a sip as he continued watching me with his beautiful eyes.

I didn't hesitate to dig in, the shrimps and pasta sauce delightful on my taste buds. I could taste every single seasoning and every detail, the food was heaven and one of the best meals I had ever taken.

"I didn't know you liked shrimps, it is a toss up with many people."

"Oh, I am not picky. I like food a lot and trying new recipes is always fun."

"Do you cook?" I shrugged.

"I did that a lot at home, it was fun cooking with my mother. She was more of a baking type and I liked cooking. It was a way for us to bond when she wasn't working."

The corner of his lips turned up as he listened to me talk about my mother. I took another sip from my glass.

"Do you like to cook?" I asked, he smiled.

"It is probably one of my favorite things to do."

"Well, I will love to try your cooking sometimes." He smirked, running a hand through his curly hair.

"I would love that." He replied.

After talking about our favorite foods and taking in the beautiful view, I finished off the last wine on my glass and wiped my mouth with the napkin. He reached over, taking the rose from the vase and twirling it between his fingers.

"I don't know if you watch bachelor but I know that they do this thing with roses after a date." He chuckled.

"So, Jessica, will you accept these roses?" I laughed, covering my mouth with my hand as I nodded.

"Yes of course, I will."

He handed me the beautiful flower and I held it to my nose, sniffing the petals and taking in its scent.

"Does this mean our one-on-one date went really well and I am staying for another week?" I joked, he grinned nodding as his tongue swiped his bottom lips.

"Yes, most definitely."

I blushed, twirling the roses as he did but I accidentally pricked my fingers.

"Ouch." I quickly dropped the flower on my lap and examined my bleeding finger, he quickly stood up and took my hand in his.

"Are you alright?" I nodded as he held my hand in his view.

"I am fine, just a little poke."

"You are bleeding, Jessica." He looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Come on," he had me stand up and I followed him to his desk.

He opened the middle drawer, a small collection of bandaids in the corner. He took one of them and I held my finger out to him so he could put the bandaid on. The way his fingers glided across my skin as he delicately placed the bandage on gave me goosebumps and butterflies at the same time. The way his tongue stuck out between his pink lips as he tried to bandage my finger as perfectly as possible made my heart race. For no reason, I could even understand it.

He is so cute, yet I knew it would be wrong to be with him. He is forty, twenty years older than. What would my parents say if they knew I am starting to be romantically interested in him? Or my friends? Is twenty years too out of my range? I had been with a guy a few years older than me but never over forty, not even thirty.

But Jeffrey made me feel some type of way I couldn't explain. Whenever he called me Princess, my heart skips a beat and when he looked at me, I felt like I was back in junior high school when my crush made eye contact with me in the hallway.

What is even wrong with me? I have only talked to him a few times. I shouldn't be feeling this way about him, should I?"

"Jessica?" He suddenly snapped me back to reality, leaning his head down so his face was at my level. I quickly blinked, looking at him with my mouth agape.

"Sorry, what?' I said awkwardly.

"I asked if you would want a tour of my business." He chuckled.

"You seemed zoned out,"I tucked my hair behind my ear again out of habit and nodded.

"Yes, I would love to."

"Perfect, follow me." He smiled.

"What exactly do you do?" I blurted, hoping I wasn't sounding rude for not knowing Craig and Co sounded vaguely familiar like I had seen the name somewhere but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"I am the CEO of Craig and Co and we are into the fashion industry." He responded as we left his office and entered the large hallway.

"I design and distribute high end clothing, hold fashion shows on occasion and we have press conferences every couple weeks."

"Craig and Co," I repeated.

"Wait, I think I have seen the name before. I have a Craig and Co dress, I didn't know you were the designer." I muttered, nearly falling over.

Craig brand clothing was exceptionally expensive and I was shocked Christmas ago when my grandmother bought me the dress. I couldn't believe that she could spend that much money on a dress just for me.