“What do you think of this?” Jessica asked, stepping out of the washroom in a
silver short dinner dress.
“Wow!!” He exclaimed as he stared at her.
“I love this. You’re looking so beautiful in this”, he said, smiling and he couldn’t
take his eyes off her.
“Mmm, let me try the red one”, she said to him and she walked back into her
washroom.
Few minutes later, she stepped out of the washroom.
“Dean, help me with the zip”, she said, turning around for him to zip up her
dress.
As he was zipping it, she felt his hands on her back and as usual, it made her feel
some sparks within her.
“Done”, he said to her and she turned around.
“Mmm, don’t you think I’m revealing so much cleavage”, she said to him and he
directed his eyes towards her chest area.
“I shouldn’t have asked that”, she said, slapping herself mentally.
“It’s perfect”, he said, smiling.
“You pervert!” She said to him and he chuckled.
“What? It’s not so bad and you’re looking so beautiful in the dress”.
“Mmm, so should I try on the blue one?”
“No, I think this is perfect and the color suits your skin. And it’s hugged your
curves at every angle”, he said to her and she couldn’t stop blushing.
“Okay, then I’ll wear this. Thank you”.
“You’re welcome. I’m going to wear my shirt and polish up”.
“Alright, when you’re done, request the Uber”.
“Okay”, he said and he left.
When Jessica was done applying her makeup and fixing her hair in a low Afro
bun, she walked into the living room and Dean was there, waiting for her.
“Damnnnn”, he exclaimed when he saw her.
“Let’s get married”, he said to her and she chuckled.
“You’re just so silly”, she said, laughing.
“Play around and we’ll end up in court with signed papers”, he said, laughing.
“But you’re looking so beautiful and hot! I could just sit here and watch you all
day”.
“Deaaaannn! You don’t have to hype me up so much”.
“I’m not hyping you up. Of course you and I know that you’re beautiful but right
now, you’re drop dead gorgeous! And there’s something about the color of that
dress and your skin”, he said to her and she was blushing so much that her legs
started to wiggle.
“Okay okay, thank you”, she said, trying to act as if the words didn’t mean much
to her.
“Is the Uber here yet?” She asked.
“Yeah, it’s been here for a while”.
“Okay, we are already late, let’s go”, she said to him and he got on his feet.
“Have you taken the gift?” He asked.
“Yeah, it’s in my purse”.
“Okay, shall we?” He asked and he stretched his arms towards hers. She grabbed
it and then they left.
When they arrived at the restaurant, they were ushered in and given a place to
sit.
As they took their seat, they both looked around to observe the place.
“This restaurant is really beautiful”, she said to him.
“You always say the same thing about every place. Spice up your vocabulary”, he
said to her and she glared at him.
“You’re lucky we are in public. I would have punched you so hard right now”, she
said to him and he chuckled.
“You made it!!” Lisa screamed from behind and she turned around.
“Happy birthday honey”, she said, getting on her feet and she hugged her.
“Thank you so much”, she said to her and Dean got on his feet too.
“Happy birthday to you Lisa”, he said, smiling.
“Thank you”, she said, grinning.
“Lisa this is my bestfriend, Dean”, Jessica said to her.
“Oh yeah! Theee best friend, it’s so nice to meet you”, she said to him.
“Likewise”, he said, smiling.
“He’s so hot!!!” She said, whispering in Jessica’s ear.
“You’re so silly”, she said, laughing.
“Lisa!” One of her friends exclaimed and she pulled her away.
“I guess I’ll give her the gift later”, Jessica said to Dean and they both took their
seats.
The food was served and as they were eating, she looked around to see if she
could spot Richard but he wasn’t there.
“I’m going to use the washroom”, Dean said to her and he left.
As soon as he left, someone sat by her. She turned to see who it was and it was
Philip.
“Hey”, he said to her.
“Hi Philip”, she said, forcing a smile.
“You’re looking so beautiful”, he said to her.
“Thank you”.
“You’re welcome. So how are you doing?”
“I’m good. What about you?”
“I’m also good. Just enjoying the food and the scenery”.
“Yeah me too. The place is really beautiful”.
“Yeah, it is. I see that you’re here with a friend”.
“Yeah, I am. Are you here alone?”
“Not really. I came here with Lisa”.
“Oh okay”.
“Yeah. So, I was wondering if we could hangout sometime?” He asked and she
was about to speak but she spotted Richard at the entrance.
Seeing him made her smile. He looked in her direction and he also smiled.
Lisa saw him and she ran up to him, excited.
“Wow, he showed up. That’s so nice of him. Lisa would really appreciate it”, Philip
said looking at the both of them.
“Yeah, she will”, Jessica said, smiling.
“Hey”, Dean said from behind.
“Ohh I’m sorry. We’ll talk later Jess”, Philip said, getting on his feet.
“Hey man”, he said to Dean.
“Yo what’s up”, Dean said to him.
“Was just saying hi to Jessica”.
“Oh okay”.
“Yeahhhh, I….”
“Philip, I’ve been looking for you”, a lady said, pulling him away and Dean took
his seat.
“Is he your co-worker?” He asked.
“Yeahh”, she said to him but her attention was somewhere else.
Dean looked at her and he traced the direction she was looking at. His eyes
landed on Richard and he realized that they were both looking at each other.
“Is that Richard?” He asked and it startled her.
“What?” She asked.
“I’m talking about Richard”, he said to her.
“Oh yeah, he’s here”, she said to him.
“Will Erica also show up?”
“I doubt”.
“Mmm”, he said, nodding.
They continued with their food till Jessica needed to refill her drink.
“I’m going to grab a drink from the other table”, she said to Dean.
“Oh, let me get it for you”.
“Don’t worry. I actually want to stretch my legs a bit”.
“Alright”, he said to her and she got on her feet and walked towards the table
which had the drinks on it.
As she was grabbing a drink, Richard walked up to her and stood by her.
“Hey beautiful”, he said to her and she smiled.
“Hey handsome”, she said to him.
“You think I’m handsome?” He asked and she chuckled.
“You know you are”.
“Well, thank you. You’re looking so beautiful in that red dress”.
“Thank you”, she said, smiling so wide.
“Now, I feel like taking you out on a date”, he said to her and her eyes widened.
“Today???”
“Tonight”, he said, correcting her.
“Can we do that tomorrow? I’m already tired from today’s trip and this dinner”.
“Alright. A lunch date?”
“I’ll love that”.
“2pm?”
“Yeah, that’s okay”.
“Alright”.
“Yeah, I have to go back to my seat now”, she said to him and she walked away.
When she got back to her table, her seat was occupied by Lisa and she and Dean
were having a conversation.
“Hey birthday girl”, she said to Lisa.
“Jess, Dean is so hilarious. He’s made me laugh so hard”, she said, laughing.
“Oh yeah he is”, she said, smiling. “I’ve got a gift for you”, she said, taking out a
mini box and she handed it over to Lisa.
“Awww, thank you so much”, she said, opening the box and she saw a wristwatch
in it.
“Aww, this is so cute. Thank you so much Jess”, she said, getting on her feet and
she hugged her.
“You’re welcome”, she said to her.
“Okay, it’s time for the celebrant to open the dance floor”, the MC exclaimed and
everyone looked in her direction.
“Oh ohh”, Lisa said, surprised.
“Go on”, Jessica said, pushing her to the dance floor and everyone made some
noise to cheer her on.
The music started and she just stood there.
“Lisa! Move that body!” One of her female friends exclaimed.
“Yes Lisa! Go Lisa”, another friend said to her and everyone joined in.
“Go Lisa”, they all exclaimed and she started dancing.
She danced for a while and the others joined in.
“Will you like to dance?” Dean asked Jessica.
“I’m not ready for you to out dance me”.
“I won’t. We’ll go at your own pace”, he said to her and she shook her head.
“I don’t trust you”.
“Oh c’mon. It’s been years since we danced. Let’s do this”, he said, getting on his
feet and before she could speak, he pulled her to the dance floor and they danced
to the Afro music which was playing.
Surprisingly, Dean followed her pace and they danced slowly and just shook their
bodies.
As they were dancing, the song switched to a slower love song and everyone
grabbed their partners.
Jessica was about to leave the dance floor but Dean pulled her back and placed
his hands on her waist.
“We’re not done dancing”, he said, staring into her eyes and it made her heart
skip a beat.
She placed her hands on his shoulders and they danced slowly to the song.
They both had their eyes glued to each other’s and there was a huge tension
between them.
Jessica looked away and her eyes landed on Richard and he was also staring at
her.
“I want to use the washroom”, she said, releasing her hands and she ran to the
washroom.
“God, what’s happening to me? I don’t know what Dean is doing but I feel like he
probably has the same feelings as I do but a part of me feels like he’s just doing all
this to get over Anastasia”.
“And then, there’s Richard who has feelings for me but I don’t know how it’s
going to work out with our work situation and I feel like he has a thing for Miss
Jen. I don’t really trust him like that”.
“The worst of all is that I have feelings for the both of them and I don’t know
what to do about it”, she said to herself and she looked in the mirror.
She spoke to herself for a while and then she stepped out.
As soon as she stepped out, someone pulled her into a different room which
looked like a store room.
“Hey beautiful”.
“Richard?! God, you scared me”, she said, staring at him.
“I’m sorry. Didn’t want anyone to see us like you requested”.
“Oh yeah, thank you!”
“I’m about to leave and I just wanted to have one dance with you before leaving”.
“Here?” She asked, looking around the room which had boxes all over.
“Yeah, I would prefer the dance floor. If you don’t mind, we can go over there”.
“Oh no. I’m good over here”, she said to him and he chuckled.
“Can I have this dance?” He asked, stretching his hand towards her.
“Yeah”, she said, smiling and she placed her hands on his.
He grabbed it and placed it on his shoulders and he placed his on her waist.
She had never been that close to him and being in that position with him sent a
lot of chills down her spine.
She was so nervous and she started having lustful thoughts.
“I can’t do this”, she said to herself and she released her hands and pulled herself
away.
“I can’t do this Richard”, she said to him and he walked up to her and cupped her
cheeks in his hands.
“Do what?” He asked, staring at her.
“Whatever it is we are doing. It’s not going to get us anywhere. We’re just going
to keep hiding and this is not the way I want to live”.
“I know that but we can work this out eventually. I want to be with you and if you
want the same, I’ll make this work. I’ll speak to Erica and…”
“No, no. Don’t tell her anything. Richard don’t you get it? She’s going to think that
I just want to use you and she might not feel comfortable working with me if I’m
involved with you because you’re going to keep interfering or you’re going to
want to give me special treatment. And I worked so hard and waited for this job. I
can’t throw it down the drain and I’m looking to be promoted in the near future, I
don’t want anyone to think that I got it because of you. I don’t want anyone to
undermine me”.
“Hmmm, I understand”, he said to her. He stared at her a while and then he
walked away.
Jessica wasn’t too happy about the situation she had gotten herself into but she
couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to ruin her job because of a man.
She stepped out of the store room and walked up to Dean who was busy dancing
with Lisa.
“I want to leave now”, she said, whispering in his ear.
“Heyy, where have you been?” Lisa asked.
“I was in the washroom”.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
“Yeah, I’m just feeling a bit under the weather”.
“Aww, so sorry about that. Then you need to go home”.
“Yeahhh. Happy birthday to you once again. May God bless you and uplift you in
every aspect of your life. Enjoy the rest of your day”.
“Alright, I will. Thank you so much”.
“You’re welcome. Bye”, she said, waving.
“Bye Dean. It was nice meeting you today. I hope we meet some other time”, she
said to Dean and he smiled.
“It was nice meeting you too. Enjoy the rest of your night”, he said to her and she
smiled.
“Alright, goodnight”, she said to him and they left.
“Jess, are you okay?” Dean asked her as they walked towards the exit.
“I’m okay. I just want to go home”.
“You don’t look okay. Did anything happen? Or did I do something wrong?”
“No, no. It’s just….”
“Does it have anything to do with Richard?” He asked and she nodded.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I just want to go home”.
“Mmm, okay. Let’s sit here, so that I request for the Uber”, he said to her and they
walked towards the front porch of the building.
They took their seats and Dean requested for a ride.
“Jess, I don’t like seeing you this way. Talk to me and maybe I could help”.
“Hmm, it’s just the whole Richard situation”.
“Did he do something?”
“No, we were dancing and..”
“Dancing? Where? Cos I didn’t see you two”.
“In the store room. I didn’t want anyone to see us but then things got a little bit
heated and I just had to stop and I told him that we couldn’t continue whatever it
is that we were doing because it’s going to affect my work”.
“Mmmm. And what did he say?”
“He said he understood and then he left. I think he’s upset but I can’t do anything
about it”.
“Hmm, I can understand how you feel”.
“I wish there was a way to get out of this situation”.
“Are you sure that it’s going to affect your job so much. Maybe you two can take
things slowly and see how you can go about it”.
“Hmm, I don’t know if that’s possible and I don’t fully trust him yet. There’s this
lady called Miss Ellen Jen. She has a thing for him and although he claims it’s just
business that he has with her, I feel like there’s something else”.
“Miss Jen? The rude lady you spoke about the other time?”
“Yeahhhh”.
“Hmmm, that’s why I’m saying that you should take things slowly and then you’d
be able to see where his heart truly lies”.
“If it was so easy to determine, I’d have not been in a shaky triangle situation”.
“You’re in a love triangle?” He asked, surprised.
“Oops, I shouldn’t have said that”, she said to herself.
“Mmm, can we just stop talking about this? My head is beginning to ache”.
“Alright. The Uber is almost here, when we get home, you can take some pain
killers and sleep”.
“Yeahh”.
They waited for a while till the car arrived and then they left.
