The Design(44)

“Great idea,” I replied with an edge of sarcasm that she didn’t catch.

“It’s probably better that he didn’t come,” she continued. “I was so trashed by the end of the night. Every time I turned around, another guy was offering me a shot. And, I mean, I didn’t want to be rude, so I just took them. But, oh my gosh, that Peter guy was there—your table-mate with the crazy beard? He doesn’t take a hint, does he? I swear he tried to talk to me like fifty times.”

Hmm, yeah, great. Sure, tell me more. I continued to feign interest as I poured my third cup of coffee for the day. My first two cups hadn’t cut it, and I was hoping that by some miracle this one would be laced with crack or something so that I could actually focus on my work.

The copious amounts of coffee were owed to the fact that I’d had to arrive early—too early—to finish the sketches for Alan and I was already running on fumes. (And yes, the sketches were done. No thanks to Grayson keeping me up late the night before.)

“Hey guys.”

I looked up from my mug to see a Peter smiling in the doorway.

“Hey Peter.” I offered him a small nod.

“Oh god. It’s him again,” Hannah whispered under her breath.

I had to clench my fist to keep from punching her in the boob. Peter was ten times the person she’d ever be.

“We have a team meeting in ten in the conference room. They want all the architecture staff in there,” he announced, tapping his hand on the doorframe twice and then heading off down the hall.

I stared back down at my coffee, attempting to keep my cool. There was a 50/50 chance that Grayson would be leading the meeting, which meant I’d be forced to see him for the first time since last night, in a room full of my coworkers. I guess it was as good an opportunity as any to gauge his reaction to me. If he ignored me all together, I’d know we were back at square one, that last night really hadn’t changed a thing.

“Well there’s my chance to confront Grayson,” Hannah said with a confident smile.

I took a sip of my coffee to avoid saying something I’d regret and then trailed after Hannah toward the conference room. With every step, my anxiety grew and my stomach tightened. Why was I so nervous? Grayson had come over to my apartment. He’d sought me out and he’d made the first move.

I was mid-thought when I stepped into the conference room and was met by a room full of my yawning coworkers. They each tried to subtly hide their fatigue behind mugs of coffee, but no one wanted to be in a meeting this early after a late night of happy hour-ing, least of all me.

My gaze automatically sought out Grayson, and when I saw him, I paused mid-step. He was stationed at the front of the room, donning a black suit that molded to him like he’d been dipped into the fabric that very morning. His tie was a bright blue hue and although his gaze wasn’t directed toward me, I knew the color would complement his eyes perfectly. It was almost painful to look at him—as if I was staring into the sun, knowing I was damaging my eyes in the process, yet unable look away. This was the moment I’d dreaded all morning; and now it was upon me and it was every bit as hard as I imagined it would be. I knew what every single inch of him looked like beneath that suit. That jacket. That shirt. They did nothing to disguise the man that lay beneath, a man made for a singular purpose: breaking my heart apart piece by piece.

A part of me wanted to disguise myself, to step to the back of the room and hide behind my fellow coworkers. It was easy to watch him when he was talking to someone else. There was no harm in appreciating him from afar, so I let the other architects fill in the space in front of me as I fell back against the conference room wall. Each person that filled in the space before me felt like another layer of protection between him and me.

Movement near the front of the room drew my attention toward Hannah. I’d lost her when we’d entered the conference room and now I knew why. I’d gone for a post in the back, somewhere safe and discreet. Hannah, on the other hand, was trying to get as close to Grayson as possible, working her way through the crowd until she was nearly breathing the same air as him.

“Is Hannah your roommate?” Peter asked beside me. I hadn’t even realized he’d snuck in after me, but I suppose I had been a bit distracted by other things.

I glanced back toward Hannah, who was checking her reflection in a small compact mirror.

I laughed. “Yup, that’s my roomie.”

“She was pretty trashed last night,” he said, making a drinking motion with his thumb and pinky finger. “Kind of a bold move at her first office happy hour.”

I smiled. “No kidding. In her defense, I'd be drinking too if Alan was my mentor.”

“I ended up calling a cab for her. She wasn’t looking so good at the end there.”

I glanced back toward Hannah. She was staring up at Grayson adoringly, inching closer toward him by the second. He didn’t even notice her presence as he kept right on speaking with another associate.

“Thanks for doing that,” I muttered. “She actually said something about you trying to hit on her.” I slid him a playful smile so he’d know that I was on his side.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Oh god. Please tell me you have more faith in me than that. I was probably trying to tell her that the cab was ready to take her home.”

I shot him a wink and was about to reply when Grayson interrupted me.