Chapter 43

After breakfast, Calvin left the house, and I got ready for work. Of course, before I could do so, my friends were all constantly asking me things, but I told them I’d explain everything to them once I was done getting ready if I had any spare time. And just their luck, I had a solid ten minutes before I needed to leave.

“Okay, so he only spent the night here because when he dropped me off, it was pouring rain and thundering,” I answered the question they had asked me the most.

“You like him, don’t you?” Andre asked, looking at me with a teasing look on his face.

“Not the slightest bit,” I was quick to say, acting more defensive rather than thinking the question through.

“Not even as a friend?” Ines asked.

“Well, that’s different… He’s starting to be tolerable to me,” I admitted, though he was more than just tolerable to me.

“Mm-hmm, well, have a good day at work, dear,” Madison wished when she noticed I was looking at my watch constantly.

“Thank you, all. You guys have a good day too. I’ll be going now,” I said, putting on my shoes by the door. I went for sneakers today, unsure what outside would be like at work after the storm last night.

Once I got to work, I reported to Dima then started doing my work. Everything ran smoothly. Not once did I come across Marina, Topher, or Calvin, though, so today I felt a little bit lonely. Since Calvin and I made our ‘relationship’ public, I noticed people around the office would look at me differently. I just couldn’t puzzle out the meaning of the looks they gave.

One hour before the end of my shift, I was relaxing a bit because I did all the tasks for the day. I picked up my phone and saw Janelle had texted me again.

“Thank you so so much. How can I ever repay you?” it said, even though I had told her many times to not worry about it.

“Hmm, you spoke about making a mean spaghetti? I’d love to taste it someday,” I replied, hoping this would satisfy her.

“Of course! You tell me when and I’ll make it for you,” she promised. We continued to chat a little longer, giving each other very little updates as we didn’t have that much to give anyways.

I heard the door open and looked over to see Calvin entering the office.

“Is this how you’re working?” he asked in a teasing tone.

“I’ve completed my work for the day, sir.” I rolled my eyes, setting my phone on the desk and leaning back against the chair while looking at the man.

“Mm-hmm, Dima will be the judge of that, of course,” he said. He walked towards my side and sat on the right side of the desk as he looked at me.

“Of course,” I repeated and crossed my arms while looking up at him. I could tell he wanted to ask me something. I was well familiar with that look of his.

“I wanted to ask you if you’re free tonight for dinner,” he said, hands on his thighs as he looked at me.

“I’m free, but why?” I asked, finding it odd.

“Dinner, just the two of us.” Calvin shrugged. Dinner? Again? This time just the two of us. Hadn’t he seen me enough since Friday?

“Again, why? I’m starting to think you like my company,” I teased, though I wanted a serious response.

“Hmm,” he hummed, a slight smile on his lips. “Don’t be silly, Ms. Marino. It will be just for show.” He cleared his throat and tapped my shoulder.

“What time?” I rolled my eyes.

“I’ll pick you up at 7:30,” he said, not even bothering to double check with me even though I did just say I had my night free.

“See you then, I suppose.” I sighed dramatically.

“You will.” He winked at me then got up and walked away. Such a weird man. I went on with my shift. On the way home, I kept thinking of what to wear on this ‘date’ of ours. When it came to dinner, I’d see Calvin at the most down to earth places, but he also went to the most lavish places around. I wasn’t even sure whether it was a dinner date, though it would be around dinner time when he’d come by to get me. I pushed aside my date thoughts; I didn’t like the giddy feeling I was getting from it. When I got home, I called my parents and let them know everything was going well. Then I went straight to my room to prepare for the date. I texted the group chat to let them know what would be happening tonight, and, of course, they got all excited for no reason, promising to all be at Madi’s house to hear all about the date afterwards. It was as if they never understood the fake part about it.

~~~

I washed my hair and styled it as I wanted. I went for a middle part this time and added bejeweled clips on either side to keep the hair from falling over my eyes. I put on a simple black dress that hugged my curves. The sides had strings I pulled up a little, so the dress wasn’t stopped at an awkward length. I planned on wearing my jeweled sandals. I took my black mini bag and packed it with the essentials: wallet, keys, medicine, and lip-gloss. I then sat down and did my make-up. I kept it light and only used blush, mascara, eyeliner, lip liner, lipstick, and, of course, some lip gloss. Once I was satisfied with my look, I heard a honk. I got up and walked to the door. Just as I opened it, Calvin was standing there and was about to knock on the door.

“Oh, good evening,” he said, his eyes clearly taking in the view in front of him, and he didn’t bother to hide it all. I couldn’t help but to do the same thing. He wore navy slacks that fit him perfectly and a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He had a silver chain under the shirt. His dark hair was combed back perfectly to the back with only one slim strand standing out. His beard was freshly saved. All this for just a date?

“You look stunning,” Calvin complimented, holding his hand out to me.

“Uh, thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself.” I took his hand and stepped out. I made sure to lock the house then followed Calvin to the car.

He opened the door for me then went to sit down in the driver’s side. We chatted a bit, and he mentioned he had made a reservation for dinner. The restaurant was quite luxurious and gave off a warm and comfortable vibe.

We ordered our food and began to chat. Calvin made sure to order us some appetizers, even though I initially didn’t want any, but it was quite delicious. Everything was delicious, even the virgin drinks. After dinner, Calvin decided to pay for us then walked me to the car again. We had a pleasant time, and surprisingly, our conversations were quite different than usual. It was more about our lives rather than business or deals.

“Do you like ice cream?” he then asked.

“Duh.”

“Good, we’re getting ice cream for dessert, and then I’ll drop you off. Unless you want to go somewhere else,” he said and looked at me to see what I’d say.

“Sounds good to me. You can drop me home afterwards.” I smiled as I put on my seatbelt.

We stopped at an ice cream parlor I wasn’t familiar with, but they had quite interesting flavors. I took the coconut ice cream with sprinkles and a cherry on top with chocolate sauce. Calvin took chocolate with white chocolate syrup.

Once we had our ice cream, Calvin walked me to the docks and sat down on planks. Luckily, it wasn’t wet. The night breeze flew over us as we enjoyed our ice cream.

“Did you have a good time?” he then asked, taking a lick of his ice cream.

“I did. Thank you so much,” I said and looked over at him.

“You deserve it for all the hell you go through.” Calvin laughed.

“Good, so you know.” I laughed then offered him some of my ice cream.

“You don’t mind?” he asked first. “We’ve done worse, Calvin.” I shrugged, and he took a lick of the ice cream.

“‘I’m usually not a fan of coconut-flavored things, but this is quite delicious,” he admitted.

“Right!” I said, a little too excited.

“Thank you for spending time with me. You are great company, Lily.” He smiled and looked at me.