Stopped

It had been two months since his apology and things had legitimately improved, much to my surprise. William was no longer rude to me and the only time we had argued was over the specifics of a client project we were working on. His new, friendly demeanor did not go unnoticed by our coworkers, either. What a surprise it was that we could work together and not fight. I smiled slightly at this, feeling better than ever about my personal and work life. Stepping into that same elevator, I came face to face with William again. I smiled slightly up at him before stepping forward.

“Ah, Alina. I wasn’t expecting to run into you today.” He said, stepping back a bit to let me on. “I thought you were to take a week off for a vacation.”

“That’s next week. I’ve made plans to catch up on some much-needed sleep.” I replied, as the doors closed behind me. “What about you? I thought you were off this week too.”

“Oh, seems we both have next week off.” William countered, a smirk lifting the corner of his lips. “Would you like to meet up for drinks sometime then?”

It was clear to me that he meant it to sound like a date. I looked away slightly, a frown on my lips. Sure, he had been kinder to me, and avoided trying to provoke me, but did that warrant giving him a date? As I considered this, I could feel him watching me, and knew I would need to come up with an answer. It had improved to the point that I was legitimately fine with being in the same room with him, and did not mind him occasionally teasing me. Could I stand him enough to go on a date with him, despite how mean he had been in the past?

“You know what? I think I can handle one date with you.” I replied, looking down at the floor as the elevator moved. “You’ve kept up a good record of not being mean to me.”

“It doesn’t take much. Even though I think your cute when your angry, you’re even cuter when you agree with me.” He countered, before adjusting the cuff of his suit. “I am sorry. I should have been nicer when we first met.”

“It would have helped.” I said, chuckling slightly as the elevator slowed. “All you had to do was talk to me like a person.”

As we got off the elevator and returned to work, my mind went back to what he said. We already exchanged contact information, so all that was left was to set a day. Though, I did feel nervous about this, I was also doubtful. Two months was all that had passed since we had become something of friends, but we were now going on a date. Did I really want to do this? I glanced over at his desk to find him staring at me with a smile on his lips. Blushing, I looked away and down at my desk, looking over the files that I needed to complete before the end of the day.

That evening, as I relaxed at home, a notification lit up the screen of my phone. It was a message from William. My heart jumped in my chest as I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and took a look at the message. Included in the message was the details of our date next week. We were going to meet at the theater for a movie followed by dinner at a nice restaurant. Part of me still could not believe that I had agreed to doing this with him. Naturally, I was skeptical of his intentions, but I wanted to see the good in him.

The next week, I waited outside of the movie theater with bated breath. I was nervous, slightly excited, and curious all at once, and it made me slightly anxious that I had come so early. I sighed softly, looking at the camera of my phone as a mirror. I had not been on a date in at least half a year, my job taking up most of my focus. In fact, this was the first vacation I had taken since I started working towards my dream. Usually, I focused solely on my work, even taking it home with me when we were really busy. It was all in an effort to prove myself in an extremely competitive field.

“Alina.” Hearing my name behind me, I startled slightly, turning around to find William standing there. “You’re early.”

“Ah…” I looked down at the time on my phone. “So are you.”

“Haha, busted. I was really looking forward to our date.” He replied, tucking his hands into his jeans. “You look nice today.”

I picked out my favorite purple top and some jeans. When we talked again, after the initial date plans, we made, it became clear that casual was the way to go. He looked good outside of work too, I noticed, looking him over. He was wearing a short sleeved graphic tee shirt, and blue jeans that were a far cry from his normal business suit. Then, I noticed something new I had not thought he would have. On both his arms were three quarter sleeves that looked amazingly well done. Looking closer, I could see some recognizable symbols included causing him to chuckle.

“Bet you didn’t expect me to have tattoos.” William said, eyes looking down at his arms. “My family hates them, but I’m proud of them, personally.”

“No, I wouldn’t have expected you to have tattoos…” I returned, looking back down at the symbols. “But honestly, I didn’t expect to recognize the symbols either. Are you into history?”

“Oh…yeah, I am.” He replied, turning towards the movie theater entrance. “Let’s head inside. Are you a history buff too?”

It was completely unexpected to find such a common ground to discuss with him already. As we waited in line, we continued to discuss different aspects of history. I found myself being drawn in by his charisma and enjoying the conversation a bit more than I had thought I would. Walking into the theater that was to show the movie we had agreed on, I stared up at him as he talked. When he smiled like that, he actually looked really attractive. When his gaze turned back down to me as we took the stairs up to the last row of seats, he smiled slightly.

“You look like you’re having fun.” William said, his voice softer than she had ever heard it. “I’m glad.”

“Well, I did not expect us to have something more than work in common.” I breathed as I took my seat next to him. “I’m glad we’re not fighting anymore. It’s nice to actually talk with you and not fight.”

After the movie, which we both enjoyed, we were on our way out of the theater. As we discussed the movie, I felt his arm slip around my shoulder and pull me to the side, right when a man would have bumped into me. Shocked I looked at the man who apologized before walking away, and I looked up at William. Immediately, as if he had touched something hot, he removed his arm, and looked away. It was then that I realized, it was not just an act to get on my good side. William was being honest about wanting to date me.

A quick taxi ride later and we were pulling up to the restaurant that I definitely recognized. It was a steakhouse I often came to with my family when I was a kid. In surprise, I looked up at him with a smile, showing exactly what I thought of his choice. Clearly, we had a lot more in common than our arguments would make it seem. I smiled at this and as we were seated at a table, my mind wandered to what had happened on this date so far. We had actually had fun together, enjoyed conversation, and the movie we picked to watch. And now, it was our meal.

“You know, I thought you had ulterior motives to this entire thing.” I said, looking at the table after the waiter took our order. “Low and behold, you didn’t and I really enjoyed myself tonight.”

“I’m glad. So, then…” My gaze flew back up to him. “You would not mind going on another date with me?”

I smiled at his expression. This evening had proved that he was not a bad guy, just bad at being honest. Yeah, I could see myself enjoying a few more dates with him. Who knew where it might lead? If anything, it could not hurt to give it a shot and see exactly how much we had in common. I nodded and when the waiter came back with our drinks, he shot me a smile. Sometimes, you just have to take a risk, and with as nice as he had been this entire date, it seemed to be worth it to try. I knew one thing for sure. I was enjoying my time with William.

This is a part two to Elevator. You can check part one out here:

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