“Wow,” she whispered and then looked out the large window in front of her.
“Is that all you’ve got to say?”
Aleena looked back at him. “I’m just shocked, I guess. I didn’t know there were men out there like you. I thought they all wanted s … sex and stimulating conversation.”
Kaleb chuckled. “Some guys are pretty shallow.”
They both fell quiet for a moment.
Kaleb stood with his empty glass. “I think you’re going to be fine now, so I should get out of your hair.”
Aleena scrambled up off the sofa, almost spilling the rest of her chocolate milk. She set the glass down on the table by the chair and walked behind him to the door.
She twisted her hands in her t-shirt. “So, um, thank you for bringing me home.”
She stiffened when Kaleb took a few steps back until he stood in front of her. He cupped her face in the palm of one hand.
“Would you have dinner with me tomorrow… I guess it’ll be Friday night?”
“Really?” Her stomach flipped, and her heart pounded furiously in her chest at the thought of seeing him again.
“Yes.”
She nodded. “I’d like that very much.”
He ran his thumb over her soft cheek. “How about I pick you up at work, and we go from there?”
“Shouldn’t I change after work?”
“No, just wear something comfortable to work tomorrow.”
Aleena nodded and smiled. “I can do that.”
“I should go.”
Aleena nodded but didn’t say anything.
Kaleb pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Bye, little one.”
“Bye, Kaleb.”
Chapter Three
Aleena was a nervous wreck all that next day, anxious to be with Kaleb but scared he wouldn’t like her if he really got to know her.
“Is everything okay, sweetheart?”
She looked up to see Gregory in the doorway and smiled. “Yes. Everything’s fine. How are you?”
Gregory chuckled. “I’m good. Lana and I and the kids are going to the cabin if you’d like to come.”
She shook her head. “No, but thank you.”
“All right. You have a good weekend.” He raised a hand and walked off.
“You, too. Tell everyone hi for me.” A frown crossed her face after he left. Should she have told him about her date? He’d been like a father to her since she moved to the city and started working for him.
She felt a little guilty not saying anything, but he worried so much about her. If she went out on more dates after tonight, she’d tell him then. She sometimes had to remind herself that no matter how much she loved and respected the man, he wasn’t her father, and she was an adult who could take care of herself.
Aleena stood, pulled her purse from her desk drawer, and made her way into the lady’s room across the hall from her office. She put on deodorant and sprayed on some perfume to freshen up. Then she put a little brown eye shadow on her eyelids, added some blush and red lipstick, and stood back to survey herself. She hardly ever wore makeup, but she wanted to look good for Kaleb.
She’d worn black pants and a white silk button-down, long-sleeved shirt. She’d pulled her long hair back from her face with a barrette, but some of the hair had come loose, so she unclipped the barrette, smoothed her hair back again, and clipped it in place.
Aleena scrunched up her nose at her face when she realized she might look more like a clown, but she wanted to look more like a grown woman, and the ones she knew wore makeup.
After she brushed her teeth, she looked at herself one more time and walked out of the bathroom. She made her way down the elevator and to the front door, then she stepped out and looked around.
Her heart started beating heavily in her chest after five minutes passed. People were coming out of her building and jostling her, so she stood off to the side to get out of the way.
After several minutes, she checked her phone. It was close to five-thirty.
They hadn’t set a time. She assumed five o’clock was when most people got off work.
She started to get agitated. She didn’t know what to do. Should she stay and wait? For how long? She decided to give it another ten minutes. If he didn’t show up by then, she’d go home. The thought of not seeing him depressed her. They’d spent an hour together, and already she looked forward to being with him. He was easy to talk to and be with, and she liked how gentle he was with her.
She rechecked her phone and sighed. She’d waited for about an hour, and she thought that was long enough. Maybe he’d thought about spending time with her and decided he didn’t like her. She didn’t know, but she’d think about it later. Right then, she needed to find a bus that went to her side of town.
She walked down the sidewalk, not really paying attention because she couldn’t stop thinking about Kaleb. She dodged people and apologized to the ones she hit. Only a few more blocks, she thought. When she made it home, she’d release the tears that burned her eyes.
A scream tore from her mouth when she tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fell down. She did let a tear fall when the people just walked around her instead of helping. She made herself stand and limped out of the way to lean against the front of a business. Wiping a tear from her cheek, she looked at her scraped hands.
