I shrugged the shadows of the past at the back of my head, got ready and left to meet Niki at our usual spot.
I entered the cafe and saw Niki was already waiting for me while texting on her phone.
"Hi, Niki!" I said, bending over to give her a quick hug.
"Hey, Gorgeous. How have you been? How's work treating you? Any handsome faces?"
"The only faces I see at work are that of Benjamin and the coffee machine." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, and yes Britney too. Mainly while going in and out or rarely during my coffee breaks. She is sweet, though, always cheerful. I like seeing her every morning."
"Britney? Who? Oh yes, you mentioned the reception girl. Good, I am glad you are getting familiar."
"Yeah, me too. Was that Barry on the phone when I got in?"
"Yes, it was him. It's still too early, but we have been texting a lot. I think he likes me. He asked me for a date tonight. I am quite excited about it to be honest." She looked dreamy.
"Great. He sounds nice; I hope he turns out to be the perfect guy for you."
"I hope so too, he is very different from the rest..." Niki continued. I listened to her attentively, and observed, how her eyes were full of excitement as she described Barry to me.
Niki worked as a freelance artist and had a small rented gallery in the east side of the city. She had a cozy workplace, and the beautiful paintings and pieces of art perfected by her, added life to that space. She was amazing, and yet she gave little credit to herself.
"So, what's new with you, apart from work?" Niki asked as she slowly sipped her coffee.
"Nothing, same old."
"Do you still think about Jake?" She gave me an intense look. I didn't know what to tell her. Did I think about him? How about all the damn time?
He wasn't just a guy I randomly came across; Jake had become a feeling. Before meeting him, the last person I ever cared about was me. But for the first time in my existence, his touch, his hold on me made me feel desired. Like I could be someone important too, someone who could be treasured.
"You shouldn't have abruptly run away that night Emma. You even left the island by taking the first flight out. You never know..." Niki's words pulled me out of my thoughts, but before she could complete, I cut her out. "Never know what Niki? What did you expect me to do? I took advantage of him to make Nate jealous. I was totally out of my mind that day. Kissing a stranger like that."
"A hot stranger, mind you. The way you described him, I wish I could see him too, for once atheist."
"Hot or not. It was wrong. Let's have a reality check already. We are never going to discuss about him again. I think it's high time I move on. I never saw him after that, and I am sure I never will. Okay?"
Niki raised both her hands in submission.
"As you say miss. But you know, one should never say never." She gave me a sheepish smile, and once we were done eating, without any further ado, we headed to one of the five shortlisted estate agents that I had carefully picked in my preferred localities.
"Emma, I still feel you should find an apartment closer to my residence." Niki looked at me with hopeful eyes.
"Come on, Niki. We already discussed this. I still don't feel comfortable staying anywhere close to your brother."
"I understand Emma. I just think we can hang out more if we stay close."
"Don't worry about that. Nothing has stopped us before." I literally dragged her with me.
We met all the shortlisted agents and visited six different apartments; the last one, however, was my favorite and Niki nodded in agreement too.
It was a well-designed apartment that had a bright living room, thanks to the eye-catching big glass window that was almost the size of the front wall overseeing the neighborhood.
The moment I entered; I fell in love with it.
"I think I will be taking this one." I told the agent with a straight face, in an attempt to hide my excitement.
"Sure, you can come back tomorrow for the advance and other formalities. You can meet your landlords too. Does twelve noon sound good?"
"Yes. It sounds good."
The moment the agent left, I squeezed Niki in excitement.
"I love this place, Emma. Don't be surprised if you find me crashing here every second day."
"Of course. You will always have a spare key to my apartment. You can come whenever you want."
I squeezed her in a hug again.
By the time we were done, we both were exhausted. It was already six in the evening, and she had to meet Barry at eight pm.
"Good luck with your date Niki. Please be gentle with that poor soul. He doesn't know what's going to hit him." The tone was mocking but the words were true. My friend was a total nutcase.
"You are right. He doesn't know." Niki added sarcastically making us both burst in laughter.
We both hugged each other and went separate ways.
***
It was a usual Monday morning, and I was working on one of the priority accounts delegated by Benjamin.
"Emma, please keep the final agreement ready before I get in from my meeting with the Richmond, that would be around two pm," Benjamin said over the phone before hanging up on me in a rush.
It had been four months since I started working at S&M and I had never seen
