by R. R. Banks
“You’re inviting me over for dinner?” he joked.
“Well, I told you I’d buy our dinner when we finally had one together,” she said. “But in some circles, Chinese food isn’t considered food.”
Russell laughed. “I love it and was actually considering ordering some tonight.”
“Oh, well, come eat mine then,” she continued. “Just bring something for you to drink. I have water and a few bottles of wine that I will probably kill tonight.”
“I’m actually in a beer mood,” he explained. “Would you text me your address and I can head that way right now?”
Hannah smiled. “Absolutely,” she said. “Oh, hey, just a heads up. I’m wearing my blouse from today and some gym shorts. I hope you weren’t expecting me to dress up.”
“I’m wearing a Manchester United jersey and blue jeans,” he replied. “I think it will be ok.”
Hannah nodded. “Perfect. I’ll see you soon.”
She hung up and held the phone in her hand, typing out her address and sending it to him. “I could clean this place up a bit,” she thought to herself as she walked over to the couch and sat down, pulling her shoes off and placing them underneath the coffee table. “Nah, that’s too much work.” She leaned back against the couch and exhaled slowly, finally able to relax and enjoy herself. Her mind started to wander when she heard a knock at the door, prompting her to leap to her feet in excitement. “These guys are always the fastest in town,” she said, impressed at how she called her food in ten minutes earlier. She walked over to the front door and placed her hand on the door knob, twisting it slowly and pulling it open, expecting to see the same, short, Chinese boy who always brought her food to him.
“You’re not Chinese,” she said as she looked at Englishman in front of her.
“No, I’m not,” he said as he held a six pack of beer in his hand, wearing the clothes he told her he would be wearing.
Hannah nodded slowly as she looked at him with a strange gaze. “How did you get here so fast?” she asked.
Russell stood in the doorway and laughed. “Well, funny story, I live three floors above you.”
Hannah’s eyes lit up as she opened them wide. “You’re kidding?”
“No, I live in this building too,” he replied. “Might I come in?”
“Yes!” she exclaimed as she stepped out of the way. “Please, please, come in.” Hannah stepped to the side as she looked at Russell walking into her apartment. “I’m sorry, but usually the Chinese food is extra fast. I don’t normally expect my men to be.”
Russell laughed as he examined her apartment and found the kitchen, setting his beer in the refrigerator before walking around the counter and finding his way back into the living area. “I’d say I like your apartment, but we have the same floor plan too.”
“I think everyone here has a pretty similar floor plan,” quipped Hannah. “The architects weren’t very creative when they designed this place.”
“Ironically, most of the apartments I looked at possessed similar floor plans,” continued Russell. “I think they all found an architect they liked and stuck with him.”
“If it’s not broke…” she said with a smile as a thundering knock filled the room. “That’s him,” she said with a smile, turning back and running toward the door with enthusiasm. She reached forward and grabbed the door knob, twisting it and pulling it back to see the familiar Chinese man waiting on her with a large sack of food. “Chen!” she screamed as she opened the door to see the small man wearing a Yankees hat. “It’s good to see you!”
“Where’ve you been!?” he screamed as he held out the sack of food. “We thought you died!”
Hannah laughed. “Where have I been? Oh, only to Dubai, Beijing, Seoul, Marrakesh, Cairo, Istanbul, Yemen, Oman, Azerbaijan, and finally Sydney.”
The young Chinese man looked at Hannah with a blank gaze. “Where’s Marrakesh?” he asked in a blunt manner.
“Morocco,” she replied.
“That’s unfortunate,” he replied.
“It wasn’t the worst place I visited, but it also wasn’t the best,” she explained as he turned around and walked away rudely, clearly through talking to her. “If it weren’t for the food, I’d punt him across this hallway,” she thought as she closed the door with the bag in her hand. “I hope you like chicken,” announced Hannah as she walked into her living room to find Russell sitting on the edge of her couch, leaning forward awkwardly.
“Do you consider that to be chicken?” he asked as he sat uncomfortably.
“I don’t ask questions,” she said as she placed the bag on the coffee table in front of her couch. “I only acknowledge that it tastes great and it will satisfy my yearning for this food.”
Russell nodded as he approved her message. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Hannah shook her head. “Right now, no,” she said as she held back her innuendo. She walked into her kitchen and grabbed a couple plates and forks, not knowing how coordinated Russell was with chop sticks. She sat the plates on the table to find Russell struggling to utilize the utensils, and instead of trying to use them as a pincer, skewered the food with them instead. “Ok, you don’t eat it like a kabob.”
“Why not?” asked Russell as he held the stick in his hand with the impaled piece of chicken on the end. “This is results.”
“You’re absolutely right,” she answered. “That is a result. It’s not the right result, but it is a result.”
Russell placed the chicken in his mouth before taking the chop stick and impaling another piece. “In my profession, the only thing that matters are results,” he said as he swallowed the sweet piece of chicken. “It doesn’t matter how you get to the result, as long as it’s the required result, you can move on.”
Hannah laughed, taking her chop sticks and using them properly to grab a piece of chicken like a pincer. “While I do enjoy getting the right results, the journey is equally as important.”
“How so?”
“Well, in my field, I am to acquire large quantities of crude oil. The end result is to acquire the crude oil, but I also have to worry about how I am getting that oil and what deals I’m making or, potentially, what deals I’m severing to get that product at the right price. Am I cutting off my nose despite my face, is probably the best way to put it.”
Russell chuckled as he chewed on a piece of chicken. “What?” he said with a mouth full of food, covering it with his hand so she couldn’t see it. He swallowed it and looked at her with a gaze of disbelief. “What did you say?”
“Cut off my nose despite my face?”
“Yes, what does that mean?” he asked, hoping Hannah could clarify the expression.
“Oh, it means needing to do something but staying mindful of everything else,” she explained.
Russell nodded, though still looking a bit confused. “I don’t understand why that expression ever came up. Who would honestly want to cut off their nose?”
Hannah shook her head as she continued to eat her chicken. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “If you think about it too much, you’ll end up giving yourself a migraine.”
“But I’m a lawyer. That’s what we do.”
Hannah reached over and grabbed her glass of wine, turning it up before standing and walking away from the couch. “Can I get you anything?” she asked as she walked into the kitchen to grab the bottle.
“No, I’m quite alright,” he replied as he continued to skewer his chicken, making a game of it after knowing that it was annoying Hannah.
She walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, removing her bottle of wine and carrying it with her into the living room. “You sure I can’t bring you anything?” she asked. “I’m bringing everything in here with me now so that I don’t have to go back.”
“I’m perfectly alright,” he said with a warm smile, showing off his positive and pleasant disposition. “I know where your kitchen is loc
ated, because it is in the same part of the apartment as my kitchen.”
“Right, I keep forgetting about that,” realized Hannah.
“Yeah, your apartment is oddly familiar with mine, apart from the panties I’ve been sitting on between the couch cushions,” he said, pulling out a small, lacy thong and holding it up on his finger.
She walked forward and yanked them off of his fingertip before looking at them. “I’ve been looking everywhere for these,” she admitted. “Sometimes they just come off where they come off. I hope you understand.”
“Oh, I fully understand,” he confirmed. “The first thing I do when I get home is remove my pants. After that, it’s fair game as to what happens next.”
Hannah laughed as she tossed the panties to the side of the room and walked over back over to the couch. “I’m glad you get it then,” she said in a snarky tone. “Most men would’ve seen those and went crazy.”
“Why, because I found your panties?”
“Yes, because you found a pair of my panties in my apartment,” she said, continuing with the sarcastic voice. “And if you want to see more of them, I have a drawer in my bedroom that is full of nothing but panties.”
Russell giggled as he listened to Hannah justify her panties being in her apartment. “Hannah, I’ve got a terrible secret I have to tell you. This could shatter your perception of me but it is something that you have to know.”
Hannah’s face relaxed as she turned to face Russell on the couch, looking at him with a serious intent. “What?”
Russell took a few deep breaths and composed himself before turning and looking at Hannah, focusing in on her eyes while he paused. “Hannah, I keep my underwear in my apartment too.”
She slapped him on the arm lightly as he broke out in a monumental laugh. “Rude!” she shouted with a smile spreading across her face as he flinched, bracing for impact in case she attempted to hit him again. “I would honestly hope you keep your damn boxers in your apartment. Where the hell else would keep them?”
“I could hang them from the window or leave them in the hallway,” he stated plainly as he continued to flinch.
“Yeah, but be honest with me. Do you think anyone cares about your underwear? Women’s underwear comes in various shapes, sizes, colors, cuts, and styles. Men’s underwear comes in one of two styles, and if you can’t decide, you can get them combined. Who really cares?” preached Hannah with Russell looking on in laughter. “If you and I were to walk down to the street and both hold up our underwear for all of New York City to see, I can almost promise you that everyone will be looking at what I’m holding and not caring what you happen to have in your hands.”
“You’re absolutely right,” he said. “Your underwear is a lot more scantily clad and a lot more fun to look at. Mine is absolutely boring and if you didn’t know you were looking at boxers, you could honestly think you were looking at a pair of thin shorts.”
Hannah leaned back against the couch, enjoying the time she was spending with Russell. Their meal was over and now they were spending time together over a couple of drinks. The bottle of wine was slowly emptying while Russell was already on his fourth bottle of lager. Time passed quickly as they spoke to each other about a variety of topics. They joked about their families, talking about how they were brought up in very different atmospheres but how they both ended up being successful. The conversations continued on about their schooling and their educational backgrounds, focusing on where they attended and why Russell moved to the United States. The conversation moved on as the alcohol continued to flow, making the dialogue flow easier and their mannerisms more relaxed. Eventually they sounded more like old friends reconnecting than a potentially blossoming relationship.
“So, what is your relationship like with your best friend, Alexis?” asked Russell as he stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen to grab another beer. “I know you said she’s your best friend and the two of you have been exceptionally close for years, but what’s it really like?”
“I guess you could say she’s more like my sister than my best friend,” explained Hannah. “We’ve been as thick as thieves since grade school and there isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for that girl.”
Russell smiled while he listened to Hannah explain her best friend, jealous that he didn’t have that. “Of all of our differences, you can safely say that is the largest one,” he informed her. “I don’t have very many friends of whom I can say I am that close to. I have friends, but none of them are that close to me.”
“Do you not let yourself get that close to someone?” she asked as she pried for more information.
“No, it’s not that. I typically just do not like people,” he answered her with a smile. “I always keep a very pleasant and friendly disposition about myself because I’m always happy to be alive; it really beats the alternative. But honestly, I am not a fan of human interaction. I am as introverted as they come, which is what makes tonight incredibly odd.”
Hannah laughed as he explained his position. “Would you not normally put yourself out here like this?”
“Absolutely never,” he replied. “When you approached me in the café after our meeting, the first thought that went through my mind was to run for the closest exit. I’ve never been great with confrontations and I’ve never been great with interacting with other people. It’s why I excel in business transactions because I will always say what everyone else is afraid to say, not because I’m courageous, but because I don’t have the social awareness not to say it.”
“I suppose that’s why you’re so successful then,” reasoned Hannah as she sipped on her glass of wine. “They send you to those meetings across the world because you will get the job done.”
Russell nodded slowly as he grinned from ear to ear, holding his beer in his right hand while looking into Hannah’s eyes. “I’m really glad you called me,” he said, changing the subject to a much more serious matter. “I wanted to see you but I didn’t know how to instigate making it happen. I’m really thankful you called and I’m happy we’ve been able to spend some great time tonight getting to know each other.”
“Well, I thought about spending the night alone doing some laundry, but I have a few days to do that before I’m dispatched to some corner of the world,” she replied. “I’m glad you decided to come over as well.”
He stood up and finished his beer, walking over to the garbage can and throwing it away. “Ms. Burchfield, I’m afraid I’m going to have to call it a night,” he said as he stood in the center of the room. “I have to be in court tomorrow to represent a very high-profile client of ours through some litigation and I cannot be late.”
“Aw, you don’t want to stay a little longer?” she teased.
“No, I’m afraid I cannot,” he replied with a smile. “However, I would like to take you out tomorrow night if you can free up some time for me. I think it’d be quite nice to have a proper date.”
Hannah smiled as she sat on the couch and looked up at Russell. “You know what, that would be absolutely perfect,” she said. “I would love nothing more than for you to take me out, but I warn you, Alexis will be in town and she may need a hug at some point.”
Russell smiled. “Well, that’s quite alright. We can go to dinner and maybe she and a friend of hers can join us for drinks afterwards.”
“I think she’d be for that,” replied Hannah as she stood up from the couch and walked over to Russell. She placed her arms around his neck and interlocked her fingers, pulling herself in close as she leaned in to kiss him. Their lips lightly touched as he placed his hands on her waist, holding them together for a few seconds before releasing and turning toward the door.
“I look forward to seeing you tomorrow,” said Russell as he reached the door with Hannah a few steps behind him.
“As do I,” she replied as she watched him open the door and walk out. “As do I.”
THE END
Boss Me Fore
ver
Chapter 1
“My God what is wrong with you!?” shouted Hannah as she looked into the mirror, wondering why she was panicking over the way she looked. A day had passed since she and Russell ate Chinese in her apartment and her mind hadn’t stopped dwelling on the young lawyer from Wales. She looked in the floor length mirror and analyzed her appearance. Typically, Hannah wore her blonde hair up above her ears, restrained by an elastic band in a pony tail or clipped on top. She never wore her hair down, though she tried it this time. It hung down in between her shoulder blades and possessed thick curls, giving an appearance of waves throughout the blonde strands. “This just isn’t me.”
She continued to look in the mirror at the rest of her appearance. She was wearing a deep, royal blue dress with thick shoulder straps. It was made of a soft material that shimmered in the light, magnifying her legs as she walked. Her shoes gave her an extra four inches of height, which she thought might make her taller than Russell. She was being self-conscious about her figure, something that she had never been concerned about before. Hannah possessed an incredibly athletic physique with muscular legs and a firm butt, both of which she was hoping her dress would highlight.
Hannah walked away from the mirror. She stepped over the clothes and other things on the floor in her bedroom as she reached her dresser. A small jewelry box, that contained all the jewelry Hannah owned, was sitting open on top of the dresser. Rummaging through it, she looked for the pieces that she wanted to wear that night. She pulled out a large silver necklace with a silver pendant and pearl accent as well as two silver earrings with pearls to match. With a soft sigh, she put the jewelry on and walked back over to the mirror to look at the completed package. “That’s not terrible,” she said as she looked at the jewelry on her. “I’m still not happy with everything else.”
She thought back about how she and Russell had met in Sydney and how they were now going on a date for the first time. She kept thinking about how handsome he was and how he always kept a positive attitude and disposition, something that she’d never encountered with a guy. Her encounters with men were always quick and self-fulfilling as she was always looking for instant gratification. The fact that she was stressing over a date was vastly different from anything she had ever done.