Managed by Chance

by Amy DeMeritt

  “Drive carefully and I hope you have a good night and people don’t dawdle after closing.”

  She gave Layla another quick peck on the lips, then grabbed the doorknob to leave. “Thanks, babe. Have a good night.” As she opened the door, she hollered, “See ya later, Melrose!”

  Mel poked her head out of her bedroom and waved. “See ya. And it’s Mel.”

  Blake just gave her customary smug grin, then winked at Layla as she walked out of the apartment, making Layla release a giggle. After she closed the door behind Blake, Layla floated down the hall to Mel’s bedroom and plopped down on the bed.

  “You look happy.”

  “I’m very happy.”

  Mel scrunched her nose up, and asked, “Did you fuck on the couch while I was in here getting dressed?” Layla giggled with blushing cheeks and Mel rolled her eyes. “What if I had come out there again?”

  “It wouldn’t have been the first time we’ve walked in on each other. Besides, we were fully clothed. I really like her, like I could fall in love with her.”

  “She really annoys me with the Melrose thing, but she seems like a good person otherwise.” Mel held up two pairs of dress socks, and asked, “Which ones?” Layla pointed to the left, so Mel put the other pair away and sat down on the bed to put them and her shoes on. While pulling up the first sock, she looked over her shoulder at Layla. “It was nice of her to bring you dinner tonight. She seems like she’s really serious about having a relationship with you.”

  “She is. She puts in so much effort. She’ll check in on me during the day, send me jokes, and she does this cute thing she calls Reveal Tag.”

  Mel quirked an eyebrow and Layla laughed. “It’s not dirty. It’s not like we’re sending nudes. She’ll tell me something new about her or a story from growing up or something, then ends it with, ‘Tag. Reveal.’ It’s fun and cute and I’ve learned so much about her. I feel like I’ve known her for like a year and not just a couple of weeks.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  Layla nudged her hip with her knee. “That sounded sarcastic. You hating on my relationship with Blake or you not digging your own relationship with Katie?”

  “No, I’m not hating on your relationship. It just sucks that I’m miles behind you even though I met Katie on the same night you met Blake.” She finished tying her shoes and stood up, and as she turned to face Layla, she asked, “Good?”

  “You look great. Have you asked Katie yet about being exclusive?”

  “No.” She turned to grab her cellphone and wallet to slip into her pockets. “I didn’t see her that much today. She decided she’s done with training. I’ll try to bring it up tonight.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Layla puckered her lips to the side and tilted her head. Mel sighed as she shrugged a shoulder and sat back down on the bed next to Layla.

  “I don’t know. Work was weird.”

  After a few moments of silence, Layla said, “Explain.”

  “I don’t really know how to explain it. Yesterday morning was really great. I brought in the coffee and cinnamon buns and Katie was really appreciative and affectionate. She was really sexy with how she… Anyway, this morning she was much more down to business. She didn’t kiss me once or even try to hold my hand or hug me or anything. She was friendly, but the energy was very different from yesterday. We talked for a couple of hours last night through text and that was really great. But this morning was just… It was cold or something.” Mel looked at her watch and sighed. It was only five minutes from the time Katie said she would be there to pick her up for their first official date. “What if she doesn’t show up?”

  “Then I’m going to show up at your work tomorrow and kick her ass.” Mel scoffed and Layla nudged her hip with her knee. “I’m serious. If she breaks it off again so soon, I’m going to at least cuss her out.”

  “If she stands me up and breaks it off, I’ll probably quit my job, so you probably wouldn’t get the chance.”

  “No, you shouldn’t quit. You should sharpen your acting skills and act like she means nothing to you. Do your job as well as you always have, engage with your team, and treat Katie as respectfully as you would a potted plant. You can’t let her have the satisfaction of knowing she hurt you. If she can’t handle it, then she can leave. You have been there longer and you love working there. It’s your territory. You can’t let her push you out.”

  “She’s part Slytherin, Layla. I’m a Hufflepuff. I don’t think I’m standing my ground against her and winning.”

  Layla laughed hard. “You are such a nerd.” She wrapped her arms around Mel and kissed her cheek. “I love you, but I will seriously kick your ass if you let her walk all over you. And you know damn well that explanation was weak as hell. You are part Gryffindor, and Gryffindor is full of bad-asses. We don’t take no shit. And what went down in the final battle against Voldemort? Every house, minus Slytherin, stood up against the most powerful army. They didn’t cower away.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Mel sighed again and looked at her watch. “Anyway, speaking of houses, we should schedule our annual Hogwarts party planning meeting soon. We only have a little over a month before Harry’s birthday.”

  “Okay, we’ll figure it out this week.” The intercom buzzed and Layla smiled brightly as she hopped off of the bed, yanking Mel up in the process. “Sounds like your date showed. Guess I don’t have to kick anyone’s ass.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  After giving Mel a tight hug and wishing her luck, Layla went to her bedroom so Mel could answer the door without Katie’s focus being on anything other than Mel. While she waited at the door for Katie to knock, Mel attempted to regain the confidence she had over the weekend and even yesterday. She tried to convince herself that Katie’s lack of affection at work didn’t mean anything. She could have just been stressed from her decision to fully take the reins of her manager position after only a week of training. But she couldn’t help feeling like the seemingly indifferent attitude was because of her – as if maybe she said something last night while they were talking through text that just turned Katie sour on her. Or maybe she had decided yet again that it wasn’t worth the risk to date. Nothing was working to calm her doubts and insecurities and by the time Katie knocked, Mel was certain Katie was going to be dressed in jeans and a tee and had only stopped by to tell her face to face that it was over. Again.

  But as Mel slowly opened the door, expecting the worst, she was pleasantly surprised. No, more like mesmerized. Katie was wearing a beautifully feminine red dress with small white and blue flowers on it and black open-toe heels. The dress had short rippled bits of fabric over the shoulders, was slightly form-fitting in the torso, and loose and flowing from the waist down to just below her knees. The red looked great against her lightly tanned skin and really highlighted her femininely fit legs, and the dress hugged her breasts in such an intimate, yet modest way, that it was breathtaking. Katie looked like she could be the leading actress of a romantic movie.

  Katie placed two fingers under Mel’s chin and gently lifted her gaze to her smiling face. “Hello.”

  Mel’s stomach fluttered and her cheeks blushed, as she answered, “Hello. I’m sorry I’m staring. You look really beautiful in that dress. You look like a movie star, like someone traveling in Europe or Italy or Spain. Someplace really beautiful and romantic.”

  “Thank you.” She gave Mel a soft kiss on the lips, then looked her up and down again. “You look really nice. I love that shirt on you. Have you ever been to any of those places?”

  “Thanks. Uh, no. Layla and I and few friends have been to Mexico a couple of times, but I haven’t been anywhere else outside of the country. Have you?”

  Katie nodded as she took Mel’s had. “I’ve been to a few parts of England and Ireland and I’ve been to Italy a few times. I love Italy. I hope you like Italian food, because that’s what I picked for tonight.”

  “I love Italian food
.” Mel grabbed her keys off of the hook on the wall. As she and Katie walked out the door, Mel hollered down the hall to tell Layla goodnight. After she closed the door behind herself, she told Katie, “I’m thoroughly jealous of your trips. Do you have family in Italy? Is that why you’ve been more than once?”

  “No, I don’t have family in Italy. I spent a semester there in college and fell in love with it.”

  Mel’s stomach fluttered with excitement, and she asked, “Can you speak Italian?”

  Katie smiled as she pressed the button for the elevator, then looked into Mel’s eyes, and softly said, “Me sei mancato oggi.”

  Mel groaned, “Oh, my god, that sounded so hot.” Katie laughed a little with blushing cheeks. “What does it mean?”

  “I missed you today.”

  Mel’s entire body instantly erupted in a mixture of painful and pleasurable tingles and her eyes sprung with stinging dampness in the corners. She cleared her throat as she blinked hard and walked through the elevator doors.

  With her voice a bit hoarse, she aimed for some levity to hide the sudden wave of emotion. “I missed my trainee too.”

  As Katie leaned against the back of the car, she placed a hand on Mel’s opposite cheek to turn her face to her. She searched her eyes, which were darting away from meeting her gaze.

  “Look at me, please.” Mel’s jaw tensed with the effort to maintain her composure and she met Katie’s breathtaking gray-blue eyes. “You’re upset with me.”

  “No.”

  Mel tried to look away, but Katie held her firmly and kissed her lips. “You’re not being open and honest with me.”

  Before she could stop herself, and because it’s her knee-jerk reaction to most things, Mel rolled her eyes. Katie’s face slightly hardened and she released Mel’s cheek and her hand as she took a step back, putting a couple of feet between them.

  “Why did your mood plummet when I said I missed you today? Do you not want to go out tonight?”

  “What? No. I mean, yes, I want to go out.”

  “Then what’s wrong? Why did you look like I had offended you? And why did you roll your eyes at me?”

  The elevator doors slid open to a few people waiting to get on it, so they exited the car. But instead of walking outside, Katie stayed in the lobby and looked at Mel with her arms crossed over her chest. Her body language clearly told Mel that if she didn’t give a satisfactory answer, they were not going out tonight.

  “I roll my eyes all the time, even at Layla. It’s just a reaction I have to things sometimes. I don’t mean it in a rude way or…”

  “Clearly what I said bothered you. Why?”

  Mel exhaled hard as she rubbed the back of her neck. This is not how she wanted tonight to go. But she didn’t know how it was supposed to go because she was confused. She looked up to meet Katie’s eyes, and answered, “You told me you wouldn’t be confusing anymore.”

  “How was I confusing?”

  “Really?” Mel blushed at how quickly and sharply the word spit from her lips. She shook her head, and quietly said, “Sorry.” She rubbed her neck again, then explained, “One day you act totally into me, kiss me, hug me, hold my hand, and other stuff. Then the next you act like I’m just any other person in the office. I wasn’t even sure if you were really going to show up tonight. It felt like you were done with me again.”

  “I told you I’d be here when we walked out together tonight.”

  “Yeah, but…” Mel shook her head and shuffled on her feet. “Did I say or do something wrong? Did I miss a hint last night and you didn’t want to talk that long or…?”

  “No.” Katie’s eyes misted over as she stepped forward and pulled Mel’s clenched hands out of her blazer pockets. She kissed both hands and Mel loosened them so Katie could properly hold them. “I’m sorry. I got into work early today to finish some compliance and code of conduct training for HR. The last section I had to read through was about sexual advances and harassment in the workplace and how I’m supposed to conduct myself as a manager. I guess I was afraid my behavior before had been too irresponsible and reckless. I want to date you without risking our careers.”

  “Would have been nice to be clued in on your thoughts and concerns so I knew you were just trying to be discreet.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll do better.” Mel released a small involuntary laugh. Katie quirked a perturbed smile with her brow pinched and she lightly slapped Mel’s shoulder. “Don’t laugh. This is new territory for me. I’m trying my best to figure out how to be girlfriends and co-workers.”

  Mel’s face split into a huge smile as a rush of joy washed through her veins and bubbled in her belly. “I’m your girlfriend?”

  Katie wrapped her arms around the back of her neck, and as Mel wrapped her arms around her waist, she softly answered, “If you want to be. Even though tonight is our first real date, and I derailed our train once…” She tilted her head, and amended herself, “Well, if I include today’s lack of communication, I guess I caused another hiccup. But all of that aside, given the way we met and the extraordinary coincidence of being co-workers, I feel like we’ve been through enough and I know enough about you to know that I want to be with you. I’ve grown beyond simply being curious about you. I’ve grown attached to you. And a little possessive of you.” Mel’s smile widened, spawning an equally wide smile on Katie’s face. She gave Mel a soft kiss on the lips, and admitted, “I don’t want anyone else to have you. I want you all to myself. Can I have you?”

  “Yes. You have no idea how relieved I feel right now.”

  “I’m really sorry I was weird today and made you second guess my interest in you. And I’m sorry that I’ll probably be a little weird for awhile at work while I try to figure out how to balance my impulses. It’s not about you. I’m just really worried I might slip up in front of someone if I get in the habit of kissing and touching you when we’re in our offices.”

  “Don’t want to get caught shoving me against the back of the elevator car and making out with me, huh?”

  “Exactly. I don’t know about you, but I am starving. Are you ready to go to dinner, or do I have more that I need to clear up and make right?”

  “There’s just one thing I need, then we can go.”

  Mel looked at Katie’s lips, and without hesitation, Katie took the hint and pulled Mel into a kiss. After a few moments, Katie pulled away and smiled seeing Mel’s eyes were still closed and she was wearing a drunk sort of grin. Katie gently kissed her closed eyes and both cheeks, then Mel opened her eyes with her tingling lips spreading in a huge smile.

  She waited for a couple of people to walk through the lobby and out the door, then Katie quietly said, “I really like kissing you. Did that satisfy your need for now?”

  “Yes, for now. But I think I’ll need you to come up to my place after dinner.”

  “I’d love to.”

  Katie gave her a peck on the lips, then took her hand and led her out of the apartment building and to her car. As Mel slid into her seat and adjusted her blazer so it wouldn’t wrinkle, arousal flared in Katie’s core like a match being struck into a burning flame. Mel looked so damn sexy in the stylish slim-cut suit and paisley shirt. She leaned over the center console, grabbed the lapel of Mel’s jacket, and tugged her forward into a deep, passionate kiss. As her clit spasmed in pleasure, she released Mel with a sharp breath through her nose.

  “I really missed you today. I’m sorry I put so much distance between us with my paranoia.” She gave Mel another kiss on the lips, gently sucking both her top and bottom lip momentarily. “How dangerous do you think it would be to start every morning with a kiss and limit our affection to just that one kiss?”

  Mel smiled brightly, and eagerly answered, “I think that’s completely safe and I full heartedly support that plan. And if I suspect you’re about to slip up, I’ll attempt to turn your advances into something work appropriate.”

  Katie licked her lips and inhaled through her nose as her clit
spasmed again. “What would you do if I did this?” Katie dragged her hand up the inside of Mel’s thigh, and before she could cup her groin, Mel took her hand and shook it, and said, “Nice work today, trainee,” making her laugh hard.

  “But this is not the hand we are supposed to shake with?”

  Mel grinned, and supplied, “You just got turned around because you’re so overwhelmed with all of the information that you’re having to absorb.”

  “Sounds like you’ve thought about this scenario.”

  “I’m just really good at problem solving.” Mel quirked an eyebrow, and teased, “As my boss and girlfriend, I think that’s one of my best qualities that you should never forget.”

  “You have effectively eased my concerns. I fully believe that you’ll be able to figure out how to turn any of my lusty behaviors into something boardroom appropriate.” Mel released a groan of pleasure, making Katie’s face spread into a huge smile. “Imagining having sex in the big conference room?”

  “Yes. You would look so good spread naked on that mahogany table.”

  “My dining room table is mahogany, but it’s more rustic.”

  “We are never going to make it to dinner tonight. Do they do take out? Tell me more about this table.”

  Katie was already throbbing with pleasure, and the desire burning in Mel’s eyes was not helping. She looked at the time on her dashboard and groaned.

  “Our reservations are in fifteen minutes.” She gripped the inside of Mel’s thigh. “Even if I start driving right now, we might still be late.”

  With feathery fingers, Mel traced Katie’s jawline as she leaned in and kissed her, further increasing their desire. But as she pulled away, Mel decided, “Let’s go to dinner so we can say we’ve been on a real date, and so I can hear you speak more in Italian and hear about your trips. I’ll be patient and wait till our date on Friday to discover your mahogany dining room table.”

  “Okay.” Katie pecked her lips and turned forward to buckle her seatbelt. “My stomach was getting angry at me for considering ignoring it.”