'Have dinner with me tonight', Damien said, on day about two weeks after he got back from his trip. The trip he was vague about.
Violet had been giving him one excuse after the other for about two weeks now, since he got back and had been asking her to have dinner with him but she was running out of excuses and she did not think that she wanted to refuse him any more. He had been so very considerate and good to her and she had started seeing a new side to him.
The truth was that she no longer felt antagonistic towards him anymore. She had started liking him, and not just a little.
She had missed him all the time he had been away. She felt pangs of jealousy thinking that height have gone on a vacation with some woman but since the feeling was new to her, she did not want to investigate the cause further. But if it a woman then she had no business going out on a date with him but she really wanted to spend some time with him.
'I am...'
'Please don't say no', he pleaded smiling, 'I mean it's only a date and let's see how it goes from there'.
Violet still hesitated.
'You have been giving me one excuse after another but I shall accept any more excuses', he said sternly but smiled to disarm her.
'Okay'.
'Good. I shall pick you at six pm', he said before she could change her mind and walked away to keep an appointment she had just reminded him off.
Violet was afraid. She prayed she had not made a mistake by accepting to be his date. She hoped everything would work out well. If she did not get the right vibes, she told herself, then she would call off the whole thing.
They went to a classic restaurant.
When the waiter went to get their orders, she looked round, appreciating all that she saw, the white marbled ceilings and glass walls, exotic drapes and exotic chairs, the place was presidential in all appearances.
The waiter came back with their food and iced wine.
'I have not seen Steve for sometime now', Damien started, 'Is there a reason for that?'
'He travelled out of the states for a business deal', she replied, 'Once he closes the deal, he will be back'.
Damien's face hardened a little.
'I know that it is none of my business but is the relationship you have with romantic?'
Violet looked at him and found him looking at her with seriousness.
'Will that change anything?' she countered.
'Well I just want to be sure of where I am stepping', he said his eyes dark as he watched her with narrowed eyes.
'He loves me', she said hesitantly.
'And you?' he asked and there was something in his voice that made her look up from her plate at him.
'Well, I... I like him alot'. she said finally.
'Like him or love him?'
'Where is all these question leading?' she asked.
'Answer the question, he is the reason you had not wanted to go out on a date with me?' he asked.
'We work together and it is hardly appropriate to have such a relationship as you have in mind', she said.
'And how do you know what I have in mind?', he drawled smiling. 'You are right. I would like us to have a close relationship but I hate sharing and want to be sure of your feelings for Steve'.
'Steve and I are just friends', she said.
'You said as such to Clark that night but is that really true or you do not want to admit your relationship to me?', he asked, shifting forward in his seat towards her, 'I know how Steve looks at you, and it is not a look a man gives his friend. I am a man and I know how he must feel for you'.
Violet had thought that with their agreement to become friends, Steve would soon get over his attraction for her, but she had noticed that it had merely increased and it had made her uncomfortable and that was why she made excuses sometimes so she would not go out with him and had been grateful for the reprieve his trip out of the states had brought.
She did not want to hurt him, but she found that she could not love him, she had even tried hugging him once to see if she could feel the spark she had felt with Damien and how his presence in the same room with her had since then, made her heart beat faster and her knees weak but she had felt nothing but a friendly and safe companionship with him. She had postponed the inevitable for long enough because of her fear of a heartbreak because she knew that she was almost half in love with Damien already and if she was not careful, she would go overboard.
'He wanted a more personal relationship but I told him I was not ready and he said he was a patient man and would wait for me'.
'And are you ready now?'
'I do not feel that way for him'.
'And with me?' he drawled with narrowed eyes as though trying to hide the expression in his eyes from her.
'I'm not sure...'
'Violet, you cannot deny the chemistry between us', he said earnestly. 'You do not feel that with everybody. We have something between us, what it is is what I am not sure of yet but it is something very strong and we cannot just walk away from it'.
She had tried to feel indifferent like she had always felt with him in the past but she had been unable to. She kept remembering how weak she had felt in his arms and the desire that had fared in her so sharply that she had felt a shock akin to being electrocuted with sensuality pass through her.
The vision of his hands on her breasts when he had caught her to prevent her from falling when she had lost her balance, could not be erased from her mind.
She had since wanted to be with him intimately and no matter how hard she had fought it, she had been unable to control her reaction to him. And his absence these past months had nearly lead to her undoing.
She looked up now and found him looking at her, his eyes darkened with desire and she knew that the same was mirrored in her eyes. She quickly looked down so that she would not reveal more than she wanted to him.
'Don't you even like me then?', he asked.
'I like you alot', she blurted, thinking that like was not enough to qualify what she felt for him.
'Then why the hesitation?'
'I need time', she pleaded.
'Take your time. I am not planning on swallowing you. Let's just date and see how it goes before delving further'.
After the meal, Damien settled the bill and gave the waiter a huge tip and they went into their car but he parked somewhere and asked her to come out.
Violet was not afraid but she asked, 'Where are you taking me?'
Damien laughed. This girl was just too much. 'Be careful what you request', he said and she thought about she had said and read another meaning to it and blushed.
'I meant...'
'I know what you mean', he said smiling and she could not help but hit him on his arm as he continued laughing and then she was laughing as well and fell into his arms and they never knew who made the first move but she looked up to find him looking at her, he be t and she knew that he was going to kiss her and she knew she had wanted that all evening and opened her mouth to accept his and their mouths and tongues fused in a long, searing kiss.
They came up for air and she opened her eyes to find him looking at her so tenderly that her heart ached within her.