“I know you’re right, but haven’t you ever looked back at something you did and cringed? Wishing you never did it?”
“I guess so. But I think you need to forget about it.”
“Of course, I thought of him a couple of times today because Gerry’s from Europe.” I wave my hands around out of frustration. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore, or my head will explode.”
She grabs her towel and stands up. “Let’s go home. You’ve had a hard day.” Just as she says this, Tony the Tiger saunters up to us.
I have no desire to witness their flirting. “I’m going to the lockers to get my things.”
“I’ll meet you in front in a minute,” she says with a sly smile.
After fifteen minutes, Alexa finally strolls to the front door, swinging her duffle bag.
“Real nice to make me wait.”
“We have a double date this weekend. Or blind date for you.”
I shake my head. “No way. Absolutely not.”
“Come on.” She nudges me. “It could be fun. Something different.”
I hesitate. “Fine.” I huff. “My new mission…to do something different.”
I think.
Chapter 4
Gerry
Five more minutes until I see Tina again. I can’t stop thinking about her. Nothing could’ve prepared me for when she stood in front of me the other day. We’ve since exchanged a couple of emails, but they were only about the website. I know it’s the way it should be, but what I want is something different.
This whole situation is insane. It was just a stupid college game. I kissed her once years ago, never officially met her before our meeting last week, but I feel like I’ve known her for years. I’m usually a patient man, but now that we’ve connected again, it’ll be nearly impossible to keep my distance from her.
“Hello. How can I help you?” greets the bubbly gray-haired receptionist behind the white shiny desk.
“Hi. I’m Gerry Maier. I have a two-thirty appointment with Tina Schmitt from Modern Web. Can you please tell me where she’s located?”
The receptionist puts her hand up when the phone rings. “Please let me answer this call.” She covers the receiver and whispers, “I’ll notify her you’re here. Please take a seat on one of the chairs near the window.” She points her chin to direct me.
I nod and wander to the window that provides an amazing view of the New York City skyline. I place the bag of fresh pretzels and my computer bag on an empty chair. The sky is crystal blue with a ribbon of clouds drifting past. The city and the Hudson River glisten. It reflects a sense of peace from this side of the river in Jersey City. The Statue of Liberty stands proud in the clear distance.
I’m still amazed I’ve been living in the US for a year now. I made one bad choice, and it changed my life and career in an instant. While things snowballed back home, I flew here to stay at my aunt’s house in New Jersey. My goal had been to take a vacation and hide, not move here.
Moving to the city over six months ago has given me the peace I’ve been searching for, though it’s one of the busiest and loudest cities in the world. I can blend in with the crowd and make my own schedule.
I don’t miss the hectic life I had in Germany. My agent had me overbooked for months straight. One day in Berlin for an interview, the next day in Munich to film a commercial, and then somewhere else to be a food critic in a famous restaurant. On top of that, running my own restaurant in Hamburg and catering special affairs. It was never ending, and it sucked the life out of me.
I view the skyline one more time and relax slightly. I need to behave and act properly toward her. Especially in front of her manager or coworkers. No touching or flirting under any circumstances. Behave!
“Hi, Gerry.”
I hear her delicate voice, and my heart erupts. I turn around and see her glowing face.
“I hope you found the office building without any problems.” Her hand rests on her collarbone and necklace.
My eyes scan her body. White pants, a black V-neck, short-sleeve shirt, and silver flats. Simply perfect. But she could wear a potato sack, and I’d still think she’s sexy as hell. She’s shorter this time without her heels. Her long, shiny, wavy hair flows down her shoulders just like it did all those years ago.
“Hi, Tina. It’s nice to see you again. I had no problem finding this building.” My lips yearn to kiss her cheek. I fumble and hand her the bag of pretzels instead. “I brought some pretzels for your department. You mentioned how much your manager likes them, and you forgot to take some with you last time.”
Her smile enlarges. “Thanks. If they don’t want them, then they’re all mine.” She holds the bag close to her chest.
I motion for her to go. “Shall we?”
“Oh, yes. Please follow me. We’re on the third floor. The elevator is right over here.”
We approach the silver door. “How was your weekend?”
She faces me as we wait for the door to open. “It was interesting. My roommate, Alexa, convinced me to go on a double date with her. Well, a blind date for me. She met a trainer at the gym we go to. The blind date was the trainer’s best friend.”
I think I’m borderline obsessed. It pisses me off to think about her being with other guys. “How did it go? Was it love at first sight?” My smile couldn’t be any more fake.
“It was a disaster. Our dates discussed how much protein they eat every day to gain a certain amount of muscle. I just wanted to go in a corner somewhere and play Candy Crush on my phone. Alexa wasn’t impressed either. I pretended to feel sick so we could get out of there. We went to a couple of other bars after, which was fun.”
I put my hand to my chest and pretend to stumble back. “I’m hurt. You didn’t come back to Hofbräuhaus. The food is great, and so are the drinks.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, flustered. “We stayed in Hoboken, near our apartment.”
I chuckle. “I’m only kidding. It’s no problem. But you should stop by one night. I practically live there. I can promise you’ll receive special service.” I wiggle my eyebrows. Already failing. “Or I can interrupt your next date if it goes bad.”
The door opens, and we step inside. “This is insanely small. Is this someone’s personal elevator, or do only thin people work here?”
She giggles softly behind me. “Well, not everyone’s a giant like you. You’re the size of a linebacker.”
I tilt my head to the side. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”
She shuffles the bag in her hands and almost drops it. “Sorry. That’s no way near an insult.”
Good answer.
We stand as far away as possible from each other, which isn’t easy. If I’m too close to her, I know I won’t keep my hands off her. My attraction increases every second she’s near me. At least the pretzels are between us.
We both stand there and don’t move to push the button even though the door has closed. We’re more interested in staring at each other. This is going to be more difficult than I’d thought.
I move a centimeter. “What floor again?”
She jerks. “Oh. I’m sorry. Third floor.” We both reach to push the button, and our fingers collide.
She snaps her arm back like she touched something hot, almost dropping the bag again. They’re probably smashed by this point.
“Should I carry the bag for you?” I laugh to myself and push the right button.
She doesn’t respond.
“Our hands act like magnets. They can’t avoid the pull,” I say to help break the tension.
She focuses on the floor while playing with her necklace. Definitely a nervous tic. I probably shouldn’t have said that. I’ve been here for only a couple of minutes and have already broken my promise more than once.
Saved by the bell. The elevator door opens painfully slow, and she leads me to an open modern office space with several black, high-walled cubicles. To the right is a wall of windows. “What a great view to have ever
y day when you come to work.”
“That’s definitely one of the perks,” she says over her shoulder.
It’s dead silent on this floor. We walk past several cubicles that have one to two large computer monitors on the desks. Her coworkers are so engrossed with their computers that they don’t acknowledge anyone around them. No one’s socializing. I know it’s an office, but there’s usually some evidence of life.
“Is it always this quiet? It would drive me nuts,” I mumble to her.
“Yes. It’s worse than my last job. However, my manager and a couple of others are fun to work with. They’ll be my salvation from the silence.”
“It’s never quiet at the restaurant. I have to be social. It’s part of the business. I’m used to noise.”
We stop at one cubicle. “And this is where I work.”
Her organized space is the only one that looks lived in. A large calendar with a picture of a tropical beach at sunset hangs on one wall. A dark-purple sweater hangs from a hook on the nearest wall. A mini fan stands between two monitors. She has a few pictures on her desk, as well as a small crystal vase with two large purple roses in it. Jealousy pools through me.
I point to the roses. “Are those from your blind date to entice you to play Candy Crush with him?” Please say no.
She sighs, but I notice her cheeks turn pink again. “No. Thankfully. But Alexa seemed to have impressed her date, because a dozen multicolored roses were delivered to our apartment on Saturday. I thought they were beautiful, so she told me to take as many as I want. I took the purple ones because purple’s my favorite color. It adds a little life to this boring black cubicle.”
I’d send her flowers every day if I could. She seems lonely in a way. She doesn’t say anything directly, but I can hear it in her droopy tone.
She hugs the bag again. “Let me introduce you to my manager, Thomas. He’d love to meet you.”
“That would be great. Can I leave my things in here?”
“Of course.” She points to the spare chair next to her desk. I move forward as she tries to walk out of the cube. We bang back and forth into each other, then freeze in place as we’re sandwiched together within the walls of the entrance. The only thing between us is the bag of pretzels. Definitely crushed. Her hands press against my lower stomach. They better not move any lower. Neither one of us tries to move. My heart pounds as hard as her breathing.
She says softly, “We’ll only be a few minutes with him, and then we’ll go into a meeting room to work. My cubicle’s too small.”
“I’ve noticed.”
From the corner of my eye, I see someone approaching. I shift my body to separate us.
Tina exits the cube. “Hey, Peggy. How are you? Did you have a good weekend?”
The woman’s eyes dart from me to Tina and back several times. She whispers something. Tina giggles in response.
She motions to me. “Peggy, I’d like to introduce you to Gerry Maier. You’ll be working on his website for his restaurant.”
We shake hands. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you,” she says with a wide smile.
“Nice to meet you too, Peggy.”
Tina interrupts. “Sorry, Peggy. I don’t want to be rude, but I need to introduce him to Thomas. I’ll update you after Gerry leaves.”
“Sure thing. Have fun.” She strolls off with a grin on her face.
Tina leans in and whispers, “She’s one of the fun ones.”
She leads me to her manager’s office and knocks on the door.
“Come in,” a man responds.
She peeks her head in. “Our client, Gerry Maier, is here. I thought you’d like to meet him. Especially since he brought some pretzels for the office.”
“German pretzels. Awesome. I’m starving.”
She opens the door wider to let me in. “Gerry Maier, this is my manager, Thomas Grant.”
He approaches me with a welcoming smile. “Nice to meet you.” He shakes my hand. “Please sit down.”
Tina gives him the bag.
He opens it and looks in. “Let me try one of these pretzels to see if they taste like the ones I had in Munich.” He pulls one out, and it’s flattened like someone sat on it. Scheiße.
His face lights up when he tastes a piece. “These are awesome.” With his mouth still full of pretzel and crumbs in his beard, he asks, “Where are you from? I’m assuming you’re German. I can hear an accent.”
Tina angles herself in my direction. She looks curious too.
“My father’s German and French. My mother is from New Jersey. I lived in Germany most of my life, with some time in France too.”
“I vacationed once in Germany. A group of us went to Octoberfest in Munich. That was one hell of an experience. I never knew people could consume so much beer and pretzels. And the sausages…” He pats his belly and laughs. “I couldn’t drink beer for weeks after that trip.”
He breaks apart another pretzel and offers a piece to Tina.
She waves her hand. “No thanks. I’m more interested in what Gerry has to say.”
“So how many languages can you speak?” she asks.
“I’m fluent in German, French, and English. I was lucky to grow up in a household with so many languages. At home, I spoke American English with my mother, French and German with my dad, and I learned all three languages in school. We lived, and my parents still do, in a small town about twenty minutes away from France and about forty-five minutes from Switzerland. It’s also right on the border of the Black Forest. It’s a beautiful area surrounded by vineyards.”
“Where cuckoo clocks come from,” Thomas chimes in.
I nod. “Exactly.”
“It sounds terrific,” Tina says. “I can only speak a little bit of high school Spanish. How about you, Thomas?”
He tries to respond, but crumbs shoot out of his mouth. He wipes off his shirt.
Ekelhaft.
“Same with me. You can say whatever you want, and I wouldn’t have a clue.”
She leans in my direction with attentive eyes. “Let’s hear the difference between French and German. German always sounds so harsh.”
“What would you like me to say?”
She looks around the office. “Something simple like, the pencil is yellow.”
“In German you would say, du bist wunderschön.”
She teeters her head back and forth. “Not so bad, but I’m sure it sounds prettier in French.”
“In French it’s, tu es belle.”
She giggles. “Definitely prettier. French can make a pencil sound so romantic.”
If she only knew.
There’s a knock on the door. “Hey, Boss, sorry to interrupt. Here are the urgent documents you needed from me.” Peggy hands them to Thomas. “Au revoir,” she says when she walks out.
Tina glances to me again. “I’m so impressed with your language skills. You were lucky to learn them at such an early age. I’m jealous. Maybe you can teach me some words while we work together.”
“As long as you meet the project timelines,” Thomas sneaks in before he takes another huge bite.
“Maybe I’ll learn a thing or two from you. I’m clueless when it comes to computers. I use them for basic things but not when it comes to creating my own website. During our first meeting, you used words like widget—or was it fidget?—SEO, plug-ins. That’s a language too. My brain and hands are more creative with other things.”
Her eyebrows rise, and a little smirk appears. I wonder what she’s thinking. Hopefully, what I’m thinking.
It’s not about cooking or websites.
Chapter 5
Tina
I’m sure he’s creative with his hands. Maybe he can show me what he can do with them. He looks as tasty as those crushed pretzels when he’s dressed in business casual. He has a crisp, white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black business pants that fit impeccably in the front. I haven’t seen the back yet. His
scruff is still there and is the same length as the hair on his head. I wish I could feel it against my cheek. I’ll avoid at all costs to look at his….
“Hello, Tina? Yoo-hoo.” I faintly hear Thomas’s voice.
I snap my head up and squirm in my chair. “Sorry. Lost my train of thought.”
Fantasizing about him should be harder than this. I probably had a stupid grin on my face. Daydreaming is going to get me into some major trouble.
“Shall we start our meeting?” I question Gerry with a professional tone. “I think we’ll make good progress today.”
He leans over the desk and extends his hand to Thomas. “Nice to meet you. Enjoy the pretzels.”
I wait outside Thomas’s office, not paying attention to what he’s saying to Gerry.
When he comes out, I motion for him to follow me. “Let’s pick up our stuff at my desk.”
As we walk down the aisle, I turn my head to the side and notice he’s staring at my ass. My inquiring eyes meet his admiring ones. “Do you like what you see, Mr. Maier?” I’m flirting. In the office, no less! Who am I?
He stops short. “Sorry.” He nervously points to my backside. “There’s something on the back of your pants. It’s a big sticker, I think.”
I twist my waist to check it out.
He reaches out. “Do you want me to take it off?”
My hand flies up and smacks his away.
“Absolutely not,” I say through gritted teeth. “I can find it myself, thank you very much.” I pat my back pockets. Something tickles my fingers, so I yank it off. I hold it up in front of us. It’s an extra-large sticky with a giant red arrow with the word Attention on it. Thomas uses these when he needs signatures on documents. He must think we’re blind, because the sticky is huge. It must’ve been on the chair I sat on.
He smiles with flirtation oozing from his lips. “A red arrow. How appropriate. It was welcoming me to look exactly where I wanted to.”
Dreams Collide: Collide Series Book 2 Page 4
