While I valued Tim’s opinion, I still wasn’t ready to give Tiffany up. Although we had only been together for a short period of time, she made me happy. I hadn’t felt this way in a long time. I could balance both Tiffany and work.
I decided to take matters into my own hands and drop by Tiffany’s place with eggnog and homemade baklava, compliments of my mother. I wasn’t ready to let Tiffany go. This was a minor bump in the road, not a road block.
I knocked on her door, being careful not to drop the container of baklava in my hands. Tiffany opened the door with a look of surprise on her face.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Can you help me out?” I asked. The container was wobbling in my hands. She steadied it, taking it from my grip. I followed her inside the apartment.
“I thought you might enjoy some treats,” I said, setting the eggnog down on the coffee table. She put the baklava down on the table as she eyed me up and down.
“You’re persistent, aren’t you?” She smirked. I shrugged my shoulders.
“I am,” I admitted. “I just can’t let this go and I know you don’t want to, either. Can we just talk for a bit?”
“I’m not sure that it’s such a great idea, Cayden,” she said. “Both of our jobs are on the line. I know you’re in denial, but I am taking this very seriously.”
“Please, just give me two minutes,” I begged, although I planned on being there much longer
She sighed and walked into the kitchen. She returned with two cups and two plates. She grabbed the eggnog from the table and poured herself a glass. She took a long sip, still not answering me.
“You’re lucky I’m a sucker for eggnog,” she said. “I guess you can sit for a while.”
“Thank you,” I said. I sat down on the couch and she sat next to me. She looked gorgeous, even though she was in a tank top and sweats. Her hair was pulled up, showing off her shoulders.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” she said. She took a piece of baklava. “I thought my behavior yesterday would have kept you away permanently.”
I laughed.
“Not a chance,” I said. “I understand why you said those things, believe me, but you also have to understand where I’m coming from. I have been here for years. I know Tim and I know that he would never fire me.”
“That’s great and all,” Tiffany said. “But it’s not your job that I’m worried about. It’s my job.”
“That is a valid concern, but you don’t need to be worried about your job, either. We can have the best of both worlds. I’m confident that we can make this work. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was worth the fight,” I told her. She wrinkled her nose.
“If I lose my job…”
I interrupted her.
“You won’t lose your job, I promise,” I told her. “You mean so much to me, Tiffany. The last thing I would ever want to do is get you fired. We can make this work.”
She shifted her position on the couch, leaning closer to me.
“I mean a lot to you?” she asked, looking up at me with her big, green eyes. I nodded.
“You do,” I said. I pulled her closer to me. She put her head on my chest. We sat there for a couple of minutes in complete silence. It felt good to have her close to me. Finally, she sat up straighter and looked me in the eyes.
“Listen,” she said. “If this is going to work, we need to set some boundaries.”
“I agree,” I replied.
“We cannot get caught at work. We need to keep everything at a minimum. I realize we still need to discuss work things in the office, but let’s leave it at that. No chit-chat, no small talk, just work. No more rendezvous in the supply room.”
“You got it,” I said. I extended my hand and she shook it firmly. We sat for a while, talking about Austin’s holiday recital the night before.
“You know, you mean a lot to me, too,” she finally said. My heart skipped a beat as she admitted that to me. I was hoping she felt the same way, but after yesterday, I’d no idea. I smiled and leaned in to kiss her. It felt great to kiss her again, especially after thinking our relationship was over.
“It’s scary,” she continued to talk after our kiss. “I didn’t think I would fall for you so quickly, but after the beach the other night, I can’t get you out of my mind.”
I was surprised that she was opening up to me about this so quickly.
“That makes me so happy to hear,” I told her. She smiled.
“That I’m scared?” she laughed.
“No!” I replied. “That you can’t stop thinking of me. You shouldn’t be scared, though. I promise, I won’t hurt you.”
She looked at me a bit skeptical. I knew that it would take some time to get past the pain that Brad had caused her, but I was confident that I was the right man for the job.
“You will just have to trust me,” I said. She nodded.
“I will,” she responded. “I just need you to know where I’m coming from. I know that Brad was over a year ago, but I still have issues with everything that happened.”
“Are you not ready to move on?” I asked. I hadn’t thought of that before. What if she didn’t want to move on from Brad? I knew that he had moved on from her, but was she ready to leave him in her past?
She looked at me, finishing her cup of eggnog.
“I am ready,” she finally replied. “I just need to take some things slowly.”
“Well, I think we already passed that… a few times!” I laughed. She playfully hit me.
“I don’t just mean sexually. I mean it as our relationship as a whole. I need to take it slow.”
“I know what you meant,” I kissed her forehead. “We can take it as slow as you want. You just need to communicate with me about what works and what doesn’t. The best kinds of relationships have strong communication.”
She nodded in agreement.
“Clear communication going forward,” she said, as we shook hands for a second time that evening.
“I am actually surprised that you admitted it to them,” she told me, sitting back on the couch. Truthfully, I thought about lying about it, but I knew we would both get in much bigger trouble if I did that. Plus, I’d assumed Brenda saw and told on us. Brenda was friends with Robin, and even though Robin was supposed to be unbiased, I knew she would take Brenda’s side.
“It was really the only choice,” I told her, leaving the details out. I didn’t want her to know who had told on us. I didn’t think she would approach Brenda about it, but I wanted to keep the drama as limited as possible.
“True,” she said. “What did you tell them?”
“I told them there was mistletoe there and that I kissed you. I told them that I really cared for you and I couldn’t help myself. I said it was all my fault and if anyone should be in trouble, it should be me. Luckily, they let us both off the hook.”
She smiled.
“My knight in shining armor,” she laughed.
“Well, I don’t know if I would go that far,” I said. “But I wasn’t going to take you down with me. I care about you too much for that.”
I leaned into her for another kiss. She wrapped her arms around my neck as we began to kiss passionately. I bit her bottom lip and she moaned softly. She obviously liked when I did that. I caressed the side of her face with my hand. After a few minutes, she pulled away.
“I need a drink after that,” she laughed, reaching for the eggnog. She poured herself another cup. As she raised the glass to her mouth, I stared at her. She was beautiful.
“What are you looking at?” she asked, suddenly growing a bit self-conscious.
“I am just looking at how beautiful you are,” I said. “I am the luckiest man in Miami.”
She swatted me away playfully and laughed.
“If you think saying things like that are going to get you into my pants, you’re wrong,” she said. “It’s going to take a lot more than that tonight!”
I pretended to be offended.