Chapter 35: Really Good Thing
"Is it... a good thing that you dreamed?" Raya asks. "Or a bad thing?"
How clever of her. I can’t help but smile.
"Well it wasn’t a nightmare like I used to have before, so I guess..." My smile falls down slightly, and I gaze back at her again, seeking to find a deeper meaning in this for both of us. "I guess it’s a really good thing."
Her cheeks flush a darker shade, and I wonder if she isn’t already aware of exactly what my dream was about. At this point, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised.
"Well I’m happy for you then," she smiles, her eyes finally dropping from mine. "I hope you have more."
Dear god, if I have more like that...
"Can I ask you something else? Did you wear that to the office?" She asks, surprising me with an entirely different question this time.
"What? This?" I look down and tug the material away from my chest before letting it go.
This is a sweater that I’ve had for several years. It’s just a simple white waffle-knit crew neck that I bought to support a friend’s business. The brand ended up being one of the forerunners of the ’quiet luxury’ trend. The fashion is minimal and understated, and it’s definitely not typical daytime office wear. Despite the high price tag, someone like Lawson wouldn’t be caught dead in it. Maybe that’s why I love it so much.
"I did. Is that a bad thing?"
"Well," she bites her lip, which is adorable. "It has holes."
"It doesn’t have that many holes," I glance back down, and she starts laughing. "What? It was made this way."
"It was? And you bought it?" She covers her mouth with a hand, trying to hide the laughter that keeps coming.
"Laugh all you want. I’ll have you know that this sweater is from a luxury brand, Raya. It’s French. If you want, I’ll find you one like it."
Her shoulders continue shaking with laughter, and I’m not lying when I say that it feels like one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.
"No, it... don’t get me wrong. It looks very good on you," she says, still giggling. "I’m sure you get away with it, because you know..." She shrugs and gestures toward me.
"Because..." I continue, curious to hear what’s on her mind.
"Well, you’re you, first of all. That doesn’t hurt. But you also have a very nice... physique."
I glance down at myself. I’m a big guy. I like to work out. It’s another one of those things like riding my bike—when I’m in the gym, I don’t have to think about anything else. I can zone out and just become a purely physical being. And I get my share of appreciative comments and stares from both women and men.
But Raya pointing out my ’physique,’ as she calls it... it hits different. It hits something deep right in the center of my chest where there’s an ache for her that already seems to be growing. It’s like it’s always been there and I’ve only just discovered it.
"Thank you... I think," I chuckle. "And you pull off the hospital gown very well."
She giggles and looks down. "Ah yes, hospitalcore. It’s a new trend. Very new. You might not have heard of it yet."
"I can certainly see it taking off. Maybe even at the office."
"Right. Can you imagine? Laurel would love it, though. It would give her a great reason to fire me."
"I get away with this," I shrug, tugging at my sweater again. "As long as you come with good ideas and you work hard..."
"Yours is luxury, Dex. This is... the opposite of that." She giggles. "But you know, you’re probably doing the office a favor. If you look that good in a holey sweater, I can’t imagine how you’d look in something like a button down shirt and vest. All of the women at Mobius would be falling over themselves and unable to concentrate on their work. There would be detours made just to walk by your office."
Wait, is Raya... flirting with me?
"I see how it is," I raise an eyebrow. "Now that you’re quitting, you’re willing to spill the office tea."
She giggles, and it’s finally occurring to me that she’s probably on some pretty good pain meds, because she is entirely too happy right now compared to how upset she seemed only moments ago.
"I admit, the first day you arrived, I overheard a very interesting nickname," she says.
"Oh no," I hide my face, knowing exactly what she’s talking about because I’ve heard it before. I wonder if it’s possible for me to blush. My skin tone doesn’t really support it, but if it did, I’m certain my face would be changing to an entirely different shade right now. "You don’t have to repeat it. Unfortunately, I already know what it is. I’ve heard it myself."
"Sexy Dexy?" She says, her eyes going wide.
"That’s the one," I groan, covering my face with both hands in a dramatic show of how embarrassing it is.
"Don’t worry. I won’t repeat it."
"You just did!"
"I won’t repeat it again," she chuckles, and then her attention gets drawn back to her phone, and slowly the worry resurfaces.
"Hey, you know what? How about I go help your dad out?" I stand and grab my bag. "I’m off work for the day. Just give me his location, and I’ll see what I can do."
"Wait... really? You would do that?" Hope springs so bright in her eyes that there is no way that I wouldn’t.
"Of course."
"No, you don’t have to. You’ve done too much for me already."
"I haven’t done anything," I shrug. "I helped an injured woman get to the hospital. That’s like... standard textbook stuff that anyone would do."
"Not just anyone would do that, Dex," she shakes her head. "Not in this city."
"Well, the good ones would. Let’s just get your dad taken care of so that you have one less thing to worry about, okay? It’s no problem. I’m actually kind of great with cars."
"Thank you so much. I’m just really worried about him. We’ll pay you or..."
"Raya," I say, putting up my hands. "This one is on me. Seriously. Maybe you could just agree to take a peak at the project I had for you sometime later."
"Okay," she nods eagerly. "I can do that. I can definitely do that."
After Raya has her dad share his location, I head out without even a second glance at the laptop I’ve left behind, which is sitting discreetly in its case on the sofa. That’s my guarantee that Raya will see me again and have to rethink this idea about quitting.
