Chapter 79: So Much Magic
- RAYA -
"Are you seriously not going to tell me what the word is?" I ask, cradling the tea cup in my hands, curled up sideways on the couch so I can face where Dex is sitting on the other side of the couch.
He smiles mischievously and blows on his own tea. "The magic of the moment was broken."
"What? How can you say that? There is still so much magic... right here on this couch. The magic is palpable. In fact, this tea is magic."
"Do you like it?" He asks, slyly changing the subject with a serious look of interest.
"Yes, but that’s not what we’re talking about," I exclaim, half exasperated. How can he tell me there is a word that proves this thing between us is real rather than fantasy and then just drop it like it’s nothing?
Dex chuckles and shakes his head, placing the cup on a coffee table. I suppose that’s how coffee tables got their name, though I’ve never thought about it until now. And in this case, it’s obviously tea. Are there tea tables? There are tea carts...
"Do you have it figured out how you’re going to pitch your ideas to Liz?" He asks, but those dimples are still visible, so I know he’s completely aware of how obvious his intention is to change the subject.
"You said a casual conversation would be best and she won’t want to feel like she’s being overtly pitched something," I reply, eyes widening with the implication that I should be more prepared than that. "Is that not the case?"
"That’s the case," he chuckles, and now it just feels like he’s messing with me.
"Do you enjoy teasing me?" I squint with narrowed eyes, cocking my head to the side over the steam rising from my cup.
"You’re really cute when you get riled up," he admits, smoothing his beard.
I hate that I know exactly how that beard feels under my own fingers and that I can’t be the one smoothing it for him. Now that he’s suggested we go ’the slow way’ like he made the tea, I will feel like I’m unfairly seducing him if I try it.
Instead, I continue glaring at him as I take a sip of the strangely delightful tea. I didn’t realize that I could like an herbal tea this much. The only other herbal tea that I’m familiar with is chamomile, and that was never one I enjoyed drinking... probably because it reminds me of being sick. This one tastes like gentle, soothing flowers that dance around the front of my tongue. It’s strange and beautiful.
"How is your sister enjoying her trip?" Dex asks. This time, his question effectively pulls me from my fixation on the purposeful suspense he has left me in.
"If she would stop worrying about me, she would be enjoying it a lot more," I snort and take another sip.
"Well you went through something traumatic. It’s no small thing," he says with those adorably angled eyebrows again. "I’m sure she’s worried since she’s not here to see you for herself."
I sigh and change position so that I’m sitting crisscross. "I’m actually worried about her with how hysterical she was getting when I didn’t answer her right away. That’s not like her. She’s always been the strong one. I wondered how she remained able to focus so well when Nana died. I didn’t see her cry, and I was a mess at that time... and for a long time afterward."
"Maybe being willing to work through those emotions makes you the strong one," Dex suggests, reclining back against the couch. "Those feelings don’t just go away."
"I’m sorry. We’ve been talking about death a lot," I frown, setting my cup down. "That’s a downer."
"It’s not the most uplifting topic," he chuckles, "but I almost wonder if it’s not what brought us together somehow. It seems like we both need to heal from things," he says, staring into the distance. "I thought I was healed, you know? But I really just ran away. I shut it all out, and I ran away. And when I came back, you were here... waiting to break everything open and make me feel deeply again. I’m not sure you realize..." he pauses, his thoughtful gaze returning to me, "I haven’t felt deeply about anything for a long time. Have you?"
That’s something that makes me pause and think back.
"I really found something to enjoy in college, and that’s what I’ve been chasing. That’s what my life has revolved around. I was actually terrified of these dreams, because I thought someone was going to discover that I was having them, and then I would be humiliated and fired and lose my chances at the dream job working at Mobius Media," I say, gesturing grandly in the air when I say the company’s name and then chucking at the end. "Little did I know I was having them about the heir to Mobius Media. Actually, that’s worse, isn’t it?"
Dex chuckles. "I mean, I don’t think so. Not even close."
"Yeah, I don’t know how I would have continued to go to work and face you everyday if this hadn’t happened. Couldn’t you tell that I was a frantic mess the first few times we talked? I literally ran into the bathroom and had to talk myself down from hysteria," I chuckle. It’s funny looking back to that day, but it wasn’t funny at the time. "I thought I had finally truly lost it, because my dream was out walking around in the world."
"I can’t imagine how that was for you," he shakes his head, smiling. "I’m glad you won’t have to be talking yourself down in the bathroom anymore. Or if you do, I’ll be there to help you through it."
Ugh, that’s sweet. Why is he so sweet? And it makes me think of how Dex and I are actually going to be working together again next week, and I’m not sure what to expect. I haven’t thought that far ahead. I really don’t want to see Lawson again, and I’m also going to have to face Laurel. Avoiding those two has almost made this time off feel like a holiday. And spending time with Dex is definitely making it seem like a holiday.
"Don’t worry. It will be fine," he assures me without having to hear my thoughts. Somehow he already knows the path they’ve taken. "You’ll be working on Verdure and keeping busy. No one will harass you about getting coffee or organizing files anymore."
I hope he’s right, and I also hope Lawson doesn’t try harassing me about getting dirt on his brother. I would take coffee and files over that any day.
