JOSH: I've only heard nice things about him.
ELLA: Later. :)
I put my cell away, smiling at our exchange. He was always in a good mood, and was always a bit playful, which I enjoyed. He made me happy.
For the rest of the day, I waited for him to pop by and by the end of the day when he still hadn't, I felt a bit glum. While I didn't want the entire office staff to know I was seeing the big boss, I didn't mind him popping by for a quick kiss and squeeze. He could always find some reason to pop in to see Sharon or something. They were friendly enough that he could always use that excuse.
At five thirty, which was the official end of my day, I gathered up my things and said goodnight to Amber, who was working the front desk. I took the elevator down to the main floor and made my way out of the building. As I left the front door, I was accosted by Josh, who stepped out from behind one of the columns at the front of the building. He laughed when I squealed and pulled me into his arms.
We kissed, our focus completely on each other, while people walked around us on the sidewalk.
"I didn't think you were going to show up," I said when the kiss ended.
"I wanted to keep you in suspense.”.”.
"You wanted to tease me," I said, and gave him side-eyes. "You were making me all excited, wondering when you'd show up and what you'd do."
"I admit it. Anticipation makes it always so much more exciting. Now, how about some dinner? Since I'm going to be deprived of you as a dinner companion all weekend, I'd like to get in as much time as possible for the next couple of days."
"I'm all yours," I replied and stepped onto my tip-toes to kiss him.
"I like that." He kissed me back.
When we were finished, he took my hand and together, we walked along the street to his car, which was parked about a block away from the building.
He opened the passenger door for me and I got inside. After he got in beside me, he took my hand and kissed my knuckles.
"What do you feel like? Something healthy or some junk?"
"Mmm," I said and tried to think of what I wanted to eat. "Something junky. My mother is a health nut and so we'll probably be eating clean all weekend."
"How about some of Uncle Joe's Barbecue?"
"Perfect."
We drove off and went to Uncle Joe's, which was one of Josh's favorite restaurants. It was a tiny hole in the wall that looked like it belonged down by the bayou in Louisiana instead of Manhattan. He'd taken me there twice before and the food was so good, and there was always too much of it. I took home leftovers and ate them on my lunch break the next day, so it was a way for a single girl to stock my fridge for a meal or two.
We arrived at the restaurant and went inside, taking a tiny table beside the window looking out over Lexington. It was busy outside, and we were lucky to get in without a wait, but we'd chosen the best time to go. Most people got off work at six, so we beat the usual rush which really got started around six thirty or seven o'clock.
Josh ordered for us, and we sat and held hands across the table, watching outside and talking about the day while we waited for our food to come.
"I'm curious," Josh said, his tone becoming a little hesitant. "Why you're trying to avoid me meeting your parents. Is it too soon? We've been dating since September. I know your father was heavily invested in Jerkface as his future son in law, but still, I'd think he'd be happy to see you meet someone new. I clean up pretty well, all things considered..."
I sighed, not wanting
to get into the whole business about his father's television reporters doing a big expose on one of my father's business partners.
"It's too soon," I said and squeezed his hand. "Let's just enjoy ourselves."
"I'd like to meet the Governor of New Hampshire one of these days," he said. "So, I hope that the next time they come to town, you bring me along. What about Christmas? That would be a good time to meet the parents."
"We'll see." I smiled and nodded, not committing to anything. He seemed assured that we'd still be together at Christmas, which was still three weeks away. That was a long time in a new relationship and after the nightmare that was my previous romance, I wanted to be cautious without too many expectations. Not that I was already thinking of us breaking up, but the chances of us being long-term partners was pretty slim. Even I had to admit that.
I didn't want to tempt the Gods, so I smiled and diverted the conversation to The Chronicle and how the search for good staff was going. Luckily, Josh was only too happy to tell me about his work staffing the new paper.
For the rest of the evening, I tried to just enjoy Josh in the moment instead of thinking ahead to what might or might not happen between us. I didn't want to hope too much.
I'd made that mistake before and wasn't going to make it again.