Oh, La-la!

Chapter 2. Ash

“Oh gods, that’s good!”

I can certainly appreciate a woman with a good appetite, but I don’t think I’ve heard someone org*sm over grilled mushrooms and melted cheese before. “That good, huh?”

“Mmm… so good!” Kayla opens one eye and I quickly try to hide my smirk, but the corner of her mouth twitches in amusement and I know she caught me. “I haven’t had a burger in probably six months,” she explains. “Actually, come to think of it, it’s probably been longer than that.”

I can’t help the look of horror that crosses my face at the thought of denying yourself something as delicious as a good burger, and her lips twitch with amusement again. “Why?”

Picking up a french fry, she uses it to gesture vaguely, like a lazy conductor’s baton. “Oh, you know… carbs, bad food, making better choices, yadda yadda, yadda,” she breathes out. She bites the fry in half and lets out a little groan of pleasure at the greasy, salty flavor. “I’m rethinking the whole thing, to be honest,” she smiles.

I should not be having the thoughts about my co-worker that are creeping in, but her little sounds of pleasure and that genuine, easy smile are hard to ignore. “You’re on a diet? You could fit in my pocket!” She’s half the size of a pixie, and definitely too thin. Although, the shapely legs and lean muscles in her arms make me think she’s probably stronger than she looks. It’s impossible to tell how old she is, but by the way she holds herself and how she speaks, I was thinking she was in her late twenties. Now with this diet nonsense, I’m putting her closer to her early thirties. She looks good for whatever her age, even though I really shouldn’t be thinking like that.

“Yeah, well,” she shrugs. “So, what about you? What’s your story? Married? Kids?”

The abrupt change in conversation leaves me reeling a little, and pulls me back to the reality of why I really shouldn’t be thinking about her tiny waist. “Engaged, actually, the ol’ ball and chain,” I smile, trying not to feel like a lecherous pervert. “Although, we’ve been together so long, I’m pretty sure we’d be considered technically married in several states.”

“Oh? Congrats! So, when’s the big day?”

“We haven’t actually settled on that yet,” I frown. It’s a bit of a sore spot with me since Beth, my fiancée, is the one who seems to be dragging her feet.

Kayla just nods as though she has a wealth of experience in the matter. “Hard to get everyone’s schedules to line up.”

“Something like that,” I agree as my frown deepens.

She points an accusatory fry at me, making my eyes widen. “Besides, calling her the ‘ol’ ball and chain’ probably doesn’t earn you many points!”

I snatch the fry from her fingers and pop it in my mouth without thinking. “Hey! I was referring to myself with that one!” say with mock hurt. Her giggle puts me at ease and I push the morose doubts about Beth aside. “So, what about you? Married? Kids? Ect.?”

She lets out an unladylike guffaw that makes my smile widen at her candid reaction. “Right! Who has the time to date?” she lets out a sigh. “I was seeing someone for a while, but he got irritated that he wasn’t my priority, so, he found someone willing to put him first,” she says with a shrug.

“Ouch. Sorry to bring it up,” I say sincerely.

She meets my eyes with such an earnest look that I find myself wondering if she even knows how to lie, or has ever bothered to try. “It really doesn’t bother me, even at the time it didn’t. I guess the relationship had just run its course. If anything, it felt like a relief when he left. Not sure what that says about me,” she finishes with another shrug, not meeting my eyes.

I blink at her, her words slowly seeping in. “So, what is your priority? Your career?” I don’t know why I’m asking her this. All we have to do is work together, but for some reason I’m curious about her.

“No, work pays the bills but,” her eyes turn wary as she studies me and I wonder what she’s holding back. Finally, just as I’m about to change the subject, she says, “Art,” so softly I almost don’t trust that I heard her correctly, but the look in her eyes hurts a deep part of me. It feels like she’s barricading herself, waiting for me to condemn her pursuit of creative passions. I can’t help but wonder who had made her feel so small. Perhaps the ex she claimed didn’t matter all that much? Still, working with a PM that was interested in art? That could definitely play to my advantage.

“Really? Like, making art, or just looking at it?”

Her head c***s to the side and I can tell I’ve surprised her with my easy acceptance. “Making it,” she ventures carefully. “Sculpture, mostly, but I dabble in anything that will hold my interest for more than a few seconds.”

I take a bite of my burger, nodding, trying my best to appear nonchalant. “I paint and draw,” I have to look away at her obvious surprise so I don’t laugh and ruin the mood. “I loved it in high school, but sort of lost it for a while. I started taking a class a few years ago when I felt like the stress of everything was going to bury me six feet under before I was ready to shrug off the mortal coil, so to speak. It helps.”

Her smile beams at me and her shoulders instantly relax. “Exactly!” she exclaims with so much excitement it makes me feel like I’ve given her some sort of present she’d been waiting a long time for. She starts to gnaw on her bottom lip and I get the feeling there’s something else she wants to say, so I take another bite of my burger to give me a reason to not speak until she can work up the nerve to say whatever it is that’s on her mind. I don’t have to wait long. “I have my first solo gallery show coming up in a few weeks,” she blurts out.

I wasn’t sure what to expect her to say, but it wasn’t that. She must be really good, I think to myself. “Talk about stress,” I chuckle. “That must be a ton of pressure!”

With a look I can only describe as regret, Kayla takes the last bite of her burger and licks her fingers before wiping them delicately on a napkin. I try not to stare as her pink tongue slides over her full lips. I don’t think she has any idea what sort of reaction she elicits, and I drop her age back to late twenties. “It probably should be, but it’s been so surreal. I don’t know, maybe it just hasn’t sunk in fully yet,” she says thoughtfully before fixing me with an inquisitive stare. “Weren’t we supposed to be talking about the Slider project?”

I shrug and finish the last of my fries a little embarrassed that I brought her here under false pretexts. “There’s not a lot to discuss until we get the requirements.”

“So, what was this? Like an interview?”

I smile apologetically at her. “A little. I guess I was curious to see what you’re like, how difficult it’ll be to work with you,” mainly I wanted to see how she was when she relaxed a little. “It’s a pretty big project they’ve handed you straight out of the gate.” The Slider project was worth around four million dollars for the company, and I was surprised when Bill assigned our newest PM to it.

“Yeah, but I’m not too worried. I guess that hasn’t fully sunk in either.” She pauses to c**k her head at me again with a devious grin. “So, what’s the verdict? Did I pass inspection?”

I bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing along with her. “Hmm… the jury’s still out on that one,” I say with mock seriousness. “I’m going to need to see some references before I make my final decision.”

“Lucky for me, the King of England still owes me a favor. He’ll be in contact any day now.”

I laugh an honest, deep chuckle, grateful I hadn’t yet taken a sip of my drink when she’d said that. I can’t remember the last time someone has taken me by surprise, but Kayla definitely has zest. Maybe she won’t be so bad to work with after all.