Falling for my fake boyfriend

4 - Back and forth

I’m not entirely sure how long the silence between us lasted, only that he was the one to break it. He stands in front of me, ridiculously intimidating with darkened eyes reminding me of the midnight that’s approaching and even darker hair, staring down from God knows how many inches above six feet. 

Damn, he’s even taller than I thought. Or have I shrunk? I feel like I’ve shrunk.

Dr. Davies is nothing if not sinfully intimidating, making even an analytical engineer's mind like mine, think of stuff that only belongs in the most embellished romance novels.

He scowls deeply, an expression that I recognize from seeing him attend the various meetings and seminars. It’s a look that usually precedes him raising his hand to point out some perceived fatal flaw in the speaker’s work. 

Adam Davies. Crusher of egineering careers, I once heard my direct supervisor say.

I gulp, audibly. 

He notices, his eyes tracing my throat like a predator that wants to squeeze it and watch the life drain out of my body.

Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. Just a bit.

It’s okay. It’s fine. Totally fine. 

The plan I just came up with is that I am going to pretend like nothing happened, nod and smile at him politely, like I would do if I passed him on the dimly lit corridor, not wanting to look rude. 

Good plan.

And then slowly back away, and then proceed to tiptoe my way out of here. 

Yup, a solid plan. 

“Hey, did you just… Did you just kiss me?” He sounded perplexed, and maybe a little out of breath. I’m fairly certain he’s also a smidge amused, but I don’t really trust my ability to read any social cues at the moment. His lips are still swollen and if I look closely, they are also a little red. 

Oh,  my God! Kissed. 

The truth is that there is no easy method to get away with denying what just happened, what I had done. But as the laws of a sinking ship dictate it, it’s still worth a shot. 

“No, I did not.” I chanel my inner actress and school my features into remaining cool and composed. As much as I can, at least.

“Oh, OK.” He stares at me for a moment before turning on his heels and briskly walking away, putting distance between us. Much needed distance. I see this is as my chance to slip away and forget this moment ever happened.

Dr. Davies stops after only a few steps. He turns to face me again, looking vaguely disoriented. He walks towards me, kickstarting an erratic heartbeat in my chest, but then stops again. I still haven’t been able to move an inch.

“Are you sure you didn’t just kiss me?” He asks again. His face does bear a lot of questions, like if he is genuinely wondering if that actually happened. 

I was about to suggest that he check his trousers, but a quick glance down south only shows the regular, socially acceptable bulge, and not the tent I had made appear earlier. And besides, that would be way too inappropriate.

“I’m so sorry, but it’s not what you think.” I feel myself defending my actions even though  I have no excuse, not in his eyes at least. 

“OK. I… OK.” he repeated slowly as if he was trying to have a conversation with someone mentally challenged. That someone being him, not me, him.

I can’t help but notice that his voice is deep and low and it sounds a lot like he is well on his way to getting mad. I’ve heard many many times that he doesn’t particularly like it when someone is thick. 

“So, care to tell me what exactly is going on here, there?” I gulp again or try to, but my throat is awfully dry. The thing is that there isn’t a simple way to explain all this madness.

I’m fully aware that any normal person would find my explanation at least odd, but Dr. Adam Davies, who notoriously lacks any trace of human consideration or empathy, could never understand. 

Resigned, I let my hands fall to my sides and settle on taking a deep breath. I half expected, half wished for someone else to walk through the corridor, but it looks like everyone preffers the dancefloor or the drinks being served at the makeshift bar. No one needs to go to their office anymore, which is where this corridor leads, to the offices.

“Right, so I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but this is really none of your concern.” Fine, maybe not the best approach, but the words flew out of my mouth before my brain could filter through them.

Davies stares at me for a moment, making me rather uncomfortable if I may say so myself, and then he nods. Well that worked out well. I almost smile. 

“Sure.” He takes a moment to mull over my words, his features regaining that usual scowl and losing some of the surprise. He’s almost back to his normal, handsome, and cold self. 

“I guess I have to wait until after the Christmas break to file the complaint to HR.” Nope, it did not work out well at all. s**t!

“The what now?” I ask in a voice that has suddenly risen a few octaves.

“The complaint one is requested to file if he or she feels harassed in the workplace.” He takes a bored expression as he explains. I don’t need an explanation.

“But I… I didn’t harass you.” I try to make my case, understanding how this may end my whole career before it even begins.

“Oh no, that’s right, you didn’t harass me. My appologies. You downright attacked me!”

“What? No. No, no no, I did no such thing!” I shriek. f**k, this is getting out of hand.

He shrugs. I contemplate bringing up his bodily response to my attack, but it can only dig my grave deeper, so I refrain.

“But you did kiss me. If if you claim you didn’t.” 

“Kiss you? Not really.” I slap my mouth shut as soon as the words come out. Davies raises an eyebrow in a challenging way.

“You did, and you did so without my consent. That’s basically attacking me.” He huffs.

“But I did ask you!” I shriek. “And you said yes.” I hiss, my arms going up in frustration. I mean, I’m fairly certain I asked him, quickly if he minded kissing me. 

“What? You never said anything, just flung yourself at me, lips first.”

“Excuse me?” It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. I mean sure, I know I’m mostly in the wrong, but I did not attack him. If I remember correctly, he rather enjoyed the interaction. Much more than he should have. So really, I’m the one who should file a complain against him, for sexually harassing me.

“Well if that’s your argument.” He laughs. It’s not that I realised I just said all that out loud. I narrow my gaze at his stupid smirk. 

“I asked if I could kiss you, and you said yes.” I sneer.

“Incorrect. You said something barely audible, taking me by surprise and them your lips attached to mine before I could even look your way and process who talked.” 

“No, I’m pretty sure I explicitly waited for your consent, which came in the form of a rushed yes” He purses his lips in disbelief, then lifts one eyebrow, while I contemplate either killing myself or him. Both are solid options at the moment.

“OK, fine. Listen, I really am sorry, for what it’s worth. I mean, we’re at this extravagant party with way too much alcohol to food ratio, and it’s been a shitty and weird night for me and… Can we please pretend like this never happened?” 

I watch from under my fake eyelashes as he studies me for the longest of moments. I briefly remember the last moment I wore these things on my eyes and something in me shifts. I almost want to smile, but I don’t. His chiseled face is serious, but it also holds something else, something that I can’t really decipher for I find myself being busy with noticing once more just how tall and downright impressive Dr. Davies is. 

The guy is just massive, but not in a bulky, in your face kind of way. Even compared to me, and I’m not a petite woman by any standards. If anything, my best feature is my height even if I was never even close to walking in a fashion show, I have been told that I have legs for days.

But despite my stature, I feel small and fragile in front of the intimidating Dr. Adam Davies. Of course it’s not the first time I see him, but it is the first time I see him after we exchanged more than a look while one of us was speaking in a meeting with another 20 people in the room.

We have never really interacted before, and this is a hell of a way to start. This can end really badly for me and at the moment I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel that everyone always talks about.