CHAPTER (II)

He spent the better part of the following week waiting for her call which never came. She spent the entire week staring at his number on her night stand, always contemplating on whether to call or not. Once or twice she had dialed the number in but could never press the call button.

*****

Kian walked into his office after completing his mid-morning meeting with his company board, his secretary walked in behind him with a file. "Your meeting with the Washington team is in twenty-five." She said placing the file on his desk.

"Twenty-five," he repeated looking at his watch. "Alright, I'll be back by then, I'm gonna grab a coffee." He told her as they both walked towards the door. "In case of anything, give me a call."

Down Town Brown was a small cozy coffee shop, with a little over the top décor for a coffee shop. The place wasn't crowded as he had expected, a number of free tables. He placed his order and walked to an empty table. As he was about to sit, he spotted a familiar face, one he would have never expected to find there. "Kaida," he called to a lady, busy typing on her MacBook. Her fingers moving swiftly over the keyboard in a blur of motion, gliding effortlessly from one key to the next.

Her eyes quickly shifted from the MacBook to his face. He could see the shock on her face. For a second, she couldn't find her voice.

"What are the odds of meeting you here?" Kian continued.

"Kian, hey." She finally spoke. "What…what are you doing here?" She drawled.

"Just need a caffeine fix before a meeting." He replied.

"Meeting?"

"Yeah, my office is a block from here." He told her, still standing. "What about you?"

"I needed a change of scenery for my writing today, got lots to do and the office environment wasn't doing me any good." she said.

He was about to speak when a waiter walked up to them. "Your Coffee," the waiter said handing Kian the to-go coffee cup.

"Please sit," Kaida offered.

"I'd love to, but gotta get back to the office. But I'm glad I ran into you." He told her with a smile.

"Yeah me too." She replied, a smile forming.

"Bye Kaida, all the best with your writing."

"Umm, thank you, all the best with your meeting." They chuckled.

He turned to go but turned back to her, "I don't know how this is going to sound but, umm, my meeting ends at around lunch hour. Would you mind if we grabbed lunch?"

She studied his face again, she fancied doing that, it always made him uneasy but he never dared complaining.

"Oh, I'm sorry I can't." She already could see his face drop in disappointment, it seemed like she had drained all the life out of him, "I just have lots of writing to do, and deadlin-" He cut in.

"No, no, of course, its fine. I understand. I'll leave you to it then." He said and started walking away.

"Hey Kian," her voice called from behind him. He turned to find her standing. "I might be free tomorrow evening, we could have dinner." She told him, her hands were trembling as she spoke but did a spectacular job to hide it. "If you are okay with it." She added.

"That would be lovely." Came his reply.

"Umm, okay, I will text…no I will call you." They chuckled again.

"looking forward-" he was speaking but his vibrating phone cut him in. It was his secretary. "I really gotta run, Take care Kaida."

"Yeah you too," she continued to stand and watched him walked out of the shop.

****

That evening, Kaida met up with Lyra for dinner. New York City is known for its intense work culture, with long hours and high expectations, many people working in demanding fields, leaving little time for personal pursuits. Lyra and Kaida were no exception, but they always managed to find time to grab a bite once or twice a week.

They had made their orders and ate as they discussed the current things happening in their respective lives, Lyra had told her how things were going on with Calder in turn, Kaida told her how things were going on with her writing.

"Can I ask you something?" Kaida asked, seeming quite anxious.

"Everything okay K?" Lyra could see it in Kaida's face that this was something huge.

"Yeah, yeah, I just umm…" She broke off.

"Come on K, whatever it is you know you can tell me." Lyra told her reassuringly.

"It's about umm, one of your friends, umm, Kian." She tried to make as little eye contact as possible. Lyra was quick to note her friend was anxious about this, she noticed Kaida's cheeks turn pink. She smiled to herself, she found it quite amusing.

"What about him? I saw you guys talking at Cal's party but didn't really think much of it." She confessed. "Then I saw you guys leave together." She added with a suggestive smile. "What was that about?"

"It's not what you think Lyra." Kaida quickly answered and they laughed to that. "He was just walking me to my uber."

She asked about him and Lyra told her all she could.

"He and I are meeting for dinner tomorrow." Kaida volunteered as they were walking out the establishment.

"Well well, who would have thought. But I'm happy for you, Kian is an amazing guy I think you guys are really going to knock it off." Lyra said and they both got into the taxi.