A Cheeky Invitation

"You should contact me more, Elara; being the only one contacting you makes me feel like I'm pestering you rather than just communicating," Elara woke up to the whining of the male behind the screen and was a bit dumbfounded. 

After that day, Elara and Terrence began communicating consistently. As hangout buddies, as Elara liked to put it, their relationship was like those of online friends, in discussion terms but not that close.

Truthfully, Elara was lost on what to do after taking Terrence's number. She felt that calling him might annoy him and was worried about being chastised; after all, at the end of the day, Terrence was her boss. 

She had wondered sometimes if she messed up by accepting this arrangement but when Terrence began communicating with her, her worries were killed. 

It was normal to believe a certain thing about a person due to their repute and demeanor they uphold just like she had thought Terrence would be until all her expectation was subverted.

Firstly, and most shockingly, just like her he disliked phone calls and preferred to chat. 

Secondly, he was very chatty, unlike the vibes he gave off. He could never abscond in a discussion and was more likely to end it even if you were the one who started it. He was so knowledgeable about a bunch of things that it was impressive. 

Thirdly, he liked taking a lot of pictures and he was good at it! This came as a shock to Elara as she expected him to be the type to struggle with taking pictures. Why would she expect that? Well, his serious demeanor gave off the vibes of a boomer kinda person but he was surprisingly modern. 

The last thing about him was his surprising cuteness. She could be at work and get a funny office meme sent to her to lighten up her day making Elara very glad to be in contact with such a nice fella. 

Since then, it's been two weeks, and while baking herself some cupcakes on a Sunday morning, she was still wondering why the male hadn't responded to her message when her phone rang. 

To her surprise, it was Terrence! For the first time, he was calling her! 

Thus, the first thing she was met with was a question, that left her dumbfounded. She bit her lips in an attempt to hold her chuckle; one thing she found out about Terrence was his childish tendencies, which he subconsciously showed off every once in a while. Somehow, he collapsed his image of an elite, perfect boss to a cute person she liked hanging out with. 

'Maybe that's better.'

"It's not like that, Terrence; you know that, unlike you, who can tell when and if I am free or not, I can't tell when you're free, and I'd rather avoid disturbing you when you're busy," Elara said softly, trying to coax the male. 

It was just then that it hit her how bizarre her relationship was with Terrence. If anyone were to find out, wouldn't they conclude that they were secretly dating? Especially since both of them were single and… Maybe she was thinking too much.

"Yeah, I don't buy it," Terrence said in a complaining tone, leaving Elara even more speechless. 

Mr. CEO, aren't you being a bit too shameless around me? 

"Okay, what do I do to make it up?" Elara said defenselessly. She could tell what the other wanted so why not just give in? 

"Hmm, lemme see, you said the other day you knew a thing or two about chess, are you interested in playing with me? Merlin, whom I usually play with, is out with his family, so I thought to invite you if you'd be interested." Terence said besiegingly. 

Elara thought a bit about it and decided, why not? She could postpone watching movies tonight, it wasn't like she was going to spend the night over. 

"Alright, I'll play with you but there's gotta be a stake to make it more interesting," Elara said dubiously with a shady smirk. 

"Of course, I hope Miss Elara doesn't go back on her words when I beat her," Terrence said provocatively. 

Elara paused her actions at this, feeling something streak through her. OH? Did he just DISMISS her?! 

Her face darkened as her lips lifted to a crazy smile that could scare a baby to tears. 

"Oh, you're on, Mr. Terrence."

***

After their discussion, It didn't take Terrence up to an hour to send a car to come pick up Elara. 

Elara was still packing cupcakes into a lunchbox for Terrence when the ride came. She hurried up quickly and, after she was done, stepped out, locking up her door and gate. 

She wore a long-sleeved cropped knit sweater with loosely fitted sleeves and horizontal stripes on shades of blue, light blue, and white. 

A pair of high-waisted, wide-leg black jeans and a pair of light blue Converse high-top sneakers with white laces and soles. 

And complimenting her outfit was a pair of dangling blue earrings which was covered by her curly hair that fell to her shoulders. 

'Am getting tanned,' she thought to herself on glimpsing at her image in the car's windows. 

Originally, she had a medium skin tone, but it was slowly turning olive. She suspected the newly purchased products but decided to shelve the issue for later. 

"Good morning, sir," she greeted the driver with a smile as she entered the car. 

Glimpsing at the female sitting behind him, the driver responded, "Good morning to you too, miss."

After exchanging pleasantries they drove off to their destination.