First Interaction - 2

"What do you mean?" Hanita asked. "You're asking me to travel with you?" she asked again as if she'd not heard him the first time.

They were still standing at this time and Hanita purposely did not offer him a seat. For some reason, she didn't want him to feel comfortable and wanted him to finish the business that he'd come to her office for and give her the time she needed to tidy things up.

"Yes," Talik responded directly.

"I can book sit in a plane myself, thank you," Hanita said with a little scoff escaping her mouth.

"We have a...um...private jet," Talik said finally. He had been hesitant to point that out but he'd guessed that he'd have to say it eventually as he didn't think it'd be easy to get a positive response from her.

"It would be an honor to fly with you, Hanita..." he said. "We can go anytime on Wednesday... the time that would be most convenient for you..."

Hanita struggled not to widen her eyes. Hearing that Talik's family had a private jet was impressive news -- she had to admit. Also, she thought about the cash that she'd save from the flight fee, and that seemed alright to her. It would add and help her hotel bills and she could use some of that extra bucks.

Talik could see the wheels in Hanita's mind spinning and he felt somewhat elated that she was even considering it and had not blatantly turned him down. He cleared his throat and adjusted his collar, waiting for what her response would be. His fingers were crossed.

"I'll go with you..." Hanita said as she tried to suppress a small smile that was threatening to stretch her lips.

Talik's bright brown eyes widened a little and he smiled. His face was so fine and his hair was not uncommon. He had spiky hair and didn't let the hair grow so much. The cut that he carried was common with military men and officers and that just gave him a unique and serious allure.

"Thank you..."

"Thank you?" Hanita asked while she raised a brow. "I'm the one that's supposed to be thanking you..." she said before she continued. "When are we all going?"

"All?"

"Yes..." she replied. "I guess you're taking the team as well."

Talik slowly shook his head after he'd realized what she meant by her question. "It's just you and I, Hanita Hill."

She remained quiet. Hanita didn't know what to make of that, however, she pushed it to the back of her mind with a wave of her hand. "Alright then... see you at the meeting at lunch, right?"

"Hmm..." Talik hummed as he took out his cell phone from his pocket. "Can I have your number, please?" he asked politely with a glint in his eyes.

"Why? To remind me of the trip?" Hanita asked sarcastically.

"Hanita..." he trailed off. "Please, okay? I'd like to call you sometime."

She nodded, rolled her eyes, and called out her digits for him. Then she watched him walk out of her office after they'd exchanged pleasantries.

It wasn't long after that her office door flew open again. The person didn't knock and before Hanita could turn around to look in that direction, she already knew who it was.

"Hey, girl!" Brenda yelled. This time she was followed by another lady, Matilda. They had come in looking all excited and wide-eyed as if they had some kind of blockbusting news for Hanita.

"Yes?!" Hanita replied, with anticipation as well. Her ears itching to hear what they had to say. Sometimes, interesting things happened in the bank -- ranging from a display of an angry customer to a customer flirting with one of the workers. Things happened in the bank that made tongues wag and Hanita was here for the gist. It seemed to be more interesting coming from the mouth of Brenda than Hanita witnessing it herself as Brenda had a flair for the dramatic.

"We just saw something..." she began, "Rather...someone..." Brenda slurred while she turned around to face Matilda as both of them clapped their hands together.

"Oh?" Hanita said, stepping closer to them as if to check for what they'd seen. "Who did you see?"

"We saw that handsome chocolate come out of your office..." Matilda muttered which was followed by a little squeal.

"Handsome what now?"

"Talik..." Brenda replied, sounding a little serious now.

"Oh," came Hanita's reply as she straightened and walked back to behind her desk. She'd thought that they'd come for a more serious gist than Talik being in her office.

"So what about it?"

"What about it?!" Matilda asked with shock. "What about it?"

"Yes, Matilda..." responded Hanita. "What about it?"

"We're talking about Talik here... Talik Blake."

Hanita rolled her eyes. "I have to present some documents and ideas at lunch..." she said, hoping that they'd both excuse her.

"She's pretending..." Matilda said.

"How?" Brenda asked. Even she had been shocked at the accusation that Matilda had just made.

"Can't you see?" came Matilda's response. "She's been noticed by a hot shot and she's acting as if it's nothing."

"It's nothing, Matilda..." Hanita said with a scoff. "What are you on about?"

"That man is rich and handsome...You can't go on behaving like you don't want him in your bed."

"Whaat?!" Hanita exclaimed as she burst into laughter. It sounded more funny than annoying.

"So is that what you want?"

The whole place was silent now.

This was not what Brenda had planned. She'd just wanted to tease Hanita, now Matilda had taken the whole matter personally and was spewing some things that were uncalled for.

"Forget it, Hanita..." Brenda said. "Don't mind Matilda..."

"Did you get his number then?" Matilda asked shamelessly.

Hanita just stared at her and crossed her arms.

"See?" Matilda said again, facing Brenda.

"That's enough from you..." Brenda said as she steered Matilda and turned her to face the door.

"We'll be off now, Hanita. You can get back to work."

As Hanita watched them leave, she shook her head and returned to what she was doing. Just when they were about to close the door, Hanita heard Brenda say, "You just had to ruin it, didn't you?"

Hanita chuckled and shook her head.