Idolatry

That evening Cole made sure that they finished on time, a rare enough occurrence these days to make her wonder again why he was so ante any involvement. No doubt she would find out soon she thought as she followed Cole in her car to a nearby restaurant. 

As ever the gentleman, after getting out of his car Cole waited for her to park and they walked into the dimly lit space together. It was an elegant, expensive restaurant and not the sort of place Win would normally visit. Straight away she felt under dressed and uncomfortable. She had worn a charcoal grey pencil skirt and a powder blue shirt to work that day. The garments were okay for work but they weren’t new and they weren’t something she would normally have worn out to dinner, let alone to a place like this. 

“I’m sorry I’m not dressed for this. I should have gone home to change” she whispered to Cole.

He turned his head and smiled down at her “no, you look great” he said. 

Win had to remember how to breathe then and it wasn’t until he moved his eyes away that she did.

He stood back as they reached the table the waiter had led them to and waited for her to take a seat on the bench seat of the booth before he followed suit. But to her surprise instead of sitting on the chair opposite her he slid onto the bench seat beside her. He was close enough that Win could feel the warmth from his body. It had a devastating effect on her senses. Sure she was going to pass out,  she lifted the glass of water on the table with a shaking hand and took a sip as she tried to get herself under control.

“What would you like to drink?” he said handing her the wine list.

Win had to cough to clear her throat. “Water is fine” she croaked.

“You’re sure?” he said.

“Yes” she said with a nod, dragging her eyes away.

“Okay, then I’ll have a coke” he said to the waiter who then disappeared.

“You could have had wine” she said without looking at him.

“Soft drink is fine with me” he assured her.

Win sighed. Now they were alone again she couldn’t think of a thing to say. Before the silence could stretch she said “maybe we should have brought some work.”

He laughed. “Am I that difficult to talk to?”

Surprised Win met his gaze and blushed. She looked away again and said “no, sorry.”

“Good” he said and for the next few minutes they talked. It was about work Win realised, what was scheduled for the next day, the reports he would need but at least the conversation flowed and felt natural.