Idolatry

As Cole and Win ate he asked her more about herself and told her things she didn’t know about him. To her surprise he made her laugh, a lot. Still she knew it was just a friendly thank you dinner but she was determined to enjoy it for what it was.

When it was time to leave Cole paid the bill and walked Win to her car. “That was fun” he said “maybe we can do it again.”

“Sure” she said looking down at her feet, “whenever you need a chaperone.”

“That wasn’t what I meant” he said.

Win’s head snapped up and she saw that he was frowning. Thinking he was worried about using her she said “you don’t need to worry,” her eyes slipping away from his. “I’m happy to help out whenever you need me. You don’t need to do anything else.”

“I thought you had a good time?” he said and his tone was almost angry.

Once again Win’s head lifted “I did” she said her eyes locked on his “but it’s fine, I didn’t read anything into it.”

“What if I did?” he said.

Win had no words now. Astounded she just stared at him.

“Would you mind?” he said in a low voice.

Win’s heart seemed to stop beating. “What?” she said.

“I don’t want to lose you as my assistant Win, that’s why I’ve never said anything but I got the feeling at dinner that maybe you felt something too. Do you?”

Still Win just stared at him. Her brain refused to take in what he was saying. He had to be joking. “What?” she said again.

He gave her a crooked smile. “I like you Win, do you feel anything for me?”

“You’re my boss” she said as fear spiralled through her. This couldn’t be happening. He wasn’t meant to like her. The thought that he might scared the crap out of her.

His smile widened a little “yes but is that all?”

Win didn’t know what to tell him. If she said no she would never know what might have been but if she said yes and things went wrong down the track she might not survive it.

When she didn’t respond he said “look if the answer is no, we’ll just forget this conversation and I’ll never mention it again.”

Taking a deep breath she shook her head and said “no.”

His smile faded “you’re saying you don’t feel anything.”

“No” she said with another shake of her head “no, it’s not no” she finally got out.