Enraptured

Chapter 7

I nervously glanced down at the pair of vintage white gold decorative bobby pins sitting on the box of sweets. The pins had an intricate design of flower design at the end, with only a single crystal in the center of each flower.

I wanted to get Ms. Caddel something a bit more than a bunch of pastries to show her my appreciation properly. The pins had caught my eye from outside an antique store on my way home yesterday. It was simple yet elegant, something that I thought might fit her well. But was it too much?

I still wasn't sure how I felt about Ms. Caddel, i.e., whether or not I actually liked her in the sense of infatuation. I couldn't tell if I was just misinterpreting my feelings from finally meeting a female whose company I didn't mind or if I actually wanted to spend time with in ways other than as friends. 

I frustratingly ran my fingers through my hair.

I'm thinking way too much about this. I should just give her the pins. It could be taken as a friendly gift or something else, so it didn't matter in the end.

I quickly grabbed the bag of pastries containing the pins off my desk and made my way out of my office toward Ms. Caddel before I changed my mind.

Luckily, most of my VPs were out of the office today to travel abroad for their quarterly check-ups on the companies they were in charge of, so I didn't have to face a bunch of nosey employees as I hesitated nervously outside of Ms. Caddel's office.

Right before I stepped out in front of the clear glass walls of her office, I heard her voice speaking on the phone, making me halt immediately in my tracks.

"Good morning, honey."

...

"Yeah, I just got to work. Did you just wake up?"

...

"Oh, that's amazing, but don't forget to eat your lunch, alright? I left it on the counter for you."

...

"Mhm."

...

"I'll try to wrap up work a bit faster today and come home earlier, sound good?"

...

"I love you too, Theo."

I was stuck in my spot, staying frozen and out of sight behind one of the solid walls. I felt like my heart had dropped into the bottom of my stomach.

Who was Theo?

I had never heard her speak so much or so lovingly before. It was a complete 180 from her usual distanced demeanor at work.

I immediately snapped out my thoughts when I heard the sound of footsteps growing closer. I reflexively stuffed the pair of pins back into my pocket right before the door to her office swung open, revealing the woman that I couldn't get out of my head recently.

Ms. Caddel stepped out of her office with a startled expression when she caught sight of me. Straightening herself back out, she gave her usual gentle smile and greeted, "G-Good morning, Mr. N-Nikolaos."

"Good morning to you too, Ms. Caddel..."

She nodded and stood stiffly in front of me, shuffling uncomfortably at her spot.

"Oh, right... This is for you." I stuck the bag of sweets out to her.

When she graciously accepted the bag with both hands, a slight glint on the ring finger of her left hand flashed before my eyes.

She looked at the bag with a look of confusion, but her eyes immediately lit up after she caught a glimpse of the inside of the bag. "T-Thank you, b-but what is this f-for?"

"Sebastian wanted to try out a new popular dessert shop in the village yesterday, so I got a few extra ones for you as a thank you for all the meals you gave me last week. I really appreciated it since I usually forget about dinner whenever I get caught up with work in the evenings." Trying to ignore the obvious ring on her finger, I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. "You like strawberries, right?"

She perked up at my last sentence and nodded eagerly.

"L-let me p-put it in the public f-fridge, and then w-we can get going."

I nodded quietly and stuffed my hands into my pockets as I watched her disappear down the corridor into the micro kitchen.

How did I not notice the ring before?

Thumbing the pins in the pocket, I felt like a fool for ever having an inkling of a liking toward a married woman. What on earth was I thinking?

She obviously had a caring husband waiting for her at home. No man in their right mind would ever let go of such a beautiful and smart woman. He probably treated her well and gave her all the love she deserved in the world, making such that she wouldn't even bother looking at any of the other men that flirted with her. It only made sense.

I felt like a naive idiot that clung to the first woman who ever treated him like a normal human being, mistaking her kind nature as some sort of genuine affection.

I looked up from my spot when Ms. Caddel popped back out from the micro kitchen and followed her to the elevator. As we watched for the elevator to arrive, I watched as she scrolled through her tablet, preparing herself for the day.

Watching how her cute little button nose would wrinkle whenever she found a slight mistake in the documents or how she would constantly push back the loose strands of her soft hair out of her face before resuming her corrections.

I wanted to reach out and tuck her hair out of her face with one of those bobby pins in my pocket, all just to get a chance to play with her long hair. But I knew that I couldn't do that. Even if my heart fluttered at the mere sight of her, she already had someone else in her life, and I had to respect that.

I needed to distance myself from her.

"Ms. Caddel?"

She gave a soft hum in question without looking up from her tablet.

"Um, I'm going to become a bit more busy starting this week as the quarterly reports start rolling in, so I probably won't be able to accompany you to the meetings for this project anymore. I can already tell that you are amazing at your job, and I'm sure you would be able to handle this project more than well enough by yourself. So, please go on without me today, and if you ever have any questions, feel free to message me on the company's chat platform, okay?"

She looked up at me in surprise, staring at me with her big, round, shining violet eyes that were practically testing my willpower. I diverted my eyes ever so slightly, finding it a bit difficult to handle her piercing gaze despite being someone who could usually scare others with a single glare.

A moment of silence passed over until the elevator arrived with a light ding, snapping Ms. Caddel out of her stare.

She nodded hastily in agreement and waved goodbye to me before stepping into the elevator.

I watched as the doors closed, putting her out of sight but not out of mind.

I sighed as I frustratingly ran my fingers through my hair, messing up my gelling from this morning. I needed to get her off my mind. I shouldn't be thinking of her in such a way.

Maybe if I just avoided her as much as possible, I would eventually forget about my incomprehensible and unnecessary feelings. I've only known her for a week, and she'll be leaving in less than two months when she finishes this project, so it shouldn't be hard.

Making my way back to my desk, I stuffed the pins into the bottommost drawer of my desk.

Out of sight, out of mind.

I pulled up my schedule on my laptop and changed all the timeslots of my previous meetings with Ms. Caddel from busy to free. I messaged Lukas to switch the priorities of Ms. Caddel's project to a lower status and to add my meetings with other companies to my calendar as my first priority.

It shouldn't be hard to avoid her, right?

I've barely exchanged any words with her, so it shouldn't be hard to forget about her, right?

She's just any passerby in my messy and chaotic life.

Nothing more and nothing less.