Workaholic x Noah Centineo

Chapter 23: Call me

No news. Nothing. Not a single text. Not even a call.

It was 7:20AM and Rebecca was parking her car in Departamento employees' parking lot. She had spent the entire evening working on the new project which kept her distracted. However, she barely slept, spending the night fighting with herself about whether or not she should contact Noah...

In front of Maru Coffee, Rebecca spotted Mike with his short hair and his nonchalant but classy attitude. She almost forgot how attractive he was. He saw her in the distance and waved at her with a little smile, he looked pleased to see her. She felt a twist in her stomach and couldn't ignore it.

There was nothing wrong with all this. It was only coffee.

"Good morning Rebecca!" Mike said when she approached.
"Hello!" She replied.

He kissed her cheek gently while passing his hand along her arm. Before she could get any reaction, Mike entered the coffee shop and held the door so she could follow him inside. They sat in a corner once their order was placed, they were having small talk and catching up on each other's professional life.

"This is such a great opportunity!" Mike exclaimed when Rebecca told him about the launch party she was in charge of. "You must be thrilled!"
"I am." She admitted. "But I'm also very stressed by all this. I need to invite relevant people, so the event gets noticed."
"Just invite your boyfriend, he will be the attraction of the party."
"What did you just say?"

For a couple of seconds, the silence remained. The waiter arrived with their coffee which ended the awkwardness.

"So, what about you?" Rebecca asked, trying to change the subject.
"I'm developing my own website and app, but I keep working at the office for the moment. It's going to be great, I already got two investors on the project so I can't wait to get everything ready!"
"Do you mean you finally started working on your own online music label?" Rebecca asked with curiosity, she remembered Mike telling her about it when they were seeing each other.
"Exactly!" He exclaimed, visibly moved. "Yeah, I've decided to do it, after all."

Mike was looking at his cup of coffee, his hands around it. It seemed like he was hesitating.

"You know... you are one of the main reasons for this..." He lifted his eyes to look at her.

Rebecca was paralyzed by his words. Where did all this come from? For sure, she was supportive because she really believed in his project but there was no big deal. At least, that was what she thought. She was about to answer him, but he resumed.

"You believed in me, you have always been so supportive... you helped me understand that I was capable of doing this, and... I mean... I wanted to check up on you because I miss you."

Mike's gaze was intensely scanning Rebecca's face for any kind of signs. She was doing her best not to hyperventilate.

"I think we were doing great together we just didn't get enough time." He continued. "I wanted us to take it slow to get to know each other and see where we could go but then... then that guy popped out of nowhere and you ghosted me. I was so pissed because I didn't know how to react, and I let you leave without telling you how I really felt. This was my mistake..."
"What about that brunch?" Rebecca asked, remembering their talk from a few weeks back. "You told me you were back with your ex."
"We were in contact, but we didn't get back together... and that day I was expecting you to act like I wished you would, but it was stupid. I was hurt and tried to hurt you."
"I'm really confused right now." Rebecca declared.
"Just follow your heart..." Mike whispered.

Rebecca's eyes found Mike's eyes. They were full of hope.

Her heart was beating so fast, she couldn't think straight. She had to admit that she was touched by his nice words. Maybe he was right, they didn't give their relationship enough time and credit. They were taking their time with this like real adults and everything was blown away when Noah appeared.