"Good morning!" he said. He was wearing a charcoal suit, a pink shirt, and a pink, gray, and blue tie. He looked nervous.
"Good morning," she answered cautiously.
"Happy Monday!"
"Happy Monday!" she repeated. Susan was wearing a blue blazer with a white shirt buttoned to the collar. Her freshly washed dark hair flowed down the sides of her face in graceful, symmetrical curves.
"I stopped by on Friday," Walter said tentatively.
"I was out," she explained. "Working from home."
"Sorry I missed you," he said thinking that Susan had never looked so beautiful before. "I just wanted to say thanks - for the travel information."
"You don't have to thank me," she said.
"Colorado's a really nice place," he remarked.
"It's pretty," she added.
Walter thought carefully about what he wanted to say. Two of Susan's colleagues were seated at their desks. They were both on the phone, but he realized that they would be able to hear every word of this conversation.
"My schedule was kind of tight this time," he said. "I didn't get to do everything that I wanted to."
"It's a big state," she said.
"Yeah," he agreed. "There are definite some beautiful things there that I'd like to explore."
Susan looked at Walter intently. Her eyes were full of emotion, but he wasn't sure if she was still angry with him. "Well, maybe on your next trip you'll get to see more places," she suggested.
"Yeah, hopefully!" he said. "I'd like to go back to that restaurant, for instance. That was a nice evening."
"Glad you enjoyed it," she said. "You seemed a little tense."
"I guess I was," he said. "First time, and everything..."
"I understand."
"Anyway," he said, "I was hoping that maybe you could help me plan an itinerary, so I'm better prepared next time."
"I could do that," she agreed.
"I want to make sure that I don't miss anything."
"That sounds nice," she said. Her expression hadn't softened, but her tone of voice was warming.
"Maybe I can contact you," he offered, "to see if you have some time."
"That would be nice," she said.
"Same number, right?"
"Yep."
"Okay," he said. "I'll be in touch."
"Okay."
"Alright. Have a good day!" he said as he eased away from her desk.
"You, too!" she said. "Oh, Walter?"
He turn around quickly. "Yes!"
"Thanks!"
-
It was a few minutes before nine when Louise received a text from Antonio on the office messaging system.
"Hola!"
"Hola!" she replied.
"How are you?" he asked.
"I'm good. How are you?"
"Doing well," he replied followed by, "Thanks for coming on Friday!"
"Thanks for hosting the event!"
"I didn't think you were coming."
"Last minute change of plans," she replied.
"It was great to see you! And your friend!"
"Thanks" she typed back.
"It was so nice to dance with you again!"
"Yes, it was really nice, thanks!"
"Sorry we didn't have more time," he wrote.
"Well, you had lots of other people there."
"But only one YOU!" he messaged.
"Ah, that's sweet!"
"I thought about you this weekend."
"Oh?"
"I wanted to text you and thank you for the dances, but I thought that it might not be cool."
"You can text me if you want," Louise confirmed.
"I didn't want to cause trouble."
"I think it would be okay."
"Bueno! The next time I think about you, I'll text. Something short maybe. You can read it quickly and erase if you have to."
"That'll work!" she agreed.
"It's the same number, right?"
"Same number" she confirmed.
Beth approached Louise's desk. "Hey! Good morning!"
Louise quickly clicked on another window on her computer to bring it to the foreground. She didn't want Beth to see her text conversation with Antonio.
"Good morning!" she replied. "How was your weekend?"
"It was good!" Beth exclaimed enthusiastically. "Oh my God! Can I tell you something?"
"What?" Louise was curious.
"When you guys danced, you and Antonio..."
"Yeah?"
"It was MAGIC!"
"Really?" Louise asked. It was a nice compliment, but Beth was known to exaggerate.
"Oh my God! Yes!"
"Well, he's a really good dancer," Louise said, deflecting the credit.
"No! Listen!" Beth argued. "Antonio danced with a bunch of people that night. - Including your friend. She's cute, by the way!"
"Thanks!"
"It was not the same when he danced with you."
"Really?"
"Oh, let me tell you! Completely different ballgame!"
"Well, that's really nice, thanks!" Louise said earnestly.
"Pure magic!" Beth said. "Everyone in the room felt it."
"Thanks!" Louise said. "We practiced a couple of times when he was here before. I guess I just remembered what to do."
Beth's mobile phone made a chiming sound. She looked at it. "Oh, that's my customer. I've gotta run."
"No problem!" Louise said.
"Talk later?"
"Sure!"
"Pure magic!" Beth repeated emphatically.
Louise laughed. "Shut up."
As Beth walked away, Louise looked back at her computer screen. A flashing window indicated an incoming text. There were two message actually, both from Antonio.
"Sent a test msg to your phone" and "Did u get it?"
Louise pulled her phone from her purse. Sure enough, there was a new text from Antonio's number.
She opened the message.
"Te quiero"
-
Merry Christmas! The Horse Farm will return.
'The Horse Farm'
Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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