Wooing The Ex-Wife

Jonathan stood in front of Liza's office. He was tapping his foot nervously against the hardwood floor. The other employees looked curiously at him as they passed by him. It was unusual for them to see Jonathan out of his office. In the past few days Liza and Jonathan had shared more than a smile, they had made small talks, shared some laughs and he had even made her blush once or twice though he was pretty sure it was out embarrassment rather than shyness. Their relationship was going steady and dare he say that they were almost friends. So here he was standing in front of her office, trying to gather courage to ask her to go to the celebratory ball with him.

He knocked on her door once. "Come in" she said distractedly. Jonathan stepped into her office. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she read through the script in her hands. She irritably pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as it fell in front of her eyes. "Um Liza, do you have a minute" he said. Liza looked up her hair once again falling in front of her eyes, as she irritably adjusted them again. "Yeah, sure" she said turning towards him. "Um... so I was wondering that whether you would go to celebratory ball with me?" he asked, hoping that his voice didn't sound as nervous as he was really feeling. Liza sighed as she removed her reading glasses and rubbed her eyes.

"The thing is Jonathan that I already have a date to go to the celebratory ball" she said. "Oh, okay" was the only thing he could say as he turned around and got out of her office. He knew that he shouldn't be feeling that hurt. He had already known that the chances of Liza accepting were very less, but he hadn't thought that Liza would be going with anybody else either. It hurt him but there was nothing he could do except give her time and make her trust him. With a defeated sigh he picked up a file and started to read through it.

Liza watched as Jonathan left her office. His shoulders were slumped in a defeated posture. In the past few days she had grown to enjoy his company. Even though she had tried to keep herself away from him, resorting to polite smiles and professional nods, she had found herself hovering closer to Jonathan. She watched him transform into the guy she had known him as in the college. She found herself laughing more with him, talking more to him and even though she still wouldn't trust him again, it felt nice to melt into the comfort of familiarity that he provided. It was weird how she could talk so easily was weird how she could talk so easily with him even after his betrayal. However she wasn't ready to go to the ball with him. She didn't trust herself enough not to fall for his charms. She was nothing like the weak woman she was before but she still had the same heart and she couldn't afford to let it break again. She hadn't lied to Jonathan when she had told him that she already had a date. She had already asked Alex to come as her plus one. Her mind replayed the sad expression on his face when she had rejected his offer and her heart cracked a little when she realized that she had been the one to put that expression on his face but there was nothing she could have done, she couldn't have accepted his offer, she couldn't have put her heart on line again.

Alice sat in the window of her apartment as she watched the sky change colors from bright blue to florescent orange as the sun set down. She had been working hard all day and yet she had been unable to remove that stranger from her mind for even a single moment. He was always there. He hadn't stopped by at the restaurant again after that day and it would be a lie to say that she hadn't felt disappointed. She had somehow in that small amount of time managed to develop a crush on that stranger. It seemed very juvenile to her, but still very real. She blushed as she thought about the paper napkin she had kept in her cupboard safely along with the many other valuable itty bitties. She face palmed as she realized that she hadn't even given him her number. She was going to visit Jonathan in a few days and she wondered if he would stop by at the restaurant in her absence. She laughed at herself, realizing that she had behaved like a blushing high school girl around him. "Al, we have to start prepping for the dinner rush" a girlish voice shouted reminding her that her break was over. "I am coming Lou" she replied poking her head out of the window and giving a smile to blonde pixie like girl. Still quietly laughing at herself she hopped down from the window sill as she made her way down to the kitchen and started prepping for the dinner.