I step inside the elevator and smile politely at my fellow colleagues. I fix my dress after setting my things on my desk. Nayel was not in yet so I walked inside his office putting the coffee on his desk. His office always smelled like him. I smile thinking about how much cologne he loves to drench himself in.
I haven't seen or spoken to Nayel since Friday. Which is fine, we don't need to be together or in touch all the time but I did try calling him once and texted him a few times to see how he was doing but did not hear back from him. I'm sure he's just busy with Dean, which is fine if only Dean weren't an asshole. I'm not going to lie, I am a little bummed Nayel didn't stand up for me in front of his friend on Friday. I was clearly pissed off by the things he was saying to me because they were outrageous but no Nayel just shrugged them off as if Dean didn't try to discredit our relationship and basically call me and every other woman on this planet a gold digger. Why is Nayel even friends with an ass like him, they are nothing alike.
"Good Morning Beautiful" My thoughts were interrupted by Nayel approaching my desk with a smile on his face as he lowly whispered to me.
I instantly smile, "Hi"
"A donut for milady," Nayel says setting the Dunkin Donuts bag on my desk.
"Why thank you" I smile.
"Come see me inside for a few?" Nayel asks opening his door.
"Be right there Mr. Nayel" I grin at him causing him to chuckle lowly as he walks inside his office.
After a few minutes I walk inside Nayel's office to see Nayel pulling things out of his laptop bag, he smiles as our eyes meet.
"Hi," I say sitting down on the desk in front of him.
"Hi" Nayel smiles as I open the Dunkin Donuts bag and take the donut out, taking a bite. I move the donut to Nayel's face where he happily takes a bite making me smile.
"How was your weekend?" Nayel asks swallowing the donut taking a seat on the chair.
"Pretty uneventful, how was yours? I thought you dropped off the face of the earth" I say casually.
Nayel pukers his lips, "I'm sorry baby, I was going to text you back I was just so swiped it slipped my mind" Nayel squeezes my knee.
"It's okay, don't worry about it" I assure Nayel, "So what did you get up to that kept you so busy?" I ask.
Nayel chuckles, "Just doing Dean things with Dean"
I force a smile, nodding, "Like what?"
"We went to see the Knicks game, did a bar crawl at a few bars downtown then spent the rest of the weekend hungover and eating junk you know guy things" Nayel smiles to himself.
"I didn't know you were a basketball fan"
Nayel shakes his head, "Oh, I'm not. Dean just loves dragging me to them every chance he gets"
I nod, "Uh-huh"
"I love when Dean's in town, he makes me remember I'm not 70" Nayel laughs opening his laptop.
"That's nice," I say, biting my tongue not wanting to tell him what I thought of his so-called best friend who I have never heard about until he showed up at Nayel's house unannounced but whatever.
....
"Kind of dreading this case honestly," Winston says as I hand him the files I just photocopied.
"You're a fantastic lawyer, stop doubting yourself" I encourage him. His brows were creased as he was going through the document. The coffee was making his legs shake, I've never seen Winston so distraught.
Winston looks up and forces a toothy smile, "Thanks Maria" He grins walking away to his office.
As I was walking back to my desk, I notice someone walking towards me, I look up and it was none other than Dean. Our eyes meet a wide smirk appears on his lips, just kills me already.
"Maria" Dean sings songs my name in a chirpy voice.
"Dean," I say rather bitterly, "What brings you here?"
"Just dropped by to hang out with Jefferson for a bit" Dean shrugs.
"Can't you see him after work instead of wasting his time now?" My comment comes off harsher than I intended it to.
Dean chuckles, "I'm sure he can spare some time"
I sigh, walking back to my desk. I pick up the phone and call Nayel, "Nayel, Dean is here to see you" I say.
"Oh cool, send him in" Nayel sounded excited. I hated that Nayel was so excited to be around this man, Nayel who usually hates everyone who breathes but with Dean he's almost like a totally different person and I love seeing him so happy and carefree but why couldn't he be friends with someone not so Dean-ish.
"You can go see him," I say to Dean.
"Nayel? Now is that any way to talk to your boss?" Dean grins at me, "You two seem to have a very unprofessional relationship."
I roll my eyes, "Just go in"
"Alright alright" Dean puts his hands up, "You look nice in that skirt sweetheart, would look even nicer if you smiled," Dean says, his eyes running up and down my body before he disappears into Nayel's office. I had to fight the urge to throw up when he looked at me or made that comment. For fucks sake why can't Nayel be friends with normal decent people.
After a couple of minutes, I head up from my desk to go to Nayel's office to hand him the documents that were faxed by one of our clients. I knock on the door and enter without hearing the word. As expected Nayel and Dean were laughing their asses off about something.
"Hey," Nayel says to me.
"Just came to drop by these documents," I say simply walking to his desk.
"Must be annoying having to work for the same guy you're sleeping with huh Ria?" Dean mocks me.
I scowl at him, not wanting to make a scene so I flip him off with my eyes.
"Nayel remember that red-haired chick from the QB club on Sunday, she gave me her number and she's so into you, you should ring her up. You and her could go clubbing with me and her blonde friend" Dean says casually.
I shift my gaze to Nayel to tell Dean to fuck off because we're dating but instead, all Nayel says is, "Clubbing really isn't my thing anymore Dean, I never really enjoyed it" without making eye contact with me.
"Anything else?" I ask Nayel rather bitterly.
"Are you seeing that guy you were talking to earlier?" Dean tries to pry.
"What?" I say in a disgusted tone, glaring at him.
"That blonde guy you were making eyes to in the hall" Dean smirks referring to Winston.
"No, and I was not making eyes at him" I scoff.
"Looked to me like you were into him, he's clearly into you. As a man, I can tell when a dude wants to sleep with a girl" Dean smiles at me sweetly.
"Not all men are gross like you Dean" I shake my head and flash him one last glare as I head out of the office. What the actual fuck is wrong with Nayel? I am beyond furious right now.
.....
It was almost 6:00 when I got done with the agenda for the day and decided to head out. As I was walking towards the elevator Nayel steps out of his office with his briefcase.
"Ah, perfect timing" He whispers to me as we step inside the empty elevator.
I ignore him and press the button to the ground floor. Nayel chuckles, "Ria, the car is in the basement," He says moving to press the basement button.
"I'm walking home today," I say simply not looking at him.
"What's wrong?" Nayel asks to move to wrap an arm around my waist but I push him away, "Maria" He says.
"What's wrong?" I say moving to stare at him, "Are you kidding?" I scowl at him.
"I have no idea what is going on right now" Nayel stares at me in confusion.
"You should just go and spend time with Dean," I say as the elevator door opens and I start to step out of it but Nayel grabs my arm pulling me back in, and immediately presses the emergency stop button.
"Talk to me, what's going on Ria? Do you not like Dean?" Nayel asks.
I laugh bitterly, "That man has been a jerk to me since he got here but you are apparently too blinded by your friendship to notice what a complete ass he is"
"You probably misunderstood him, he's just playing around" Nayel defends him.
"So he was playing around when he insinuated I was a whore for having an affair with my boss or when he called me a gold digger? Or no when he made a complete mockery of our relationship by inviting you on a double date with some girl you met at a bar?" I snap at him.
"Maria-" Nayel starts but I cut him off.
"And what's worse is you continue to defend him. Why didn't you tell him we're together exclusively when he asked you about going to the club? Why didn't you stand up for me when he was saying all those things about me? Do I really mean that little to you? It's like you're a completely different person around him and it just makes me wonder if that is actually who you really are and this" I use my hand to gesture to his face, "is just a version you've created to get in my pants" I could feel the tears forming in my eyes.
Nayel looked at me guiltily without saying anything, "Why don't you go on that date and actually go to every club and bar you want and pick up as many women as you want since we aren't exclusive right? Have fun with your buddy" I flash him a fake smile as I press the emergency stop button open it to the ground floor and step out. As expected Nayel didn't say a word or try to stop me. Good to know the guy I've been seeing for months is a complete fraud.