Thursday evening, Kian was still at the office an hour after everyone had left for home, he had some things to clear before flying out to Washington the following day. He looked up from his Mac when the door opened, his secretary walked in. "What are you still doing here? I thought everyone had left."
"They have, I just thought I should stay a little bit longer in case you need anything." Cathy said standing in front of his desk.
He leaned back on his chair, "I appreciate that but I think I can handle it." Kian replied with a smile.
He had brought Cathy in a little over three years back, she had been at a bad place at the moment and in no condition to do any kind of work, Kian had seen something in her that everyone else didn't. She had a drinking problem back then, and would do just about anything to get her hands on a bottle, her life had been shit but Kian took her under his wing and tried to save her from the addiction but it didn't work. For a while, she kept running back to the bottle. No one really knows what happened but she suddenly just quit. She got a hold of herself and landed the secretarial job at Kian's company. Saved enough to move out of her parent's house and into a nice apartment, saved again and bought herself a car although she had a chauffeured car provided by the company. Life was good for her, life was kind to her, all thanks to the man seated in front of her. She liked Kian, how could she not, she thought he was one of the very few fine men left in this world. He liked her back, there was something in her that just made him like her, the same thing he had seen in her three years back. The two were really close, most wouldn't believe that he was her boss, they were just too casual with each other. Most at the office had thought there was something intimate going on between the two and you wouldn't blame them.
"I wanna head out now, I'm really beat, today was a marathon." She said with a loud sigh.
"Can't agree more, I feel like my head will explode." He added.
"Then what are you still doing here?" She asked as she walked to Kian's side of the desk and tried pulling him from his chair. "Go home." She went on.
"I wish I could, but I have to clear all this before my flight tomorrow," he told her leaning to the Mac.
" I honestly don't understand why you had to go tomorrow, the meeting is on Monday for heavens sake." She had let go of him and was by a table at the right end of the office where she got two glasses and poured them both a drink.
"I think dear old mommy would bite my head off if she found out I was in Washington and didn't go say hi." He explained as he received a glass from Cathy.
"I thought you didn't like her." She pointed out.
"I don't but at the end of the day she is still my mother, I just can't ignore her Cathy."
They had talked a lot over the three years that they had known each other, she knew a lot about him and he too knew quite a lot about her.
After a minute or two of small talk she was out of his hair.
Two hours later, he received a call that was somewhat a shock to him. It was the barman from a bar downtown that he occasionally visited for a drink or two.
"You might wanna come down here man." The man on the other side of the phone had told him.
"Why? Is everything okay?" Kian asked, something had to be off for him to be calling at that hour.
"It's Calder, you should come pick him up, your boy is drunk as a fish, ranting loads of unpleasant things." The barman told him.
"I'm on my way, keep an eye on him, don't let him do something stupid."
***
Kian got to the bar just as Calder was removing his card to buy everyone a drink. "Nooo…it…it's your special…special day guys, everyth…everything is on me." Calder slurred waving his card. You could almost feel the elation in the crowd as everyone tried to make their way to the counter for their free drink.
"No, nope, sorry about that, he doesn't know what he is saying," Kian's voice tore through the crowd. "I'll take that," he said taking the card from Calder.
"Oh, heyyy…you're he…you're here too, a drink f…for you too my… for you too my friend." Calder struggled to say.
"You're in way over you head buddy." Kian told him trying to get him to stand. "Time to go."
Calder could barely stand, he lost his balance every time he tried to take a step.
"How much did you drink?" He asked though Calder was in position to answer.
"A lot," Jim, the barman, answered pouring another customer a glass.
"Well thank you for calling," Kian reached into his pocket and handed the him whatever cash he had fished out of his pocket.
"You…you know she…she didn't have to." Calder was saying as Kian backed up the car out of the parking lot.
"Who didn't have to what?"
"Lyra, she…she shouldn't have."
"Cal you are really drunk, let's just get you home, sleep it out and we'll talk about it in the morning."
"I looove…I love this plan. You…you're a genius my friend." After that, Calder was out, he slept all through.
At the door, they had to wait for close to a minute before the door was opened. To Kian's surprise, it was Kaida who answered the door, their eyes held for almost five seconds before she shifted her gaze to Calder who seemed like he would collapse in the next few seconds.
"Who is it?" Lyra's voice asked from the inside.
"It's Kian and Calder." Kaida replied as she opened the door fully for the two men.
"Oh my God Cal!" Lyra exclaimed after seeing the state he was in.
"I think some sleep will do him some good." Kian said trying to hold him upright.
"Why…why are the li…lights so bright? Some…someone please turn them-" Calder was slurring again but Kian cut in.
"Let's get you to bed buddy." He said as he led him towards the stairs.
Lyra followed them up with her right hand on Calder's back for just in case he missed a step and was to fall back.
"Will you be okay?" Kian asked her after laying him on the bed.
"Yeah, thanks for-"
"Hey, don't mention it. It's nothing really."
He left her to attend to him and joined Kaida downstairs.
He found her in the living room. "Hey," he started softly.
She turned with a warm smile, "Hey, everything okay up there?"
"Yeah, she is putting him to bed." He answered joining her on the couch. When he came in, he had noticed Lyra's eyes were red, possibly from crying. "How is she? Is she okay?"
"Yeah I think so. I mean she could be better but she's holding up pretty well."
Lyra came down a minute later, Kian and Kaida both stood and faced her. "Is he okay?" Kian was first to speak.
"Yeah, he fell asleep right away." She paused. "Were you drinking with him?"
"No, I was still at the office, Jim called me and when I got there he was already wasted, brought him here right away." Kian explained.
"Well thank you, you are a good friend. I don't take that for granted, God knows where he would have spent the night if you hadn't brought him here."
"It's nothing Lay, as long as he is safe right now."
"You guys look exhausted, I'm so sorry we dragged you both into this, I really-" Lyra was saying but Kaida didn't let her finish.
"No, don't stress about it, we're just glad we could help wherever we could. Plus, what are friends for?" Kaida told her with a smile.
"It's soo late, you guys should go home, I think we are okay from here on."
"Are you sure you are okay, we don't mind staying a little longer." That was from Kaida.
"I'm okay Kaida." Lyra reassured her with a smile as she opened her arms to hug Kaida.
They left, in the elevator, Kian had offered to drop Kaida off at her place after she mentioned ordering an uber. She had refused at first but just to be polite, in reality she more than wanted to. She told him the street she lived, "You know it?"
"Yeah. My place is actually not very far from there." He had told her.
"Do you think they're okay?" She had asked as he drove off into the main road.
"Yeah, I know he loves her, they will definitely work it out." He replied. "Can we talk about something else?" He asked with a soft chuckle, "I don't wanna feel guilty about talking about them behind their back."
"Makes sense," she agreed with a laugh. "What do you wanna talk about?" She only realized how dumb that question was after she had already asked but it didn't seem to bother him at all.
"Let's talk about us," he suggested very innocently. "I feel-"
"Us?" She repeated facing him.
He turned to her and their eyes met. "Umm, I didn't…I didn't mean it like that I just meant…" He was very uneasy and she liked that she had that control over him.
She thought it was adorable how uneasy he was but of course she didn't tell him that, she turned to her window and smiled to herself.
"I just meant that you and I haven't talked in forever." He finally said after regaining his composure.
"I guess our careers are to blame for that," she answered and they laughed.
"Yeah, I think so too, I have been awfully busy in the recent past." He admitted.
"Me too, it has been really crazy, sometimes I get less than four hours of sleep."
He took one more turn and she showed him the building she lived in. He pulled up right in front of it.
"That's not really healthy, is it?" He teased and they laughed.
The air inside the car had grown thin and they could both feel the tension. It was the first time they had been alone in such a small space. As the engine idled softly, the night wrapped its velvety embrace around the car. The dim glow of streetlights danced across their faces, casting fleeting shadows of vulnerability and silent desire.
"Do you have plans tomorrow?" She had found herself asking.
He didn't answer immediately, and before he could, she had spoken again. "I was thinking we could have dinner, if you don't mind."
"I would really love that, but umm, I won't be available, I'm flying out to DC in the afternoon for a business trip. Won't be back till next week."
"Not to worry, we can do it then." She added a smile to that, he liked her smile and everything else about her.
There was a long period of silence where they just stared into each other's eyes, neither dared to look away or ruin the moment by saying anything, but even in the silence, their eyes had said so much.
"I should get inside." She suddenly said looking away.
He was about to alight and go open her door but she held his hand, stopping him from getting out. He turned and looked at her hand on his, then looked up at her.
"I got it, thanks." She told him letting go. "Goodnight Kian, thank you for the ride."
"My pleasure." He smiled. "Goodnight Kaida, sleep well and I'll see you when I get back."
She liked how certain he sounded when he said that. "I guess I'll see you then."
He had watched her walk all the way, she turned to see if he had gone only to find him there, she had smiled walking in, giving the door man a wave.